How can Bettman lose his job

[The Bookie]

Retirement or Death (serious answer)

If he was going to throw himself on the sword it would have been after the lockout last year, instead he came out looking better than ever.

I'm not a Bettman fan but I encourage anyone who feels let down by elements of the league to look elsewhere for direction to their hate. The BOG and NHLOA are good places to start.

[Bill Sikes]

How does he keep his job? Because he understands that he only has to please the owners.

He fancies himself an autocratic figurehead who resorts to intimidation, and he routinely takes a confrontational and uncompromising stance on everything which produces consequences such as a lockout every few years.

The reason things looked especially dire about a year ago is because Fehr took a similar approach, because apparently you have to go to the extreme for any kind of parley with Bettman. It was a game of chicken. Both of them deserve to be reprimanded harshly for endangering the game like that. Neither of them should be employed.

From a fan's perspective, he is the last guy you want in charge of any kind of business negotiation. Maybe the worst man ever when it comes to business relations. But his hardball approach always delivers for the owners, and that is all he needs to do.

If you look at his job description, you might have guessed that he should have been fired years, even decades ago:

”6.1 Office of Commissioner, Election and Term of Office The League shall employ a Commissioner selected by the Board of Governors. The Commissioner shall serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the League and is charged with protecting the integrity of the game of professional hockey and preserving public confidence in the League. The Board of Governors shall determine the term of office and compensation of the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall be elected a majority of the Governors present and voting at a League meeting at which a quorum was present when it was convened.“

Problem is the BoG is full of arrogant arseholes like Jacobs and Leopold to whom Integrity is a foreign concept. Sadly I think assassination is the only way we will be rid of the Evil Dwarf.

[n00bxQb]

Bettman tells us how: "If I take to the ice and it's completely silent, then I know I'm in trouble." Best way to get him fired is to stay home.

If Bettman hadn't been a masterful politician keeping the owners on his side by any means, they would see that in the 20 years he's worked for them, he failed to reach his promise. Revenues have grown during his time, yes, but not as he's promised: the traditional markets have picked the lion's share of profit growth while the south still struggles to remain relvant. Eleven teams have recorded losses, an improvement from a few years back. Still, Bettman had 20 years to reach his goal of competing in the market. It largely hasn't worked. But the owners won't see that until their arenas are quiet and people stopp watching TV.

People could stop watching TV and it would barely make a dent. The big national TV deals are long-term, big-money. It's only the shorter-term, small-money regional contract that would be at risk.

[skolozsy2]

John McDonough for Commissioner!!!

Bettman isnt going anywhere....the job is his for as long as he wants it. Might as well just get used to it.

[Baggins]

How does he keep his job? Because he understands that he only has to please the owners.

He fancies himself an autocratic figurehead who resorts to intimidation, and he routinely takes a confrontational and uncompromising stance on everything which produces consequences such as a lockout every few years.

The reason things looked especially dire about a year ago is because Fehr took a similar approach, because apparently you have to go to the extreme for any kind of parley with Bettman. It was a game of chicken. Both of them deserve to be reprimanded harshly for endangering the game like that. Neither of them should be employed.

From a fan's perspective, he is the last guy you want in charge of any kind of business negotiation. Maybe the worst man ever when it comes to business relations. But his hardball approach always delivers for the owners, and that is all he needs to do.

If you look at his job description, you might have guessed that he should have been fired years, even decades ago:

”6.1 Office of Commissioner, Election and Term of Office The League shall employ a Commissioner selected by the Board of Governors. The Commissioner shall serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the League and is charged with protecting the integrity of the game of professional hockey and preserving public confidence in the League. The Board of Governors shall determine the term of office and compensation of the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall be elected a majority of the Governors present and voting at a League meeting at which a quorum was present when it was convened.“

You do realize the stance he takes in negotiations is mandated by the board of govenrors don't you? What that means is, if the owners want something it's Bettmans job to get it even if requires a lockout. If he succeeds, he has done exactly what the owners want and thus isn't likely to be fired. If he doesn't he is caving to the players and will likely get fired.

What has Bettman been asked to do?

