{coyotes} Gary Bettman says owning NHL team 'a good, stable investment'

 

How is business going in hockey not even a half year after the lockout ended? Quite well, especially if you take NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's word.

Bettman was a recent visitor to the New York Stock Exchange along with the real guest of honor, the Stanley Cup. Considering it's Wall Street and Bettman did an interview with CNBC (with video), finances became part of the discussion after the Cup was introduced to the audiences.

Specifically, Bettman was asked about buying a hockey franchise as an investment, whether it would be a good business move. You know, for all those moguls sitting at home wondering what to do with the millions of dollars they are using as a couch while they watch CNBC.

"For most sports teams we probably do better than the Dow," Bettman said. "It's a good, stable investment."

Good and stable assuming you can strongarm the players union into a new deal every eight or so years. Because every time a lockout starts looming we hear about how tough so many owners have it. It sure doesn't sound like a stable business when the owners are at the negotiating table, does it?

I'm not sure I would equate owning an NHL team to the Dow. The teams that make money make a lot of money every year, they don't go up and down. Same with the teams at the bottom of the spectrum; they don't have a lot of bears and bulls; they stay pretty consistently low or even in the red.

Bettman was sure to emphasize that if you buy an NHL team it's got to be because you love the sport and want to do a little civic duty by giving your city a team to call its own. While that's true, I am not sure how many owners are willing to bleed money to make that happen. They would like to have their cake and eat it too. Why else has it been so hard for the NHL to sell the Coyotes franchise?

Now naturally I wouldn't expect Bettman to say "if you want to be successful, don't even think about buying an NHL franchise," and there are certainly a few franchises that are lucrative. But I wouldn't expect him to go as far as to say it's a good, stable investment. That's just me. Yes, I still have some bitterness over the lockout.

Bettman mentioned one of his favorites phrases -- "competitive balance" -- numerous times and cited strong attendance and ratings to show that the league is still strong. That's all true and fantastic, great things he can and should rightfully trumpet.

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