Gary Bettman w/Max Kellerman

[Kranix]

I'm plenty familiar with Kellerman, but the reality is most people don't give a flying f*** about hockey and in this particular segment, he didn't say anything unreasonable.

The tunnel vision and inferiorty complex hockey fans have when it comes to how the sport is perceived is unparalleled and embarrassing, unlike any other sport I can think of. This thread is perfect evidence of that.

You're the one complaining about how it will be perceived here

 

[Midnight Judges]

I respect Bettman. The guy comes prepared and makes good answers. It's easy to hate the commish. Hell, I want to hate the commish. But I just can't in this case.

Here, watch this video of Bettman handling the fans in Las Vegas. They start booing him and he utterly squashes it by congratulating them on the best first season in history. They could not possibly keep booing while he was saying those things. It was masterful:

 

[Snipes45]

Bettman calls out max on his new show.



Melrose takes a jab... Apparently Max Kellerman loves hockey?

Wasn't this Kellerman guy a wannabe rapper at one point? lol

 

[bov]

You're the one complaining about how it will be perceived here

Try reading along if you can. I'm addressing the laughable "Bettman really showed Kellerman!" crowd. Could not possibly care less about how the general public perceives the league.

 

[TheNumber4]

I respect Bettman. The guy comes prepared and makes good answers. It's easy to hate the commish. Hell, I want to hate the commish. But I just can't in this case.

Here, watch this video of Bettman handling the fans in Las Vegas. They start booing him and he utterly squashes it by congratulating them on the best first season in history. They could not possibly keep booing while he was saying those things. It was masterful:

Unfortunately leagues aren’t managed and built with well worded interviews and speeches.

 

[Snipes45]

Lol. What. Bettman sucks. And the League hasn’t been doing shit under his watch. They became nearly irrelevant in the US under his watch, with only now the hope is that it recovers. New franchises in non traditional markets still arent really taking off. And he can’t even get his own Leagues rules right.

So growing the game and making a sh** load of money is "sucking" to you lol. Alrighty then. It is what it is int he US. I don't know why people care,

You couldn't pay me to watch a full baseball game. I barely watch a basketball game after THE GOAT (Jordan) retired. I find football boring too. Might watch the superbowl and that is usually boring AF too.

 

[Kranix]

Try reading along if you can. I'm addressing the laughable "Bettman really showed Kellerman!" crowd. Could not possibly care less about how the general public perceives the league.

No need for condescension. You clambered in here to comment 'imagine how non hockey fans perceive the league after seeing this.' Now delete your account.

 

[BWJM]

I don't think Kellerman really has a choice now working with ESPN. He'll be a hockey fan.

If he was smart he'd hop on that shit. He's a popular figure. Imagine if he started pumping the NHL's tires? He'd have all of Canada become his fan.

 

[bov]

No need for condescension. You clambered in here to comment 'imagine how non hockey fans perceive the league after seeing this.' Now delete your account.

I adressed the topic at hand. I may not heap effusive praise on Bettman or bash Kellerman but my response is as relevant as anyone's. I could play the same card with your "you're the only one complaining" comment but obviously people have differing takes. Bettman came off as an asshole imo and I find the praise just bizarre. The responses in this thread, to me, show how clearly some hockey fans are out of touch with how their league is perceived overall.

 

[TheNumber4]

So growing the game and making a sh** load of money is "sucking" to you lol. Alrighty then. It is what it is int he US. I don't know why people care,

You couldn't pay me to watch a full baseball game. I barely watch a basketball game after THE GOAT (Jordan) retired. I find football boring too. Might watch the superbowl and that is usually boring AF too.

Any Big Sports League is going to make money. It’s all relative to really figure out how they are doing. Compare what their growth is to like-Leagues and they are far far behind in growth AND overall revenue. You really think the League is making “shit loads” of money? Even if so, why would it matter to your average fan how much more billionaire owners are raking in. It’s about the most irrelevant thing to your average fan. But if you want to kneel to your god Gary cause SOmE owners are making lots of money, then sure.

