NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is featured in the current
issue of INSIDE MEDIA. In a Q&A with Brockinton & Reynolds,
Bettman discusses the impact of the league's TV deals with Fox
and ESPN and the state of the league in general. Bettman calls
the '96 2.1 regular season TV ratings on Fox "modest" and said
the numbers are "only a concern if they don't continue to grow.
... This is a sport that has been underexposed historically and,
as a result, its fans base and its viewership are not what they
could have been and not what they will be." Bettman on hockey's
exposure at the Nagano '98 Olympics: "We'll get more exposure
than this sport has ever seen worldwide. But I'm not
anticipating any widespread primetime coverage of hockey. I
think there will be a lot of weekend and late-night [coverage]
and a lot of updating during primetime. ... Don't view Nagano as
a watershed. It's another step in a multiyear building process."
On Fox not covering Game Three of the World Cup: "The realities
of the situation didn't make sense to just force feed it onto the
network. ... We would have done a good rating, and it would have
increased our exposure. And would it have been nice to have been
on Fox as opposed to the cable outlet? The answer is yes, but
you have to take into account that Fox has a network to run. ...
The logistics just didn't make sense to force feed it." The NHL
is targeting the airline, communications and quick service
restaurant categories as potential sponsors and is in the
"planning stages" of entering ice rink development, with two
prototypes close to competition in Michigan and Connecticut
(INSIDE MEDIA, 10/30 issue).
