Gary Bettman Quotes
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I think there needs some attention to be paid to what sport is going to represent to young people: should it be viewed in the competitive, team-oriented sense that it is now, or does it become a vehicle for betting, which may, in effect, change the atmosphere in the stadiums and the arenas?
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Because of the way my words get scrutinized, I have to use a level of precision so people don't accuse me of misleading them.
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I think it's our job to create a culture and an environment where a gay player knows he is safe and welcome. If and when that happens, believe me - that person will have the full support of the commissioner's office.
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There's no question that the Kings have been, are, and can be great hosts for any major events.
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You don't want people rooting for anything other than the team that they love and the players that they think the world of to win. We don't want there to be another agenda.
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I don't weigh into politics.
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Our sport probably has the best history and tradition of being engaged in international competition.
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Our franchises have never been healthier. Our league, in terms of its economic footing, has never been healthier.
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On the issue of behavioral health and the like, the program we have in place has always been available to former players as well.
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Eliminating fighting would mean eliminating the jobs of the 'fighters,' meaning these guys would not have NHL careers.
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There is less fighting in the game than we had years ago. I mean, we penalize it.
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None of our series are ever static in terms of the dates. We always have a range of flexibility to respond to whatever may or may not happen.
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Whatever you do needs to be sustainable over time, and taking the money in the short term and taking it in a bubble - like buying an Internet stock in 2000 - may not be sustainable.
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When you look at the team that Jimmy Rutherford has put together and the players that he has, this is just a great story of excellent in professional sports.
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In '94, we made the deal during collective bargaining that wasn't the right deal, just to save the season. Allowing the 'in the crease' rule, the foot-in-the-crease rule, we should have not done.
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What you want to do, particularly when you're dealing with a professional sports league and franchises and people's passionate commitment to the game and for the team they root for is, it has to be sustainable.
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Young people, particularly in their teens and 20s, are not consuming sports the way my generation did. They are doing lots of things; they are multitasking. They are getting downloads; they are getting alerts on their computers or on their cellphones, and they are consuming sports in a more real-time but less full-time basis.
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Sports, as a media property, is increasingly valuable because it's something you have to have live. As a result, we're a better touch point for sponsors and advertisers because our commercials typically don't get zapped out.
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I was always a fan of the game, and I wouldn't have taken this job if I wasn't a fan of the game.
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Relatively, a very small percentage of betting takes place on hockey and even baseball because of the nature of the game and the scoring.
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I'm having trouble understanding why there hasn't been further progress on CalgaryNext.
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Fighting is one of those things that gets tons of attention, far more than it deserves.
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You can have the biggest markets in the world, but if the game isn't exciting, compelling, and competitive, it's not going to generate a lot of interest.
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I would hope there would be a greater appreciation by casual sports fans of the incredible skill and passion of our players.