ShareThisCall it "Bettmanomics."
The NHL commissioner was at it again Wednesday, telling a bunch of business folk here that the NHL is just fine, even if the economy isn't, the Phoenix Coyotes are not going to collapse, league revenue is up to record levels, television ratings are up, sponsors are fighting each other to get aboard and so on.
"Not only will we endure, we will flourish," Gary Bettman told his luncheon audience.
The only bad news the commish was willing to concede is the NHL will not be going to any new cities because it's too tough to borrow money these days. So expansion, to Europe or anywhere else, is not in the cards right now. As for relocation? No way.
"We won't give up on our franchises," Bettman declared.
Those who think otherwise -- that the NHL is playing in front of growing numbers of empty seats in its non-traditional markets, hence the deep ticket discounts found on many club websites, and that the Coyotes exist only because the NHL is pumping money into them -- are nasty news media people, on the print side of the business, who are "making it up" or guilty of "irresponsible reporting."
Bettman then gleefully pointed out the severe economic jolts newspapers in North America are suffering, the implication being that "ink-stained wretches'' -- as the great Trent Frayne used to call those in his trade -- are the ones who cannot run their own businesses.
As always, the evidence contradicts the commissioner.
Those empty seats in Phoenix, Florida, Nashville, Long Island and even Detroit are not mirages. Clubs do not offer 80-percent discounts on tickets if they are enjoying "record" revenue.
As Bettman pointed out, there are encouraging turnarounds in Chicago, Boston and Washington. Those clubs, and the Pittsburgh Penguins, were the league's basket cases not that long ago.
But you can also argue all of those cities have a much richer hockey history, even Washington, than the likes of Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville and Tampa.
Bettman, though, insists the Coyotes "will be fine." But he had to admit there is no new owner in sight.
A better barometer is the National Hockey League Players' Association. The union recently increased the escrow amount deducted from players' paychecks to 22.5 percent for the third quarter of the season. That is the amount held back to make sure the players get the proper percentage of the NHL's hockey-related revenue, which was 56.7 percent last season.
If revenue does not match the projections, then the players make up the difference from the escrow, or, if that is not enough, from their own pockets. So the union makes very careful revenue forecasts to avoid having the players digging deep. So far, their record is perfect.
But Bettman, as the accompanying exchange shows, gets impatient with those dullards who think the fact the players bumped up their escrow deductions by almost 10 percent in this quarter is a sign their union, at least, thinks hard times are a coming.
A growing number of the commissioner's governors think so, too, although they are careful how they say it, given Bettman's penchant for fining those whose comments he does not like.
Among that number are governors who are angry that ailing clubs can buy tickets to their own games -- even at discounted prices, apparently -- in order to show their attendance and revenue are growing, a move that could qualify them for revenue-sharing payments from their wealthier colleagues.
Bettman implies the buying has to be done by a separate business operated by a club's owner or group of owners. But how would you feel if you were the Toronto Maple Leafs coughing up $12 million every year for revenue sharing?
Wouldn't you be inclined to think clubs were using your money to buy tickets in order to force you to hand over even more of your money? Even if the rule said it had to be done through a separate business, wouldn't you be inclined to view the whole thing with a jaundiced eye? And how does this indicate a healthy, growing league?
But jaundiced eyes are not welcome around the commissioner. The only way to view the NHL is with rose-colored glasses.
Which brings us back to the escrow question.
While much of his answer was indecipherable, did he not say that salaries grew faster than revenue? And wasn't he saying that was the league's big problem before the lockout four years ago?
(Contact David Shoalts at dshoalts<at>globeandmail.com)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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