By the way, speaking over growth:

https://thumbor-forbes-com.cdn.ampp...n/files/2017/08/InfographicCrop.jpg?width=960

Check out that graph. NHL really just “killing it”

Ive had near zero interest in NFL, NBA, or MLB growing up. But you hear the hype and the storylines from a mile away cause it seeps into the mainstream. Even in Edmonton I got buddies more interested in those Leagues than the NHL and the hype makes me check it out at times. I doubt that’s happening anywhere for the NHL. The NHL has its die hard fanbase, it will make some money (less than half of the other Leagues) and will grow organically, but don’t kid yourself that they doing anything extraordinary.

 

[aggressive forecheck]

Bettman is well spoken but he has done a piss-poor job "growing the game" taking the NHL to markets that don't and will never care about the sport of hockey. He completed this harebrained venture so the league could get this TV deal.

He boasts amenity with the NHLPA when the league has missed an entire season and a huge chunk of another over collective bargaining disputes under his watch as commisioner of the NHL.

His revenue sharing model in a salary cap league has ###### Canadian teams for 27 years. His business model is a steaming pile of shit.

Gary Bettman is full of shit. That's his legacy.

 

[Snipes45]

Bettman is well spoken but he has done a piss-poor job "growing the game" taking the NHL to markets that don't and will never care about the sport of hockey. He completed this harebrained venture so the league could get this TV deal.

He boasts amenity with the NHLPA when the league has missed an entire season and a huge chunk of another over collective bargaining disputes.

His revenue sharing model in a salary cap league has ###### Canadian teams for 27 years. His business model is a steaming pile of shit.

Gary Bettman is full of shit. That's his legacy.

Every NHL owner, who bought teams and seen their valuation sky rocket, disagrees with you. It's all about money. Take his start date to today and type here what the NHL grosses.....

How many jobs has he created?


Or list what he has specifically done wrong to not grow the game. The word grow to me means an upwards trajectory. Maybe it means the opposite to you guys lol..?

Typing "Full of sh**" means jacksh**

 

[Anisimovs AK]

Lol. What. Bettman sucks. And the League hasn’t been doing shit under his watch. They became nearly irrelevant in the US under his watch, with only now the hope is that it recovers. New franchises in non traditional markets still arent really taking off. And he can’t even get his own Leagues rules right.

The league had a meager Canadian tv contract no US tv contract to speak of when he took over. Now the NHL makes about a $1 Billion a year from media rights.l, and franchise values are at an all time high


But yes, nearly irrelevant

 

[aggressive forecheck]

Every NHL owner, who bought teams and seen their valuation sky rocket, disagrees with you. It's all about money. Take his start date to today and type here what the NHL grosses.....

How many jobs has he created?


Or list what he has specifically done wrong to not grow the game. The word grow to me means an upwards trajectory. Maybe it means the opposite to you guys lol..?

Typing "Full of sh**" means jacksh**

They make money through revenue sharing in a sports entertainment organization. [MOD]

 

[TheNumber4]

The league had a meager Canadian tv contract no US tv contract to speak of when he took over. Now the NHL makes about a $1 Billion a year from media rights.l, and franchise values are at an all time high


But yes, nearly irrelevant

Every value becomes an all time high given enough time. Gary took over the League in 1993 for f***s sake. If you want to know how well he’s done you have to compare to like- Leagues, not just look at absolute numbers and deem it a success. Growths and overall revenues still fall far behind the other big 4 sports. Who’s to say someone more compentant than Gary couldn’t have grown this League into a 2 Billion dollar industry. Watching the Leagues management and marketing over the last 30 years, I would say a donkey could have done what Bettman did.

 

[Snipes45]

They make money through revenue sharing in an sports entertainment organization. [MOD]

I get what you are implying there, but I am talking about how much the league has grown as a whole from when he took over.

They are what? Like 5-6 Billion? In 2009 they were not even at 3 Billion. They were at how much when he took over the reigns? Much less.

 

[Snipes45]

Every value becomes an all time high given enough time. Gary took over the League in 1993 for f***s sake. If you want to know how well he’s done you have to compare to like- Leagues, not just look at absolute numbers and deem it a success. Growths and overall revenues still fall far behind the other big 4 sports. Who’s to say someone more compentant than Gary couldn’t have grown this League into a 2 Billion dollar industry. Watching the Leagues management and marketing over the last 30 years, I would say a donkey could have done what Bettman did.

