Bettman: New platforms, markets give NHL unique growth opportunities
The NHL has a chance to grow the game more than ever before.
Speaking Tuesday as part of "GameChangers: Creating the Future of Sports," a conference held by The Paley Center for Media, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman highlighted what a focus on digital means for the future of the NHL.
"We have a great opportunity to grow in places and in ways that we've never been able to do it before because we're getting more exposure in more places," said Bettman, who has been in the NHL's top job since 1993.
"Using all of the new opportunities, all of the new platforms, gives us a way to reach fans that we haven't been able to reach before," Bettman added. "If you go back and whether it was the 11 o'clock news or Sportscenter, historically we got less coverage than everybody else."
While the NHL has a long-term U.S. television agreement with NBC, in 2015 it signed a digital rights deal with Major League Baseball Advanced Media in an effort to reach an even broader scope of fans.
"In terms of the size of our audience, not their avidity, but the size has always been impacted by underexposure," Bettman said. "Our footprint is (now) broader than it has ever been."
Under Bettman's leadership, the NHL has added several new markets across the United States, growing the hockey road map to Anaheim, Miami, Nashville, Columbus, Minnesota, while other franchises have found new homes in Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, and Raleigh.
Next season, the NHL will introduce its newest market, when it welcomes the Vegas Golden Knights as its 31st team.