Jamie Nye: Put up another ‘W’ for Bettman

Gary Bettman’s biggest job is securing bigger and better television deals down south.

Of course, Rogers Sportsnet paid big north of the border, but the NHL has lacked a decent partner down south. NBC Sports has had the exclusive rights nationally for major events but now ESPN is back in the fold.

And that is a major win for the NHL.

ESPN isn’t the sole exclusive partner but it gets a big piece of the cake and it’s the model that has made the NFL so successful. It has Disney/ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX on board.

Now the NHL has two national partners and the more national partners, the more time you get because they want to promote their product.

The dollars sound like they’ll be a groundbreaker for the NHL down south as well.

So, as much as I know you hate to do it, show some more love to Bettman for his work as the boss of the NHL.