Behind the Scenes with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman

Before assuming his leadership role in the National Hockey League in 1993, Gary Bettman was senior vice president of the National Basketball Association. During his NHL tenure, Bettman has overseen the league’s expansion to 30 teams and marketed the NHL globally.

Bettman, 59, graduated from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations in 1974 and the New York University School of Law in 1977. As an undergraduate at Cornell, Bettman was a member of the AEPi Jewish fraternity and played intramural hockey. In this exclusive interview, Bettman discusses diversity in the NHL, player safety and how hockey continues to distinguish itself among other prominent American sports.

Q: Hockey is the predominant sport at Cornell. Would you say your most formative years as a hockey fan took place while you were a student at Cornell?

I was a hockey fan before I went to Cornell, growing up in Queens. But the level of interest certainly got a major boost by going to games at Lynah Rink (where Cornell hockey games are played.) I was a season-ticket holder all four years at Cornell.

Q: Before you became NHL commissioner, you worked for the NBA for a number of years. How did you enjoy working in the NBA, and how did you transition to working with the NHL?

Working at the NBA was a very good experience and education. It served me well in understanding the fundamentals of a professional sports league, and when the NHL was doing a search for a new commissioner/president in 1992, I was contacted and ultimately recruited. I was always a big hockey fan. Growing up, I was exposed to all the sports and had a particular affinity to hockey.

Q: Basketball, baseball and football are often seen as the big three sports in the United States. How does hockey fit into the American sports landscape? How do you work to garner interest in the sport in general and the NHL in particular?

Actually, I think football, basketball, baseball and hockey are viewed as the big four. This is a sport that’s approaching 100 years old. We have the most passionate, most avid fans. I think it’s the nature of the game. People connect with the game and with the players, whether or not it’s the speed or the skill or the emotion or the edginess. But this game seems to captivate people in very special ways.

Q: The NHL boasts a tremendous diversity of players from all over the globe, but many have noted the predominance of white athletes in the league. How has the NHL prioritized diversity under your tenure?

Actually, we have a number of programs, particularly at the grassroots level, that emphasize that hockey is for everyone. Our clubs in the league are involved in a number of inner-city programs, whether it’s ice hockey in Harlem or the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Program in Washington, D.C. The first player of color in our game, Willie O’Ree (who played for the Boston Bruins in 1957-58 and 1960-61), has been working with the league, and with children on behalf of the league, to create greater interest and knowledge of the game by children who wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to the game. And there are probably more players of color in the game now than at any time in its history, collectively. 

Q: Currently, there are only a handful of Jewish players in the NHL. Why do you think there are so few?

I generally don’t tend to focus on people by their religious orientation. We have players from 22 different countries, which probably makes us the most diverse sport of the four major sports leagues. I know there are a few Jews; I’ve never taken inventory. Just like I couldn’t tell you how many Catholics, or Protestants, or Baptists, or Muslims or any other religion.

Q: Does the tremendous diversity and multiculturalism in the league and in each team’s individual locker room create any tensions?

It seems to be quite good. You have to remember that this is a sport with a history and tradition of international play. Our players start representing their countries at a very young age, some as mere teenagers. Our players are focused on playing the game first and foremost, and I think they judge each other based on how they play the game and how they are as teammates.

Q: During your tenure as commissioner, what has been your primary struggle, your proudest achievement? What do you hope to accomplish before you leave the NHL?

What we are constantly trying to do is grow the game and make it as exciting and as entertaining as possible, and that has always been our number one priority. There are many who say the game has never been better than it is right now. That is something that we’ll continue to do while we look for new and exciting and creative ways to connect with our fans, whether or not it’s on additional media, digital media, through special events like the winter classic (the one game each season played outdoors in early January), or greater exposure internationally.

Q: The injury to Pittsburgh Penguin Sidney Crosby, who went almost a year without playing in the NHL, due to a concussion, has garnered a lot of media attention. Going forward, how do you plan on making sure the players are protected?

First of all, this is a very physical game. Players are skating at each other at up to 30 miles an hour. Physical contact is not only permitted, it is encouraged, and we play in an enclosed environment. Anyone who suggests that you can eliminate injuries in our game is naïve. Having said that, we’re the first sports league with a working study group on concussions which consisted of players, doctors, trainers and the league. We’re the first sports league to have a protocol for diagnosis and return-to-play decisions. We put in initiatives to make sure equipment is appropriately protective and not too large. We have had rule changes, including with respect to contact with the head. We changed the environment by making all arenas go to Plexiglas, which is softer than seamless glass. And we’re the first sports league to have a senior executive who runs a department that’s specifically devoted to player safety. This is an important priority and initiative for us.

Q: Do you have any particular memories from when you were in AEPi at Cornell or from your childhood that connect your Judaism and hockey?

There’s no one particular instance that in my mind connects the two. However, the concept of doing the right thing with the people around you, sometimes known as teamwork, always doing your best, working hard, contributing to a common goal—those are both themes that are prevalent in Judaism and in hockey.