1 Expand the NHL market. Done

2 Increase TV revenue. Done

3 Gain a US national broadcast deal. Done

4 Get a hard salary cap. Done

5 Increase league revenue. Done

6 Increase owners share of revenue. Done

7 Close off cap circumvention contracts. Done

Do you think there was any hope in hell of him getting a hard cap, changing the player/owner split or putting limits on player contracts without a lockout? Not a chance. If this was your employee would you fire him? Only if you're a complete idiot.

I've said this before, I miss my hockey when there's a lockout. But it has far, far less of an impact on my life than a transit strike, teachers strike, or healthcare strike. Hockey is after all just a game played for our entertainment. The truth is I had no trouble at all finding other sources of entertainment while it was shutdown. It literally saved me money on the high cost of those tickets. So pull up those big boy pants and get over Bettman doing the job he's paid to do.

[Boudrias]

As Baggins clearly states Bettman has done a job that I am sure the owners probably thought could not be done. If he isn't cashing bonus cheques now he never will.

1) Bettman will place two expansion teams into Seattle and Portland which will be a game changer for Vancouver.

2) The biggest issue facing the NHL is the apparent desire to tone down physical play and this runs the risk of turning the game into Euro hockey which will lose me as a fan. The fake player collapses after legit hits makes me think of that mind numbing sport, soccer.

3) A Bettman failure: Not mandating international ice surfaces for new arenas.

[D-Money]

You do realize the stance he takes in negotiations is mandated by the board of govenrors don't you? What that means is, if the owners want something it's Bettmans job to get it even if requires a lockout. If he succeeds, he has done exactly what the owners want and thus isn't likely to be fired. If he doesn't he is caving to the players and will likely get fired.

What has Bettman been asked to do?

1 Expand the NHL market. Done

2 Increase TV revenue. Done

3 Gain a US national broadcast deal. Done

4 Get a hard salary cap. Done

5 Increase league revenue. Done

6 Increase owners share of revenue. Done

7 Close off cap circumvention contracts. Done

Do you think there was any hope in hell of him getting a hard cap, changing the player/owner split or putting limits on player contracts without a lockout? Not a chance. If this was your employee would you fire him? Only if you're a complete idiot.

I've said this before, I miss my hockey when there's a lockout. But it has far, far less of an impact on my life than a transit strike, teachers strike, or healthcare strike. Hockey is after all just a game played for our entertainment. The truth is I had no trouble at all finding other sources of entertainment while it was shutdown. It literally saved me money on the high cost of those tickets. So pull up those big boy pants and get over Bettman doing the job he's paid to do.

On top of all of this, he has somehow managed to get all of these things for the owners, while directing almost all of the negative feelings from the fanbase to himself.

I'd say this is his crowning achievement. The owners get to do almost anything they want, and most of the fans blame it all on their puppet. Genius!

[Tre Mac]

Grats on making (some of) the owners richer, the on ice product is about as worse as it's been in my 20 years watching hockey. Soccer on ice. Officiating is the worse out of the top 4 NA sports. He increased viewership, well guess what every sport has. Watch ESPN in the states and see how long if any hockey coverage gets played. Ask a owner from Canada, the ones that get outvoted 5:1, if they value the work Bettman has done. Now he wants to put a team in Vegas just for the sake of being the first to put a team in Vegas while ignoring Seattle and Portland, two cities that could easily support a franchise, shows that he is repeating the same failed mistakes that got the NHL in its last labour mess. No doubt in my mind the game would be far better if he was never envolved. I retract my hoping he dies statement, that was harsh on my part, but I really love hockey and it's clear he's not putting the best interest of the game ahead of the money it generates.

[Red Light Racicot]

You do realize the stance he takes in negotiations is mandated by the board of govenrors don't you? What that means is, if the owners want something it's Bettmans job to get it even if requires a lockout. If he succeeds, he has done exactly what the owners want and thus isn't likely to be fired. If he doesn't he is caving to the players and will likely get fired.

What has Bettman been asked to do?

1 Expand the NHL market. Done

2 Increase TV revenue. Done

3 Gain a US national broadcast deal. Done

4 Get a hard salary cap. Done

5 Increase league revenue. Done

6 Increase owners share of revenue. Done

7 Close off cap circumvention contracts. Done

Do you think there was any hope in hell of him getting a hard cap, changing the player/owner split or putting limits on player contracts without a lockout? Not a chance. If this was your employee would you fire him? Only if you're a complete idiot.

