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Gary Bruce Bettman (born on June 2, 1952 in Queens, New York) has served as commissioner of the National Hockey League since February 1, 1993. Formerly an NBA executive, he was brought in to try to give the NHL some of the same success the NBA (where Bettman served as the assistant general counsel under his mentor David Stern beginning in 1981) has had in the United States.
Education
Bettman studied labor relations at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York where he was a Brother of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity, and graduated in 1974. After receiving a Juris Doctor degree from New York University in 1977, Bettman joined the large New York City law firm of Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn. During his time as an NBA executive, he helped to develop the soft salary cap model.
NHL
Bettman's policies in the NHL have included the aggressive (albeit non-traditional) expansion of the league in the southern and western United States. This expansion led to NHL teams being created in Anaheim, Miami, Nashville, Columbus, and Atlanta. During his tenure, teams also moved from Hartford, Winnipeg, Minnesota and Quebec City to Raleigh, Phoenix, Dallas and Denver, respectively.
Soon after Bettman took office, the NHL's divisions were renamed to reflect geography (like the NBA) rather than the league's history (i.e. the Wales and Campbell Conferences). In addition, the league adopted a two-referee system; goal lines, blue lines and defensive-zone circles were moved, and playoff formats were changed. In 1993-1994, with the NHL entering its greatest period of growth and able to land a 5-year contract with FOX/ESPN, some even predicted that it could overtake Major League Baseball in popularity (which suffered greatly from a strike during that time).
In 1998, against Bettman's objections, NHL players were finally able to compete in the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. This marked the first time that NHL players were able to compete in the Olympics. To serve as a tie-in to the Olympics, the All-Star Game altered the format to become a match-up of players from North America against players from everywhere else in the world (effectively Europe). This format was abandoned in 2003 when the All-Star Game returned to the traditional conference vs. conference format.
In 2005, Bettman was named one of the worst managers by Business Week.
Gary Bettman also has the reputation among many Canadian hockey fans as being anti-Canadian in that, since his tenure, two Canadian teams have left for the United States and no expansion franchises have been granted to Canadian cities under his watch.
2004-2005 Lockout
In 2004 negotiations commenced for a new collective bargaining agreement with the NHL Players Association. The agreement expired on September 15, 2004 (one day after the World Cup of Hockey final in Toronto). Bettman's goal from the outset was to negotiate an agreement that provided cost certainty for all clubs. However, NHLPA head Bob Goodenow, along with most of the NHLPA membership, called Bettman's "cost certainty" a euphemism for a salary cap; the union had long been adamantly unwilling to accept any form of a salary cap. With neither side willing to back down from their entrenched stances, the lockout eventually cost the NHL the entire 2004-2005 season.
Overview
During Bettman's tenure, four franchises have declared bankruptcy (the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Los Angeles Kings), two Canadian teams relocated to U.S. cities (Winnipeg to Phoenix and Quebec to Colorado), the Hartford Whalers moved to North Carolina and became the Carolina Hurricanes (the Sabres and Kings went bankrupt due to corrupt ownership). The 1994-95 season was reduced to 48 games due to a labor dispute.
Yet, Bettman was successfully able to extract a significantly revised labour agreement which capped player salaries at 54% of league revenues. This is somewhat different from a hard Salary cap, as the cap amount increases or decreases from year to year based on the previous year's league revenues. This form of cap was something that his MLB and NBA counterparts, Bud Selig and David Stern, respectively, had been unable to do.
To maintain the league's resolve, the owners gave Bettman the authority to fine owners who spoke out on prohibited topics during the bargaining process. While many claim this was a "gag order" instituted at the behest of Bettman, it was in fact a policy initiated and voted in by the majority of owners to prevent certain teams, most likely big market teams such as Toronto and Detroit, from breaking ranks. This allowed Bettman to focus undividedly on getting a CBA that would suit all teams in the league. As a result, despite losing the 2004-2005 season, Bettman managed to extract an agreement that would guarantee financial stability in the league, making it one of the most successful lockouts in sports history.
Bettman also instituted sweeping changes to the gameplay of NHL hockey to make it faster and higher-scoring, including allowing two-line passes, increasing penalties called and narrowing goalie equipment. As a result, the NHL hit record attendance levels during the early part of the ongoing 2005-2006 season.
Gary continues to be a prominent member and activist in the Queens Jewish Community.
He lives in New Jersey with his wife, Shelli, and their three children Lauren, Jordan, and Brittany.
External links
1952 births | Jewish-American businesspeople | Living people | National Basketball Association executives | National Hockey League executives | People from Queens
"Gary Bettman"