Well, maybe prove it now. How far behind is he with the numbers compared to the other big boys? That is such a lazy answer. "A donkey could have done that". Do you have projections as to where the league should be by now?

You can say that about a lot of people in the real world lol. Most people don't execute or even try though. They just talk down about others. "Oh, how did that dolt do that? He's not that smart!" (From their computer).

 

[aggressive forecheck]

I get what you are implying there, but I am talking about how much the league has grown as a whole from when he took over.

They are what? Like 5-6 Billion? In 2009 they were not even at 3 Billion. They were at how much when he took over the reigns? Much less.

Doesn't fill my pockets or the pockets of fans in the real passionate hockey markets. What product do they pay for? It hasn't given them many fond memories of the game during Bettman's primetime shitshow.

 

[TheNumber4]

Well, maybe prove it now. How far behind is he with the numbers compared to the other big boys? That is such a lazy answer. "A donkey could have done that". Do you have projections as to where the league should be by now?

You can say that about a lot of people in the real world lol. Most people don't execute or even try though. They just talk down about others. "Oh, how did that dolt do that? He's not that smart!" (From their computer).

I provided you an entire well researched article with a graph showing growth in sponsorships (which can be used as a proxy for overall growth) for the last 10 years. Where it shows the NHL at nearly a flatline with other Leagues seeing exponential growth.

But I’m sure your argument is much better “DUrRrrr they makE millions of dOllars so Gary must be doing a GReAT JoB”

 

[TheNumber4]

Doesn't fill my pockets or the pockets of fans in the real passionate hockey markets. What product do they pay for? It hasn't given them many fond memories of the game during Bettman's primetime shitshow.

Yeh seriously, even if the League is making money (surprise surprise it’s built on 100 years of tradition and die hard fans passing on the tradition) what relevance should it have to your average fan? Zero.

 

[JPeeper]

People shitting on Bettman need to understand that hockey is a niche sport and you can only grow it so much.

Basketball is huge because literally anyone can play it anywhere, all you need is a pair of shoes and a basketball and you can dribble around outside or go shoot at a court. The sport also has 5-8 guys on a team (who are used) and solidified by 1-3 star players, so of course their personality is going to shine more and they're going to get a bigger spot light, they essentially play the entire game every game.

If I want to get my kid(s) into hockey, not only do I got to pay $600-1000 in league fees but I got to buy hundreds of dollars worth of equipment + sticks + sharpen the skates every few weeks + practices and God forbid they want to be a goalie which is even more $.

Any kid can go buy a basketball and play pick up games and get really good, this is what Kevin Durant and Giannis did among countless others. I can't just go out of the house and play a hockey game like basketball, by it's nature hockey is going to have a LOT LESS people involved.

And Football is religion in the States.

 

[mundyc3]

I really enjoyed Bettman putting Kellerman in his place. I want to believe Kellerman's personality is only for TV but his obnoxious takes as if his word is fact is nauseating. His question about the handling of COVID showed that he used only his network's coverage as the source rather than doing his own research on the matter. Bettman seemed ready to squash his bullshit even if it did feel like a canned answer.

 

[Larry Hanson]

There's a reason Bettman has been the commissioner since forever. He's really good at his job. Probably the best ever.

 

[MuckOG]

Hating on Bettman is so cliche.

 

[Frenchy]

Every value becomes an all time high given enough time. Gary took over the League in 1993 for f***s sake. If you want to know how well he’s done you have to compare to like- Leagues, not just look at absolute numbers and deem it a success. Growths and overall revenues still fall far behind the other big 4 sports. Who’s to say someone more compentant than Gary couldn’t have grown this League into a 2 Billion dollar industry. Watching the Leagues management and marketing over the last 30 years, I would say a donkey could have done what Bettman did.

1993 is the last time a Canadian team won the cup. Before 1993 they had a hell of a track record regarding winning the cup , but since then nothing....coincidence ???