Gary Bruce Bettman (born June 2, 1952) is an American sports executive who serves as the commissioner of the National Hockey League (NHL), a post he has held since February 1, 1993.

He studied industrial and labor relations at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he was a brother of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, and graduated in 1974.

[11] Bettman rose to third in command of the NBA, spending many years as the league's general counsel and senior vice president.

[15][16] The owners hired Bettman with the mandate of selling the game in the U.S. market, ending labor unrest, completing expansion plans, and modernizing the views of the "old guard" within the ownership ranks.

The Nashville Predators (1998), Atlanta Thrashers (1999), Minnesota Wild (2000), and Columbus Blue Jackets (2000) completed this expansion period, bringing the NHL to 30 teams.

[4] Critics have also accused Bettman of having an "anti-Canadian" agenda, citing the relocation of the franchises in Quebec City and Winnipeg and his apparent refusal to help stop it, along with the aborted sale of the Nashville Predators in 2007 to interests that would have moved the team to Hamilton, Ontario.

There has been significant growth in the sport of hockey at the grassroots level with children in the U.S. South playing the game in increasing numbers.

The Phoenix Coyotes eventually filed for bankruptcy in May 2009, after incurring several hundred million dollars of losses since their 1996 move from Winnipeg.

Under Bettman, the league then took control over the team later that year in order to stabilize the club's operations and then resell it to a new owner who would be committed to stay in the Phoenix market.

After joining the league in 1999, the Atlanta Thrashers suffered financial losses and ownership struggles, while appearing in the playoffs only one time.

In 2011 they were sold to True North Sports and Entertainment, who then relocated the team to Winnipeg, a stark reversal of the league's attempts to expand into the southern markets.

At the time, seventeen of the league's thirty teams were based in the Eastern Time Zone, meaning that the two westernmost such teams (Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets) were compelled to compete in the Western Conference, which gave a large proportion of their road games an unfavorably late start on local television.

[28] By the end of the deal in 2004, the owners were claiming that player salaries had grown far faster than revenues, and that the league as a whole lost over US$300 million in 2002–03.

[31] As the threat of a canceled season loomed, the players agreed to accept a salary cap, but the two sides could not come to terms on numbers before the deadline expired.

[33] After being panned as one of the worst managers in business in 2004 for canceling the season,[34] Bettman was lauded as one of the best in 2005 for his role in bringing "cost certainty" to the NHL.

[35] The 2012–13 NHL lockout lasted from September 15, 2012, to January 19, 2013, after the owners and players failed to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement.

[36][37] The owners' original offer retained the framework established following the 2004–05 NHL lockout but made numerous changes to player salary and movement rights, including reducing the players' share of hockey-related revenues from 57 percent to 46 percent, introducing term limits on contracts, eliminating salary arbitration, and changing free agency rules.

[38] As the deadline for a work stoppage approached, the union unsuccessfully challenged the league's ability to lock out players of the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers (appealing to the Alberta Labour Relations Board), and the Montreal Canadiens (appealing to the Quebec Labour Relations Board).

[42] After talks broke down again in December, rumors leaked that the NHLPA planned on filing a "disclaimer of interest" (a quicker, less formal way to dissolve the players' union, compared with decertification)[43] and, with collective bargaining no longer in effect, pursuing an antitrust lawsuit against the NHL.

The NHL responded on December 14 by filing a class action suit with the U.S. District Court in New York seeking to establish that its lockout was legal.

[52] Despite the lockout, the average attendance for the season was 17,768, up 2.6 percent from the previous year, while TV ratings in both Canada and the United States also increased.

[54] The deal was significant, as a network television contract in the United States was long thought unattainable during the presidency of John Ziegler.

[59] However, Bettman was able to negotiate a deal with Comcast to air the NHL on the Outdoor Life Network channel, which was later renamed Versus in 2006.

[63] In January 2011, Comcast acquired NBC Universal, and then in April of that year Bettman negotiated a new 10-year deal with the merged media company, worth nearly $2 billion.

These moves left Bell Media and its TSN networks shut out of NHL broadcasts except for its regional properties.

The show provides fans with an opportunity to speak directly with the commissioner and voice any questions, comments, or concerns related to ice hockey.

[68] Bettman spoke at the World Hockey Summit in 2010, and stated that being in the Olympics was a "mixed bag" for the NHL, and its experiences outside of North America tended not to be positive.

[69] He gave a list of issues that he wanted to see resolved in consultation with the National Hockey League Players' Association, which included more control over marketing and promotion, timing of games being televised in North America, the hiatus in the NHL regular season schedule, ability for NHL team executives to access their players, travel concerns, and risk of injuries.

[80][81][82] In April 2017, Bettman announced that the NHL would not be taking part in the 2018 Winter Olympics, a decision that was confirmed in November 2017 and was widely unpopular among players.

[3] Following the retirements of David Stern on February 1, 2014, and Bud Selig on January 25, 2015, Bettman became the longest-serving active commissioner in professional sports.