Friday, May 15, 2009

Bettman's Disastrous Sun Belt Strategy

The world's worst sport's commissioner of any sport, any time comes under fire in this Ottawa Citizen article about the Coyotes by Bruce Ward:
The forecast high in Phoenix today is 98 Fahrenheit -- perfect hockey weather -- but it's way hotter under my collar as I write this. I'm steamed because short capitalist tool Gary Bettman keeps trying to prevent Canuck billionaire Jim Balsillie from bringing the Phoenix Coyotes to Southern Ontario.

Guy wants to pay $212.5 million for a team that's losing $20 million a year and bring it to a place that loves hockey. And that smug Bettman keeps saying no. Because it's a far better thing to spread hockey fever in Arizona, where the favourite sport is berating the hard-working Hispanic community.
Bettman is still banking that these failing sun belt teams will somehow attract new fans and grow the sport. It's not working, and it ruins it for fans in other regions where hockey is popular. The lock out hurt hockey, but recent Cup champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes and Anaheim Ducks hurt it just as badly, IMHO.

3 comments:

  1. I hate Bettman`s Pollyanna bullshit. He refuses to acknowledge any problems with the league. The number one complaint in the US, is bad TV coverage of the NHL. Watching a San Jose game on TV, is like a watching a Google mapping satellite.
    Balsillie should slow down on his team offer. The price is going to come way down. The sports bubble not just hockey, is starting to break. Bettman does not realize how good the 200 million dollar offer is for the NHL. Next year the market value will be much lower.
    Memo to Gary Bettman; your an asshole!

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  2. With US tv coverage you couldn't get game 7 of a playoff game on free tv, but had to have obscure cable station Verus. (Not even ESPN) Also, Det v. Ana clashed with Bos v. Car, and if you wanted the later, you had to do pay per view.

    True Basillie is way over-paying and they still won't give it to him.

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  3. That was another huge Bettman mistake. He did not re-sign the TV rights with ESPN. I have heard that bowling has higher TV ratings in the US, then the NHL.

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