NHL Peachy: COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN MEDIA AVAILABILITY TRANSCRIPT NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 Our Coverage Sponsored by Cosmopolitan Dental, Official Dentist of Whom You Know
The Best Dentist in Manhattan
&
Official Dentist of Whom You Know:
30 E. 40th Suite 1001
(212) 683-1960
Dr. Garo Nazarian is a Mover and Shaker, and was the first featured:
Dr. Nazarian, a graduate of Boston College and Columbia Dental School, opened Cosmopolitan Dental in 2006 and has grown his practice to over 2,000 patients. Peachy Deegan is proud to be the second ever. Cosmopolitan Dental strives to surpass all patients' expectations by catering to your dental needs while providing the utmost professional results. Cosmopolitan Dental has been recognized by America's Top Dentists and has earned both the Patients' choice award and the Doctors' choice award. Dr. Garo Nazarian is a proud member of the New York State Dental Association, New York County Dental Society and the American Dental Association. Cosmopolitan Dental loves to make you smile!
***
GARY BETTMAN: Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for being here.
This morning the Executive Committee met with representatives of Quebecor and they met with Bill Foley on behalf of the expansion applications for Quebec City and Las Vegas. Each of the applicants was given an opportunity to talk about who they are, what their vision is, and how they thought their applications would work out if granted a franchise.
Each presented probably for an excess of an hour, and then we came to the Board meeting.
No decisions were made at the Executive Committee meeting. It's part of the ongoing process, which I think you've all been following and chronicling. We've been through phase 3 of diligence, and this is an ongoing process that doesn't have a specific timetable and doesn't have a predetermined outcome. And what I just said to you was reported to the full Board at its meeting this afternoon.
In addition at the Board meeting today, I gave my typical September State of the League. We reviewed some projections. The Canadian dollar was discussed by a guest, Avery Shenfeld, who's a managing director and chief economist at CIBC, came to talk about factors that go into the movement of the Canadian dollar as against the U.S. dollar, and one of the things he said that's notable, while people can make predictions, he suggested that when it comes to predicting the dollar, they make weathermen look good.
There was an update on the World Cup. Colin Campbell talked about hockey issues, the implementation of the 3-on-3 and how it's working, the combination of games in the preseason that actually went into overtime on their own merit, and those that were prescheduled. I believe there have been 44 games, 33 of which have had a goal scored with an average time of 2 minutes and 49 seconds, so that's about a 77 percent goal-scoring decision in overtime on the 3-on-3. Pretty much what we expected, but we'll see what the regular season is like.
We reviewed the coach's challenge. Stephen Walkom talked about officiating and what went on at the officials' training camp, and there were two presentations, one by Bob Bowman from BAM and the other from Michael Rubin of Fanatics, and that's what we did.
Q. Do you see among the owners any opposition for a hockey team in Quebec City?
GARY BETTMAN: That's a question that is way too premature to answer. We're in a process of gathering information. There have been no deliberations as to whether or not we want to expand, how many teams, or where. So we're not in a position to answer your question because there's much work to be done.
Q. So is there going to be a vote soon?
GARY BETTMAN: There's no timetable. We have work to do. The committee is going to have to get together at least one more time if not more, and we have to ultimately begin deliberations. There are a lot of issues and questions that are going to have to be answered before any decision can be made.
Q. If you're looking at a potential 2017 start for expansion, at what point would you say a decision would have to be made for them to get overseas scouting operations, farm teams and so forth set up?
GARY BETTMAN: The question presumes that we're shooting for a '17 start. What we have said is it wouldn't be earlier than '17. When we ultimately start is, again, something that we'll have to evaluate as we go through the process.
We're not on a timetable. We don't have to be done by a certain point in time because ultimately this isn't something that the Board has to do.
Q. We understand that you were shown a video of the proceedings in Quebec last night. Just from an optics point of view, was it pretty impressive?
GARY BETTMAN: There's no doubt that that's a wonderful building, and there are great hockey fans in Quebec City. But making the decision as to whether to expand and where has to go beyond that.
Q. Is the application process now complete, or do you need more information from the respective parties?
GARY BETTMAN: We're in the process of evaluating that.
Q. Is it possible that we will have some sort of vote before the new year?
GARY BETTMAN: I don't know. Anything is possible. Is it probable, I don't know.
