In his five years of leading the NHL, Commissioner Gary
Bettman "has been accused of doing far too little as well as
far too much," according to Roy MacGregor of the OTTAWA
CITIZEN. MacGregor wrote, "What he has done is bring some
necessary stability to a league. There are, by and large,
better owners in place." Bettman has also "brought the
professional gloss" of the NBA to "both NHL headquarters and
NHL games." The "product has changed, whether with approval
or not. He has greatly enlarged revenue streams" and
MacGregor wrote that if Bettman can renegotiate the league's
TV deal with Fox "he will have accomplished, in hockey
business circles, a small miracle" (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 4/19).
REAX TO CANADIAN ASSISTANCE: In Toronto, Steve Simmons
wrote Bettman "once again has proven to be more concerned
about NHL ownership than he is about NHL consumers." While
he asked for public assistance of Canadian teams last week,
"in no way did he urge the owners of Canadian teams to
provide a better product for a widely disappointed public."
The teams in Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver "are three of
the NHL's worst in three of the most supportive markets"
(TORONTO SUN, 4/19). In Calgary, Carson Ackroyd called on
Bettman to "show some leadership and solve these problems
instead of pointing fingers" (CALGARY SUN, 4/18). In N.Y.,
Larry Brooks wrote the league should take the $320M in
expansion fees to help Canadian teams (N.Y. POST, 4/19).
QUALITY OF PLAY: In Toronto, Kerr & Shoalts write that
an informal survey of NHL players and coaches indicated that
the compression of the NHL schedule to accommodate the
Olympics "hurt the game, especially late in the season."
But "many felt the sacrifice was worth it for the Olympic
experience" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 4/20). On "The Sports
Reporters," ESPN's Bob Ryan called the NHL shutting down for
the Olympics an "extremely bad idea." Ryan: "The sport lost
all its momentum. The playoffs start this week. Did you
know that? Does anybody know that?" (ESPN, 4/19).
FOX FUTURE: The AP's Josh Dubow examined the NHL's TV
ratings and wrote that Fox, in the fourth year of a five-
year deal, "has seen ratings fall" 24% from its high in '96.
While many hoped the Olympics would boost numbers, ratings
"are actually lower after the Olympics than before." Dubow
wrote that the "timing of the ratings drop is bad for the
NHL" as it looks to negotiate an extension. Fox Exec
Producer Ed Goren: "We are still interested in looking at
the possibility of renewal. But whatever decision we make
will be a sound one financially" (AP/PHIL. INQUIRER, 4/19).
