I’ve never liked Gary Bettman.
To be fair, I’ve never met him, and am probably not smart enough to really understand all the business complexities that he faces every day, but from my “armchair quarterback” perspective, I’ve never had any like for the way that he appears to be running the National Hockey League (NHL). Right from the day that he was hired I have felt that he doesn’t have any sense of what hockey is all about, its fans or what the league really needs to survive (noting, of course, that “survive” is not defined as having more teams south of the Mason-Dixon Line). In fairness, a big part of his mandate – created by the team owners – was to make the game more appealing to American customers and that he did, at least in the short term. (Noted Exception: the FoxTrax glowing puck.)
In more recent times, however, and now completely exasperated by the current economic meltdown, he faces a league in a serious financial situation and yet appears to be refusing to be taking or making or allowing any real creative steps to allow the league to evolve into something more appealing and financially viable than it currently is.
His attitude feels to me a little like the Detroit 3 saying, “I think what we need this year is more big trucks!” C’mon Gary, this isn’t the 1950’s anymore! This is big business – big marketing – in the year 2009. Where is the creative thinking about relocating teams where more fans will support them? Where is the guts needed to force some teams to ‘call it a day’ and simply fold up operations?
I think that everybody would agree that for a person to use the services of a credit counselor is a far better route than to limp along on their own until they have to declare personal bankruptcy.
While Toronto fans still have to remortgage their homes and sell their children just to have a faint hope of being able to get a ticket, other teams are teetering on the brink: Columbus is offering ‘ticket, supper and drinks’ packages, Atlanta lost another 8% in attendance through the early part of the season, and Nashville’s management is looking to buy unsold tickets just to be able to lick of the League’s revenue-sharing plate. So… what do the Gary and co do when a white knight (in the form of RIM boss Jim Balsillie) comes along? Do they look to see how they might embrace some new thinking and pick the league up across the board? Nope, they simply kicked him in the glass…
I don’t care if you’re RIM or Rogers or the Regina Pats: companies that are nimble, forward-thinking and innovative thrive. Period. Stoic companies, on the other hand, that lumber down time-worn paths usually end up in dire situations before any meaningful changes occur, but why do they wait so long?
This is precisely why Toyota and Honda have fared better than the Detroit 3 in recent months.
More Toyota and less GM.
For the fact that Gary Bettman has (to date) refused to demonstrate anything that smells like creative leadership to help market and guide the NHL through these toughening economic times, he gets a Rant!