I've said this before, I miss my hockey when there's a lockout. But it has far, far less of an impact on my life than a transit strike, teachers strike, or healthcare strike. Hockey is after all just a game played for our entertainment. The truth is I had no trouble at all finding other sources of entertainment while it was shutdown. It literally saved me money on the high cost of those tickets. So pull up those big boy pants and get over Bettman doing the job he's paid to do.

Okay, but since my opinions have no impact on your well being... no offense, but give me a break...

[Lintanen]

If betman is found dead in the next few weeks, im looking at you

[Fincup13]

The Florida Hockey argument is old and just shows how ignorant we are at the other corner of the continent.

3/4 of a million butts will be in the seats for Canuck regular season games. Somewhere between 1.3 and 1.4 million butts will be in the seats for the 2 Florida NHL teams. I am old enough to remember Canucks 5 seasons in the 80's when there overall game attendance hovered around that 10,000-11,000 level and a great seat for a lot of weekday games could often be picked up from scalpers for a $20 bill. That is substantially less than the Panthers have ever had.

Step outside the NHL, and BCs only other pro hockey team, the Abbotsford Heat are averaging below 2500, good for dead last in the AHL. Florida's two ECHL teams both average above 5000/game. Even Florida's SPHL's Pensacola Ice Pilots draw a 1000 more per game than the Heat.

Florida has 8 University/College hockey teams and so does BC. There is an annual U.of Florida / Georgia Bulldogs game that sees more fans in the arena than UBC sees in a whole season - probably both home and away games.

[BI3KSA-]

From an owners standpoint he is doing a very good job. He is growing the game and increasing revenue for the league. He just signed a gigantic TV deal too. There is no way they fire him. Contrary to popular belief he is not the only reason for the lockouts that have happened during his tenure.

[CamTheCanuckFan]

So did Tiger Singh make a 3rd account. Can we ip ban him please?

[CowtownCanuck]

As much as I despise the man, are we better with the devil we know? What if they go and hire some commissioner that turns the NHL into the WWE or a Disney-fied circus?

[-Vintage Canuck-]

Stop making threads.

[Bill Sikes]

The Florida Hockey argument is old and just shows how ignorant we are at the other corner of the continent.

3/4 of a million butts will be in the seats for Canuck regular season games. Somewhere between 1.3 and 1.4 million butts will be in the seats for the 2 Florida NHL teams. I am old enough to remember Canucks 5 seasons in the 80's when there overall game attendance hovered around that 10,000-11,000 level and a great seat for a lot of weekday games could often be picked up from scalpers for a $20 bill. That is substantially less than the Panthers have ever had.

Step outside the NHL, and BCs only other pro hockey team, the Abbotsford Heat are averaging below 2500, good for dead last in the AHL. Florida's two ECHL teams both average above 5000/game. Even Florida's SPHL's Pensacola Ice Pilots draw a 1000 more per game than the Heat.

Florida has 8 University/College hockey teams and so does BC. There is an annual U.of Florida / Georgia Bulldogs game that sees more fans in the arena than UBC sees in a whole season - probably both home and away games.

And yet the Canucks leave the Panthers and Lightning combined in the dust in terms of revenue, Canucks attendance and what you paid a scalper 30 years ago aren't relevant to todays Corporate America Hockey League, and I notice you conveniently left out BC's WHL teams and Junior A and Junior B leagues, I guess you only try to bring up points if they support your argument and ignore those that don't? Is that you Gary?

[BigRedMachine]

The commissioner's job is to keep the owners happy, not the fans. As long as he does what is best for the owners, he will keep his job, even if that is not what is best for the sport. There's an economic angle to keeping the owners happy, but there is also a political one.

For many of the reasons given by others above, the owners are pretty happy. They have a salary cap, and revenues are up. Sure, allot of franchises are struggling to make money, but that's where the political angle comes in.

You could make a pretty strong argument that it would make more economic sense for the league to allow several of the marginal US teams to move to more lucrative Canadian markets. Nate Silver argues based on some pretty in depth analysis that a second team in Toronto or Montreal, or a team in Quebec City, would be more successful than having two teams in Florida, or three in California:

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/31/why-cant-canada-win-the-stanley-cup/?_r=1

But the political reality is that Most American owners don't want to move their teams, and most Canadian owners don't want more competition in their backyard, even if it would be better for the league overall. From that standpoint, Bettman keeps two groups of owners happy by keeping marginal American teams on life support, which keeps them from relocating to Canada.

