Gary Bettman, NHL commissioner, speaking on CNBC “Squawk Box” on November 20, 2024.
CNBC
The 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan are the first time in 12 years that the NHL players will return to the Games, which the NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman, expects to have a big effect on the League.
“In the end, in terms of balancing advantages and disadvantages, we decided that it was important to go back and settle on what is one of the most visible platforms in the world,” Bettman said at the conference of the CNBC Sport and Boardroom Game Plan in Santa Monica, California, Tuesday.
Before Bettman was appointed commissioner in 1993, the NHL players had not participated in the Olympic Games. After seeing the effect of the Olympic players had on the NBA, said Bettman, the Ligue and the Association of NHL players have worked on the NBA, worked for the players to participate from 1998.
But this participation stopped after the 2014 Sochi Games, which, according to Bettman, reflected the evolution of the business of the league and the sports industry in general.
“It was a bit of a mixed bag,” said Bettman about the NHL participation in the Olympic Games. “Even if we were closed for two weeks, our players were treated as guests,” he said, adding that the League and his teams “had no control over anything; we were not allowed to promote ourselves.”
There were also competition challenges, given the number of players that some teams sent.
Part of what brought the NHL to the Olympic ice was a change in this relationship. The new NHLPA agreement with the IOC changes certain aspects of their commercial arrangement and also improves the living conditions of players during the Games.
But Bettman also noted that this was summed up in the desire of players to play the best at the national level, which was highlighted in the tournament of the 4 nations of the League earlier this year.
“It has become clear to me that it was important to our players, who have a history and a tradition to represent their country,” he said.
The NHL will stop playing for almost two weeks this season, and Bettman said that Olympic participation “will not be without its difficulties”. The NHL has not yet formally guaranteed that its players will participate in the 2030 Games.
“But in balance, it should be worth it,” he said.
Disclosure: CNBC Parent Nbcuniversal has NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. The NBC Olympic Games are the holder of the US broadcasting rights in all summer and winter matches until 2036.