Gary Bettman on Attendance, Mullett Arena, Miller and Reynolds

“Good evening, everyone, we have nothing to announce,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in opening his media availability from the Matt Frost Media Room at Canada Life Centre on Wednesday evening.

Much to the disappointment of fans hoping to hear of an All-Star Game, Global Series or Draft scheduled for the city of Winnipeg or the Jets, Bettman and his counterpart, deputy commissioner Bill Daly made it to Winnipeg on Wednesday night to take in a battle for first-place in the Central Division. The game certainly reminded Bettman of the passion that Jets fans carry within, as the home team rallied for a commanding 5-1 victory over the visiting Dallas Stars.

“I always like coming to Winnipeg,” Bettman said. “It’s a place where hockey matters. Being back here with the Jets has always been, for me, one of the highlights of things we’ve been able to accomplish.”

An interesting aside from a guy who just 25 years ago took the Jets away from their beloved fans and city, relocating the team to sunny Arizona, where it has been an attendance flop ever since.

But Gary, always the Coyote optimist, provided some explanation for the 1996 move south.

“There was no prospect of a new building here and nobody wanted to own the team any longer, including, if I recall correctly, and I could be off on this because it’s been quite a while, the province owned a piece of the club and the province was no longer interested in owning it. So when you have a situation where nobody wants to own a club in a particular situation, there’s nothing there.”

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Speaking of nothing there, how about the state of Mullett Arena – the Coyotes current home for the 2022-23 season. The 5,000 seat arena has already hosted the Jets – in a pop-up, drape-style dressing room, to go along with heavily-inflated student section seating at the rink that normally hosts the Arizona State University hockey team.

“The reaction has been phenomenal,” Bettman said of the temporary rink. “People are saying – players are saying – it’s fun to play there, the ice is great. But everybody should understand this is temporary. There was no other place for the Coyotes to play. The plan is to have a new arena in Tempe which is the right place in that market. Greater Phoenix Arizona is a terrific market. Among other things ask Auston Matthews. And so it’s temporary and in the interim we’ll get through there. People are having a good time with it, both the players and the fans.”

Speaking of dwindling attendance figures, Bettman also responded to the question of lower attendance in Canadian cities, most notably Winnipeg, where only one sellout (Winnipeg vs. Toronto) has occurred so far this season.

“I don’t think there’s an attendance issue,” Bettman said candidly. “We’re coming out of COVID. Around the edges. Some teams are seeing a little bit of softness. Maybe it’s people’s reluctance to still go to crowds. Maybe it’s the economy. Maybe their routines have changed a little bit. And maybe the fact that not everybody’s coming into the city to work anymore which is a factor as well. For a team to be successful, any team in any market needs broad support from the business community and from the fans. I believe this building can be and will be full again.”

Attending a game in Ottawa Wednesday evening was Canadian movie star Ryan Reynolds, who recently made headlines stating his interest in purchasing the Ottawa Senators. Of course, Reynolds would need a partner – or two – to get the job done, but his excitement has clearly drawn the attention of Bettman.

Bettman on Ryan Reynolds expressing interest in purchasing the Ottawa Senators:

“He was quite articulate on the tonight show with Jimmy Fallon last night.”

“He needs either a sugar mommy or sugar daddy.”

“He’s a very popular and well respected person.”

— Carter Brooks (@CBrooksie84) November 8, 2022

“He was quite articulate on the Tonight Show last night with Jimmy Fallon that he would be very interested and that he needs either a Sugar Mommy or a Sugar Daddy with a lot of money to help him – I think those were his exact words that I’m quoting,” Bettman laughed. “Listen, anything that engages the fan base, that brings a lot of attention to the franchise or the team is a plus. He’s a very popular and well-respected person.”

On the topic of respect – or lack there of – Bettman also spoke at length about the ongoing saga surrounding Mitchell Miller and the Boston Bruins. Although speaking for over 10 minutes about the drama leading up to the Bruins decision to part ways with the racist bully, he really didn’t have many answers for any of the reporters grilling him on the significance of the contract, how the Bruins managed to sign the player, and where he currently stands within the NHL’s collective sights.

“Well, clubs are, in the first instance, free to sign eligible players in terms of age and what their status is from a contractual standpoint,” Bettman said of MIller’s ineligibility going forward. “We, then, in the appropriate circumstance, have the right to decide who is eligible to play in the league. I think there’s a little bit of confusion between signing a contract and who is eligible to play in the league. It’s totally different.”

“There’s a difference between signing a contract and being eligible to play… One does not lead necessarily to the other and that’s why I think there’s some confusion on this. But in the final analysis, the Bruins concluded that perhaps that wasn’t the right way to proceed. In terms of that, Cam Neely’s quotes and statements are the best indication of what happened.”

With the Miller explanation clearly going nowhere, Bettman turned to his faith in the League’s bounce-back following two COVID-filled seasons. Stating the strong economics of this 2022-23 season, his hope for money in/out remains very positive.

“We lost a lot of money during the two-and-a-half years, although last season, we set a record for revenues,” he revealed. “We were about a half a billion dollars better than we thought we were going to be going into the season… We are in a good place. This was the ultimate team effort in the ultimate team sport. The future is bright.”