Post by NHLJets2point0 on Aug 28, 2012 6:08:55 GMT -5
Do You Think The NHL Takes Fans For Granted?
From the Globe and Mail m.theglobeandmail.com/sports/bettmans-gaffe-implies-fans-are-mere-doormats/article4496245/?service=mobile
The NHL triumphed in the 2004-05 lockout because it sensed that everyone disliked Bob Goodenow, leader of the National Hockey League Players, Association. So the league just kept repeating his name. Bingo, a salary cap.
Apparently the league has lost its magic media touch. Exhibit No. 1 would be commissioner Gary Bettman's comment Thursday on the possible damage another lockout might cause in 2012.
"We recovered last time because we have the world's greatest fans," Bettman said. The commish meant this as a compliment, of course. An honest reading of this beauty is more like "If you fans weren't such doormats, I might be worried."
The skin crawled here at the head office of Usual Suspects when Bettman trotted out this PR gem. Fans as doormat. The comment assumes that the customers are with him, not with the players. The fans are extraneous. He will act with impunity. Now, all of this may be true. But you don't say that. At least, not to a bank of microphones and TV cameras. Not after you promised the last time that your snappy business plan would lower ticket prices.
This attitude is why the NHL is on shakier ground this time in the war for the hearts, minds and seat licences of fans. No one loves Don Fehr, Bettman's opposite at the NHLPA. He's the poster boy for aloof. But when you tell fans, "Hang on six months, we'll get back to you," it makes Fehr look like George Clooney.
Bettman delivered the usual boilerplate on Thursday about how his owners pay players too much and the fundamentals need to be addressed. But something tells us that "We recovered last time because we have the world's greatest fans" is going to be remembered a lot longer. Already, Twitter is printing phone numbers for the NHL and Bettman's e-mail at the league. As we said before, this is Bettman's first collective agreement under social media, and he's not in Kansas any more.
From the Globe and Mail m.theglobeandmail.com/sports/bettmans-gaffe-implies-fans-are-mere-doormats/article4496245/?service=mobile
The NHL triumphed in the 2004-05 lockout because it sensed that everyone disliked Bob Goodenow, leader of the National Hockey League Players, Association. So the league just kept repeating his name. Bingo, a salary cap.
Apparently the league has lost its magic media touch. Exhibit No. 1 would be commissioner Gary Bettman's comment Thursday on the possible damage another lockout might cause in 2012.
"We recovered last time because we have the world's greatest fans," Bettman said. The commish meant this as a compliment, of course. An honest reading of this beauty is more like "If you fans weren't such doormats, I might be worried."
The skin crawled here at the head office of Usual Suspects when Bettman trotted out this PR gem. Fans as doormat. The comment assumes that the customers are with him, not with the players. The fans are extraneous. He will act with impunity. Now, all of this may be true. But you don't say that. At least, not to a bank of microphones and TV cameras. Not after you promised the last time that your snappy business plan would lower ticket prices.
This attitude is why the NHL is on shakier ground this time in the war for the hearts, minds and seat licences of fans. No one loves Don Fehr, Bettman's opposite at the NHLPA. He's the poster boy for aloof. But when you tell fans, "Hang on six months, we'll get back to you," it makes Fehr look like George Clooney.
Bettman delivered the usual boilerplate on Thursday about how his owners pay players too much and the fundamentals need to be addressed. But something tells us that "We recovered last time because we have the world's greatest fans" is going to be remembered a lot longer. Already, Twitter is printing phone numbers for the NHL and Bettman's e-mail at the league. As we said before, this is Bettman's first collective agreement under social media, and he's not in Kansas any more.
