WHEN THE NHL HIRED GARY BETTMAN AWAY FROM THE NBA THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE GETTING A BRILLIANT MARKETING MIND. PERHAPS WE SHOULD HAVE BECOME SUSPICIOUS WHEN HE IMMEDIATELY CHANGED HIS TITLE FROM NHL PRESIDENT TO COMMISSIONER..
SINCE THEN HAVE BEEN FEW NOTEABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS. SOME WOULD SAY "THE NEW NHL" IS BETTMAN'S DOING...BUT MOST OF THE WORK WAS DONE BY BRENDAN SHANAHAN AND THE PLAYERS. THAT SALARY CAP FIGHT COST FANS AN ENTIRE YEAR OF HOCKEY.
HE WAS HIRED TO SELL THE NHL TO AN INDIFFERENT U.S. POPULATION. ALL HE HAS MANAGED TO DO IS NEGOTIATE HIS NUMBER ONE MARKETING TOOL TELEVISION.......
STRAIGHT BACKWARDS FROM ESPN AND ABC....TO THE INVISIBLE "OUTDOOR LIFE NETWORK"..NOW CALLED "VERSUS". WHERE NHL GAMES WERE BEING SEEN 3 TO 4 TIMES A WEEK ON ESPN...NOW YOU HAVE TO BE A DETECTIVE TO EVEN FIND "VERSUS" ON YOUR CABLE SYSTEM. AND THE NHL STANDS TO MAKE NOTHING OUT OF THEIR COST SHARING NBC CONTRACT.
THE LATEST MARKETING PLOY IS THE STYLE-CHANGE OF UNIFORMS A FACSIMILE OF WHICH YOU SAW ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S ALL-STAR GAME. I DON'T KNOW A SOUL, EITHER FAN OR PLAYER WHO HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE OLD UNIFORM. APPARENTLY THE LEAGUE HAS SOLD WHATEVER REMAINING PIECE OF IT'S SOUL TO REEBOK WHO HAVE DESIGNED THE SO-CALLED "UNFORM SYSTEM". CALL ME CYNICAL....BUT DOENS'T THIS SMELL LIKE ANOTHER CASH-GRAB ONE THAT MAKES THE LARCENOUS "THIRD JERSEY" LOOK PETTY.
LOOK AROUND YOU AT THE BELL CENTRE NEXT TIME YOU'RE THERE. 21 THOUSAND FANS...PROBABLY 12,000 WEARING THE 130-DOLLAR CANADIENS JERSEY. WHAT BETTMAN AND GANG ARE ABOUT TO DO IS CREATE A PLANNED OBSELESCANCE..OUT GOES THE OLD OUT-OF-STYLE 130 DOLLAR JERSEY.
AND HERE'STHE REALLY GOOD NEWS....IF YOU WANT TO REPLACE IT; THE NEW "LIGHTER-FASTER-DRIER" SWEATER WILL COST 425 DOLLARS CANADIAN. AND IF YOU WANT IT WITH A NAME ON IT...550 DOLLARS.
MAKES ME LONG FOR THE DAYS OF JOHN ZIEGLER AND GIL STEIN.
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