scarlet: in the three decades since gary bettman took over as the first official commissioner of the national hockey league, professional hockey scaled new heights. >> mcdavid blazes over the line and scores!

>> oh, my goodness. >> goodness gracious. scarlet: bettman has led the expansion of the league from 24 teams to its current group of 32. annual revenues now approach $6 billion. jason: he's also helped the nhl establish and maintain a strong competitive balance, with 15 different franchises having placed at the stanley cup at least once during his tenure. scarlet: so today, the ability to stream live content around the globe along with the rapid growth of online gambling in north america have completely changed how fans both consume and engage with their favorite sports. and, the world's premier hockey

league is set to enter its latest growth phase. i am scarlet fu. jason: and i'm jason kelly. this is, the "bloomberg business of sports" with nhl commissioner gary bettman. scarlet: we are here with gary bettman, commissioner of the nhl. thanks for joining us. jason: welcome. scarlet: we are excited to talk to you, especially as you come up 30 years as commissioner. gary: [laughter] scarlet: why did you laugh? gary: people always talking -- 30 years. longest-serving commissioner. all that does is make me feel old. scarlet: but you have presided over a ton of change as the comissioner of the nhl. this sport has been known for brute toughness and violence into a game of speed and skill. talk a little bit about the state of the season, especially when it comes to financials. gary: i will quibble with the prior characterization. the nature of the game has always been physical and we think we've maintain the essential physicality. the emphasis or focus on

fighting, has always historically given the game the reputation you were referring to. what we are really focused on is speed, skill, and the extraordinary competitive balance that we have when you look at the races to the playoffs. when you look at the playoffs, i don't think there is anything in sports like our first round. and the game has gotten younger. i think it has gotten more entertaining. that has paid dividends in terms of what goes on off the ice as well. but the game itself, the players, both current and former players, all marvel, saying the game may be in the best place it has ever been. jason: when you think about that revenue mix, what drove the change or the upside? gary: well, media, particularly our new relationships that are now a year old with the walt

disney company, espn disney company, espn principally, and with what was turner and at&t is now warner bros./discovery. there was a large uptick there. our clubs locally are negotiating new deals as they come due. that has been increasing. our partnerships, our licensed products on all fronts, we are continuing to grow. and having come back from a dislocation -- and again, covid is not just us. jason: right. gary: i mean, all sports, all business, all people, you know, suffered during that two year period where life as we knew it was something that we had never experienced before. and we collaborated very well with our players and our players association. owners were very, very supportive. the banks that we borrowed from were very helpful and supportive. and so, the confidence that everybody showed in the business enabled us to endure. scarlet: what do you think about big technology, those big tech

firms like apple and amazon coming in for the streaming rights? what is the state of your thinking or discussions with any of those players? gary: i think it is exciting. [laughs] because it is an opportunity and there will be more forms of competition. the marketplace in some respects is contracting, but overall it is expanding. right? so the traditional methods may be contracting a little bit. not going to zero. but the adjustment provides us opportunities to do other things. and yes, the apples, the amazons, the peacocks of the world are taking in -- you know, netflix still has not yet dipped its toe in sports but at some point they may conclude that is the way to go. you know, if you think back probably 40 years now, cable and satellites got their penetration because of sports and the because of sports and the regional sports channels and the appetite for sports. i think that while it may not be on a regional level, it may be more national, i think sports may be driving some of these streaming services as they go forward. jason: and so, when you think about the consumer, the fan, the mind obviously goes to -- we are

all big sports fans here -- even the mix of sports that they the mix of sports that they consume, how do you think of the nhl in the context of other american or north american sports today? gary: well, i, i don't view it as us versus them, though to some extent who is prepared to some extent who is prepared to bid and how the scheduling works out is a function of which outlets have which sports. jason: right. gary: and that was a challenge gary: and that was a challenge we had when i took over. we really did not have a national presence. we had to weave our way, finding the partner and the spot that would work for us. but to me, the most important thing is, you gotta provide your fans with easy access, which is fairly priced, but also when you are looking at the millennials and gen z's, they want more than just the games now. they want behind the scenes. you know, we do road to the stanley cup, road to the winter

