Calling All Fans
by Ryan Collins
Calling all Fans
THE
NHL'S RETURN TO THE ICE BROUGHT FANS BACK TO THE ARENAS IN
RECORD NUMBERS LAST SEASON, BUT TV RATINGS CONTINUED TO
STAGGER.
THE QUESTION NOW IS, CAN THEY TURN THIS AROUND? ,
ILLUSTRATION BY TIM BOWER.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is walking down a Manhattan street
during his lunch break on a Monday afternoon in August when a
stranger approaches him. "You're the commissioner, aren't you?" the
man asks. "You know, during the lockout I was upset, but what you
guys did last season, I want you to know I appreciate it." The man
shakes the commissioner's hand and walks away.
For Bettman, the encounter is a subtle reminder that, despite all
the trials and tribulations of the past few years, including the
longest lockout in professional sports history, the NHL is back
from its darkest hour. It wasn't supposed to turn out this way - at
least not according to the experts who left the NHL for dead
following the cancellation of the 2004-2005 season. Taking an
entire year off from production is business suicide. But with rule
changes generating more scoring and a salary cap creating more
parity within the league, the NHL is more popular than ever,
setting record numbers in attendance last season and blowing its
projected revenue out of the water.
"One of the 'luxuries,' and I use that term in quotes, that
occurred from a hockey operation standpoint during the work
stoppage was the ability to focus on the game and what essential
elements we could fix," Bettman says. "We knew that, over time,
we'd alienate our fans if we didn't."
The question now, though, is, can the NHL - one season removed from
its remarkable return to the ice - make a splash on the national
television scene, where the real financial rewards are?
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