Q. Just how concerning is the lowering Canadian dollar in terms of the expansion issue and other ??
GARY BETTMAN: It's the reality that we live with. In my two decades plus of doing this, I've seen the Canadian dollar lower and I've seen it over par. It's just something we deal with and the system takes account for it. It's not something that people are concerned about on a daily basis. It's something we deal with.
Q. Even without an NHL team in Quebec City, the Montreal Canadiens were playing against the Penguins last night and the arena was totally full. What was your feeling towards that?
GARY BETTMAN: I wasn't surprised at all. You're looking to - it's like if I get the question out of Las Vegas, what's my feeling that they have 13,500 season tickets sold when there's no team and there may never be a team. The fact is obviously it's a great building and there are a lot of great hockey fans, but there's a lot more that has to go into the expansion process.
We understand the interest that people in Quebec City have for hockey. There's no doubt in our mind about that, but that's one of many factors that have to be evaluated, including whether or not ultimately the League wants to expand.
Q. You're asking the fans to be patient and everybody wants to be patient, but can you explain to them what is the process? Does the Executive Committee need to be unanimous on that and then you go to the Board? What's next for them?
GARY BETTMAN: I'm not in a position to tell you exactly what the process is because the Executive Committee in large measure has to get comfortable and be in a position to make a recommendation one way or the other.
As a technical matter, expansion requires a three-quarter vote of the Board of Governors. So if the Executive Committee, for example, if, if, if the Executive Committee were split, it's unlikely that it would get an affirmative vote of three quarters at the Board. But you're all, and I respect it, this isn't like a 60-minute game where we know at the end of two and a half hours we're going to get a result. We're going through a process. The process will lead us in many directions, raise lots of questions that have to be answered, and at the end of the process, whenever that is, the Board will be in a position to consider, to deliberate and make a judgment.
Q. You said that there was no timetable. You said you were at phase 3. Are there four phases, five, six?
GARY BETTMAN: Bill, how many phases do we have? As many as we need, actually. So far there have been three phases to gather data, but we're going to continue to do whatever work is necessary to make the people who have to deliberate and be comfortable and make a recommendation, namely the Governors, they have to be comfortable. This is an important business decision.
Q. Of course. What I mean is that there's nothing set in stone?
GARY BETTMAN: There's nothing set in stone other than ultimately it requires a three?quarter vote.
Q. Just one question about last time we talked in Las Vegas. You've talked about a number for an expansion, and you said hopefully it's going to start with a 5 or you're reassured that it will be starting with a 5.
GARY BETTMAN: If we expand it will start with a 5, U.S. dollars.
Q. Commissioner, you talked about revenues for this year. Do you have a revenue projection?
GARY BETTMAN: It's too early. I gave one to the Board, but we'll be over $4 billion, but beyond that, I'm not comfortable at this stage giving a public endorsement to a particular number. Revenues are continuing to grow, even with the Canadian dollar softening.
Q. In terms of the meeting this morning, can you talk about the tenor of the questions that were delivered to both the groups? Were they more business-minded in terms of the business model, or what were the questions kind of aimed towards that they wanted to get answers to?
GARY BETTMAN: They were a variety of questions relative to the market, relative to the ownership structure ultimately. I don't think I could fairly categorize the questions. They were the types of questions that sophisticated business people would ask in contemplation of a possible deal.
Q. We heard the stats from the first week trial of the 3-on-3. What was the general feedback from the Governors that you heard or received? Obviously it's designed to end games. Is there any concern that games are maybe ending a little bit quicker than people thought?
GARY BETTMAN: No, not at all. I think people are pleased with the early returns, but we'll see how it unfolds in the regular season and what coaching strategies are employed to effectuate it or deal with it, depending on how you want to play it.
Q. Following up on the 3-on-3, it seems like you're taking a wait-and-see approach with it. Do you consider it to be a one-season experiment, or do you see it as a permanent fix for overtimes?
GARY BETTMAN: If it works the way we anticipate it will in the early returns, I don't view it as an experiment. The AHL experimented with it last year, and it looks like we're going to, at least from the preseason, get the same types of results that they had.
Q. Was there an update on some of the technical difficulties associated with implementing the coach's challenge?
GARY BETTMAN: No, we're not having difficulties to this point. It's getting set up. We're not ready for the preseason, but we'll be ready next week.