stanley cup, road to the winter classic. it is about giving a look at our players and our game from a vantage point that when i was the equivalent age of a gen z, you could only imagine. what was it like to be inside of a locker room, to see the players getting ready? i mean, and that is what our younger fans are demanding. and frankly, i think it is good for the game, particularly for our game based on our players to see that. scarlet: how important is it for the nhl to retain its status as one of north america's big four professional sports leagues? gary: well, i don't think there is any question that we are. our game is still among the big four and will be, as far as i am concerned, forever. jason: the collective view of -- gary: gambling! i know where you are going. [laughter] jason: you saw where i was going there. how has that played in over the last few years? gary: you know, i think the industry is evolving on sports betting. it is healthy and has given fans

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allspring. purposefully divergent. jason: when you think about growing your audience, one of the franchises or areas i know the franchises or areas i know we think a lot about is the latino audience. and we have spent time with javier gutierrez and the coyotes, you know, sort of coyotes, you know, sort of understanding the changing demographics. what are the conversations inside this building about that? gary: we want everybody, no matter who you are, where you're from, what you believe, to know that you're welcome to be part of hockey. whether it is playing at the youth level, whether it is being a fan at our level, we want you to feel comfortable being with us.

and with that, we need to make sure that we keep an eye on our diversity and making sure that we are as diverse as possible. you know, we, over the years, have been focused on the fact that we are a predominantly white northeastern or canadian sport.

and that has changed over time. and our franchises, particularly in the sun belt, have embraced being more inclusive. and so, as demographics of the world, our world, north american world changes, we need to recognize that if we're going to be relevant going forward. scarlet: i want to stay on that change theme because domestically, we have seen how

nba players were front and center in the summer of 2020 during the black lives matter protests that took root. how does the nhl encourage player activism, either structurally or implicitly? because your demographic audience is very different than say, the nba's. gary: we want our players to be comfortable in their own skin. we want them to feel comfortable being authentic and true to their beliefs. we don't think as a league we need to be political, but we do need to stand for the right things, and our values of the game. we issued a declaration of principles a number of years ago

with hockey organizations throughout the world and at our level, saying we want to stand for inclusiveness. we want to stand for leadership, for teamwork, the life lessons that are important to instill in young people.

and that is something we believe in. we're not on a preaching campaign. players, executives can do that on their own, but we want to stand for the right things, letting everybody know they are welcome being part of the game. jason: when you think about the

expansion teams over the last few years, i mean, i wonder what the lessons are you have taken. scarlet was talking about going to a golden knights game and it being -- gary: a show! jason -- a radically different experience from what you might see down the street. gary: fantastic! jason: so, what do you take from that, from the kraken, even going further?

gary: well, some of it is just the stereotype of our game, the reference to nontraditional markets -- i don't even know what that means anymore. maybe it means warm weather markets where we have thrived. maybe it means markets where we haven't been before. but when you look at the fact that we have two teams in florida, we have a team in nashville, we have team in

dallas, we have a team in arizona, we have a team in las vegas, we have three teams in california, what it tells you is hockey can do well wherever we have a franchise. and what usa hockey will tell you is that youth participation soars dramatically when we put a team in a new place. and teams, there is no such thing as nontraditional, teams make their own tradition. you know, your example of going to a game in las vegas, people in vegas love -- jason: right. gary: -- not only going to the games, it has given the city an identity for the people that really live there that they didn't have. because, people in las vegas don't try to typically identify with the strip. we were the thing that brought people together. i would hear stories that if you go out to summerland and you are in a restaurant or bar, people that don't know each other will start talking because the talking about hockey. jason: yeah. gary: and one of the things i gary: and one of the things i think we d the first time you made a sale online with godaddy was also the first time you heard of a town named dinosaur, colorado.

