NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman knows how to create publicity for his league. Since taking office in 1993, Bettman has taken his league to both the penthouse and basement of popularity. Twice.
And now, it seems the league may reach the abyss for a third time.
Yes, Bettman knows how to create publicity for his league. For all the wrong reasons.
The NHL enjoyed unprecedented popularity after the New York Rangers won the 1994 Stanley Cup. The cover of Sports Illustrated read "Why the NHL's Hot and Why the NBA's Not". Despite not having a national TV package, hockey enjoyed its highest American television ratings in history. After the 1994 playoffs, it secured a deal with FOX. Hockey appeared to be skyrocketing beyond the penthouse of popularity and into the sports stratosphere.
Then came a lockout, resulting in the cancellation of half the 1994-95 season. The league survived it. However, over the next few years, the league failed to maintain the attention of the casual fan it attracted after the '94 season. The era of neutral zone traps, dumping and chasing, and little to no goal scoring ensured these fans would stay away. By the early 2000s, it appeared all casual fans were gone, and only the diehards remained.
Each year between 1995 and 2004, ESPN's coverage of the NHL became half hearted and indifferent. Ratings slipped to the levels of late night C-Span programming and the TV Guide Channel. Sportstalk loud mouths denounced hockey as irrelevant, and the term "Who Cares About Hockey" was gospel for pundits and broadcasters alike.
Bettman did little to alleviate the problem. His solution was to expand his league into apathetic, non-traditional hockey markets. Just ask Atlanta how great hockey is.
Then, armageddon happened.
The cancellation of the 2004-05 season due to another lockout not only rendered the casual NHL fan extinct, but many die hards as well. After the lockout ended, where could you find a nationally televised NHL game except on some obscure cable channel known as OLN? Hockey coverage in national and local media was confined to little blurbs in newspapers and brief ten second spots on TV. In lieu of hockey news, ESPN decided poker was more important.
Depending on your perspective, hockey was dead.
To Bettman's credit, he did attempt to revive the game after the 2005 lockout, for better and for worse. The purpose was to reattract the casual fan.
Rules were changed to foster more scoring, and the shootout came to be. Slowly but surely, hockey's popularity grew back to mid 90s levels. The arrival of young superstars such as Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin gave the league marketable faces. OLN evolved into Versus and eventually, the NBC Sports Network, which provided wall-to-wall hockey coverage. Coupled with the inception of the NHL Network, hockey ratings grew to unprecedented levels. Bouyed by the excitement and drama of the 2010 Winter Olympics, hockey regained a place in the consciousness of the American sports fan. This past season, the NHL's ratings on NBC and NBCSN were the highest of all time.
And now, another armageddon looms.
Should the NHL go into another lockout on September 15, will the casual fan be driven away for good? Will the majority of or all die hards follow suit? If you follow any form of social media, it certainly appears so. The hockey fan is very angry right now, and rightfully so.
Gary Bettman and the NHL owners are preparing for another labor war against the NHLPA.
The hockey fan just wants to see goals, saves, checks, and fights.
With the economy the way it is and with only the 1% being able to afford hockey tickets, what die hard fan will want to support this greed and madness? We know for a fact the casual fan won't.
The NHL is enjoying unprecedented popularity right now. Another lockout will destroy it.
Will the NHL die on September 15th?
In the opinion of this die hard fan and others, should a lockout occur, yes.
Mr. Bettman, please keep our sport out of the abyss and in the penthouse. It will mean good publicity for your and for your league.
Do the right thing. Get a deal done. Do not destroy this wonderful sport we call hockey.
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