Witness the league's extraordinary efforts to keep a failing franchise in Phoenix, even when it made obvious economic sense to allow it to move to Hamilton. It wasn't just about Balsillie being an owner Bettman couldn't control, he was also trying to secure a loyal Americna owner, and not piss off the Maple Leafs, who don't want another NHL team anywhere near Toronto.

With the Canadian owners and marginal US teams mostly onside, he just has to keep the American teams in more established hockey markets (Boston, Chicago, New York, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philly) happy, and i'm sure he has other ways of doing that.

And as long as the owners are onside economically and politically, Bettman is here to stay for the forseeable future.

[Bill Sikes]

The commissioner's job is to keep the owners happy, not the fans. As long as he does what is best for the owners, he will keep his job, even if that is not what is best for the sport. There's an economic angle to keeping the owners happy, but there is also a political one.

For many of the reasons given by others above, the owners are pretty happy. They have a salary cap, and revenues are up. Sure, allot of franchises are struggling to make money, but that's where the political angle comes in.

You could make a pretty strong argument that it would make more economic sense for the league to allow several of the marginal US teams to move to more lucrative Canadian markets. Nate Silver argues based on some pretty in depth analysis that a second team in Toronto or Montreal, or a team in Quebec City, would be more successful than having two teams in Florida, or three in California:

http://fivethirtyeig...anley-cup/?_r=1

But the political reality is that Most American owners don't want to move their teams, and most Canadian owners don't want more competition in their backyard, even if it would be better for the league overall. From that standpoint, Bettman keeps two groups of owners happy by keeping marginal American teams on life support, which keeps them from relocating to Canada.

Witness the league's extraordinary efforts to keep a failing franchise in Phoenix, even when it made obvious economic sense to allow it to move to Hamilton. It wasn't just about Balsillie being an owner Bettman couldn't control, he was also trying to secure a loyal Americna owner, and not piss off the Maple Leafs, who don't want another NHL team anywhere near Toronto.

With the Canadian owners and marginal US teams mostly onside, he just has to keep the American teams in more established hockey markets (Boston, Chicago, New York, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philly) happy, and i'm sure he has other ways of doing that.

And as long as the owners are onside economically and politically, Bettman is here to stay for the forseeable future.

No his job is not to keep the owners happy, the commissioners job as spelled out quite clearly in the NHL by-laws is to protect the game FROM the owners.

”6.1 Office of Commissioner, Election and Term of Office The League shall employ a Commissioner selected by the Board of Governors. The Commissioner shall serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the League and is charged with protecting the integrity of the game of professional hockey and preserving public confidence in the League. The Board of Governors shall determine the term of office and compensation of the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall be elected a majority of the Governors present and voting at a League meeting at which a quorum was present when it was convened.

[Absent Canuck]

This guy caused 3 lockouts, make stupid decisions, is biased to certain teams

Ect many other things he does drive me nuts, and is ridiculous.

So how Bettman lose his job. Can he be fired, does he have to retire/quit/die or can he get lay off. Just wondering what's the process and if anyone knows

Thoughts

He could get voted out by the board of trustees. However, the difference in the league from when he became our first commiss back in 93 until now is remarkable. He will never get fired. 'Retired' is probably more likely.

[BigRedMachine]

No his job is not to keep the owners happy, the commissioners job as spelled out quite clearly in the NHL by-laws is to protect the game FROM the owners.

”6.1 Office of Commissioner, Election and Term of Office The League shall employ a Commissioner selected by the Board of Governors. The Commissioner shall serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the League and is charged with protecting the integrity of the game of professional hockey and preserving public confidence in the League. The Board of Governors shall determine the term of office and compensation of the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall be elected a majority of the Governors present and voting at a League meeting at which a quorum was present when it was convened.

Yes, that is what the bylaws say. But they also say that the Board of Governors appoints the commissioner, and sets his salary and term of office. And the Board of Governors is made up of the owners or their appointees. So in practice, the commissioner's job is to keep the owners happy. He is not going to protect the game from the owners, because that would cost him his job.