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jason: there is a scarcity issue when it comes to teams of any

professional stripe. gary: makes them more valuable, i guess. jason: that is exactly where i'm going. not a lot of trades happening in your league, some more in the other professional leagues. one is for sale, the senators. what is the interest level like? and tell us about that process. gary: well obviously, the senators are being sold because of the premature tragic passing of eugene melnyck, the owner of the ottawa senators. there is tremendous interest. i don't know, owning a hockey team in canada, the nation's capital, strikes me as being a pretty big deal. there may be an opportunity to build a new arena downtown. and so, it is pretty exciting. and to see the level of interest that appears to be out there should make it good. i also think, you know, when i look at all the valuations that are put out there by various organizations, we continue to be undervalued. and that is probably because we don't have a lot of turnover except maybe on the lower end, because i think our owners by and large are substantial, passionate about the game, and like being in hockey. so we don't see a lot of turnover. and i think that is a good thing, even if it results in us being a little undervalued. scarlet: so some of the interested buyers in the ottawa

senators, ryan reynolds who is a hollywood star, has expressed interest, has gone on tv to talk about it. what would someone like ryan reynolds, with his profile, bring to the sport? gary: first and foremost to the senators, i think it would raise the profile of the club and i actually think, based on the way ryan presents himself and knows how to market in entertainment and sports, you know, he has rexum, and he's done a great job with that, so i think he would be a plus if we can figure this all out with him. he has been here to visit with us. i find him very engaging. i find him very smart. i think he has well over 100 million followers on his various platforms. so, if we can figure out a way to bring him into the league, i think that would be great. i think he would be a great addition. jason: when you think about your

players, and we approach everything from an economic perspective because we are bloomberg at the end of the day, how do you think about their compensation? it feels like from the outside, when you look at other professional leagues, growth has not been quite commensurate with others. how do you look at compensation? gary: i think the growth has been substantial. i may be off on the numbers, but i believe when i took over, the average player was making between $300,000 and $400,000 a year and now we are in the multimillions.

our system is fair, ok? players get 50%, as a group, of our revenues. and we are structured in a way that all of our teams can afford to compete. that combination has made the game stronger. scarlet: when you look at other leagues and other sports, you see how much the marquee players tend to call the shots, thinking of lebron james in basketball, or in soccer with messi and neimar on the same team, or aaron judge deciding he will stay with the yankees.

these can kind of lead to the creation of unofficial super teams, teams that just kind of dwarf everyone else. do you see this happening in hockey, too, or is it structurally not possible, given how you've constructed things? gary: i never like to say things are not possible or never, but the way we are structured -- both as a sport, and i think we are the ultimate team sport, the way our players and the chemistry of a team work, and the system we have, which gives us the competitive balance that we do, and our three level cap, 50% of the players, team has a hard cap, no player can make more than a certain percentage of the cap when he signs. the combination of that, i

think, gives us a system that works extraordinarily well, both for the players and for the league. >> marchand down low, score! the power-play expired. jason: when you think about innovations or sort of bubbling up ideas that really catch on, winter classic, obvously, is one that has really caught the imagination, even a broader swath of fans. how do you keep that momentum going? and how do you think about it going into this year? gary: whether it's streaming and technology, or sports betting,

or puck and player tracking, or changing how games are broadcast or streamed, or whether it is tentpole events, or whether it is behind the scenes shoulder programming, what we are constantly looking for is more and more ways for people to connect with the game, and to do it on their terms. and technology lets you do that, particularly streaming, because we are going to get to the point where there will be more cameras. you can focus on what you want to. you can pull up data when you want. because people over time -- we haeeand are going to see more, want to customizeir experience. w, eople my age would rather sit on the couch and just have it laid out for you. but that is a function of age and how we grew up and what was available to us. but being able to give fans more and give it to them on their terms is what is going to be essential moving forward. scarlet: i can imagine my kids would want to see some live chirping between the players on the ice. is there anything --

gary: that is why we mic players and officials all the time, which was unheard of 20 years ago. we were the first to interview coaches during a game from the bench.