NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was in Toronto yesterday
at the Canadian Sports Media achievement awards luncheon.
During his visit, Bettman discussed the state of the league
with local writers. On the sparse attendance for the second
Hurricanes home game: "There's no surprise here. You're
dealing with a situation where the team is playing over 70
miles from its permanent home. We knew ... this would be a
problem, particularly on weeknights." Bettman likened the
situation to the NFL's Oilers who are experiencing
attendance problems while playing in Memphis temporarily
before moving to Nashville. Regarding the number of player
holdouts and the increasing team payrolls, Bettman said,
"You have to look at these things over time. ... We've had
holdouts in prior years. It's easy to say, 'Oh my, look at
this.' But if you go back over time holdouts have happened.
... The thing you have to look at over time is: Are our
revenues and our salaries, our players costs, increasing
about the same rate? My preference is that our revenues
increase faster than the salaries, which is what's been
happening for the past few years." Bettman said that he had
"no news" concerning the sale of the Oilers (David Shoalts,
Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 10/9). He also added that the sale of
the Islanders is a "work in progress" (CP, 10/9).
FAMILIAR REFRAIN: Fox Sports Net's John Walsh reported
on the increase in NHL salaries, noting that they have risen
"a shocking" 265% in the last six years. Walsh: "Who's to
blame for these salaries? One argument says that it's the
GMs' fault ... the other school of thought is that it's the
players who are just too greedy ... So general managers have
to adjust; now they see athletes as investments and not just
talented hockey players." Flyers GM Bobby Clarke: "[W]e
have a great sport to sell, but we don't know how to raise
the revenues to pay the salaries that are being demanded by
our players ... We're one of the high revenue teams in the
league, and we're really concerned with where this is going.
And we don't know ... how to put the brakes on." Kings GM
Dave Taylor: "[I]t's going to be very difficult for the
small markets to compete" ("Fox Sports News," FSN, 10/8).
