Gary Bettman Becomes the Longest Tenured Pro Sports Commissioner in North American Pro Sports
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Gary Bettman has been the NHL Commissioner for 31 years. Bettman reached this mark last Saturday, officially solidifying him as the longest serving commissioner out of the major North American professional sports leagues.
To put Bettman’s historic reign into perspective, he has been on the job for 11,318 days after being installed as commissioner back in 1993. According to The Hockey News, Bettman has overseen 59 percent of players, 57 percent of coaches, and 56 percent of games played in NHL history.
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It is important to understand that the role of a professional sports commissioner is a polarizing one. While many fans may have mixed views of Bettman’s body of work over the last three decades, it is hard to deny the greatness that is being displayed. One of the biggest goals for the NHL during Bettman’s tenure has been to expand and grow the influence of the NHL in order to compete with other major North American professional sports. It is clear that Bettman has had success in this endeavor, as the NHL has welcomed 615 million new fans since he was installed as commissioner.
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The league has not only expanded its fanbase, but also the size of the league itself. Bettman has spearheaded the addition of expansion teams to the NHL, the most recent examples being the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Seattle Kraken. Bettman is not finished there, with rumors that a new expansion team could be added in Utah as early as next season. National Women’s Soccer Team Commissioner Jessica Berman, a former co-worker of Bettman’s in the NHL Commissioner’s office, commented on Bettman’s ability to balance the needs of the owners throughout this expansion process by saying, “Gary has convinced everyone that growing the enterprise value of the League will benefit everyone, including players and fans. The basis of that is trust, which is built on consistency, transparency, communication and integrity."
Whatever you think you think about NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, it is hard to deny the success of his leadership in growing the NHL over the last three decades. Bettman does not seem to be slowing down and it will be exciting to see what comes next for Bettman and the NHL.
