In most cases in the regular private sector, only shareholders feel a vested interest in the company in which they own stock. There are some corporations whose products command a higher brand of loyalty and connection (Apple comes to mind) but few if any can compare to the "equity" that fans take in their favourite club or league.
The hard core fans feel a sense of ownership in their team. They care about their favourite league. The best franchises and leagues get that and relate to their fans and their larger audiences as if they are a public trust or a community asset.
After 17 years on the job, however, National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman has yet to crack the code on public and media relations. Specifically, he has not mastered any sense of relating to hockey fans through television.
How badly he wrestles with the media in general was so brutally on display in his CBC television appearance with Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean last week. Maybe too much time in the sun that day was the problem, but it was one of the poorest television performances by a professional sport commissioner I've ever seen.
Bettman on Hockey Night in Canada June 2nd, 2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww3md8DvoTY
Bettman was alternatively defensive and prickly, even in the studios of the television network that pays more for NHL rights than any other carrier in the world. He was clearly annoyed with MacLean and a line of questioning that focused on ownership troubles in a variety of NHL markets, most notably those in the U.S. sunbelt, instead of what he was hoping would highlight the terrific overall economic performance of the league.
OK. I would have encouraged MacLean to acknowledge the NHL is having record financial results in spite of the basket cases in the southern U.S. and simply raise the matter of what could be if those problem childs were replaced by teams in northern U.S. markets and in Canada, which has never been more bullish for the NHL and which is driving in a big way the league's overall success.
That being said, it's unfathomable to me that Bettman handled the CBC piece the way he did and that he is so bad at media and public speaking despite almost two decades in the commissioner's chair.
Thankfully for the NHL, it has some other emerging executive assets who could help strengthen the league's brand as they grow into their roles and gain more exposure in front of the camera. None is more obvious and more well-equipped to do so than NHL vice-president of business and hockey development, former star player Brendan Shanahan.
Shanahan's interview last night on Hockey Night in Canada was as good as Bettman's was bad earlier in the week. The Stanley Cup champion and surefire Hall of Famer was open, courteous, insightful and even humourous. The contrasts between the two interviews -- and how they reflected the NHL they were each representing -- could not have been bigger.
Shanahan on Hockey Night in Canada June 6th, 2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAFl89kgzMo
Shanahan was a prototype power forward in his years with the Hartford Whalers, St. Louis Blues, New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers.
Sunday night's interview reminded us how well he handles the public side of the business and how much value he could bring to the table for the NHL as its own power forward in media relations and television.
It also laid bare how weak Bettman is on the same fronts and how difficult it will be for the league's frontman to change his stripes when he clearly does not enjoy that part of his role as NHL commissioner. The right strategy for the NHL -- especially with a new round of collective bargaining upcoming -- would be to showcase the likes of Shanahan every opportunity it gets.
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