"Whether it's streaming and technology or sports betting or puck and player tracking or changing how games are broadcast or streamed or whether it's tentpole events or whether it's behind-the-scenes shoulder programming, what we're constantly looking for is more and more ways for people to connect to the game and to do it on their terms," Bettman said.
That's what technology offers, an ability to access the game in many different ways, through the use of more cameras and more angles, through advances in data collection and disparate entrance points for a new generation of fans.
"Being able to give fans more and give it to them on their terms is what's going to be essential going forward," Bettman said.
It was just one topic Bettman addressed in a wide-ranging interview conducted earlier this season at the NHL offices in New York and posted Wednesday by Bloomberg TV, including sports betting, the media landscape and player compensation.
But the through-line of the interview was the ways in which fans and potential fans can access and connect to the game, and how that has evolved.
"To me, the most important thing is you've got to provide your fans with easy access, which is fairly priced," Bettman said, in talking about streaming. "But also when you're looking at the millennials and Gen Zs, they want more than just the games now. They want behind the scenes. We do 'Road to the Stanley Cup, Road to the Winter Classic.'
"It's about giving a look at our players and our game from a vantage point that when I was the equivalent age of a Gen Z, you could only imagine what was it like to be inside of a locker room, to see the players getting ready. And that's what our younger fans are demanding, and frankly I think it's good for the game. Particularly for our game based on our players for them to see that."
Another avenue for bringing people into the game has been sports betting. Though Bettman admitted that he's been called a contortionist in the past in relation to his evolving views on sports betting, he has seen how the industry has added eyeballs to games that might not have otherwise tuned in.
"It's just another way, for fans who want to, to connect to the game," he said. "For us, on an off night, if you haven't been a hockey fan but you feel interested in placing a bet, maybe you'll place a bet on us and you'll watch the game and we'll hook you."
Ultimately, Bettman said that he is seeing huge positives from the on-ice product right now, with the game getting younger, faster and more entertaining. And that -- along with the new media partnerships with the Walt Disney Company, particularly ESPN, and WBD -- is helping the bottom line.
"The players, both former players and current players all marvel, saying the game may be in the best place it's ever been," Bettman said.
