Bettman named 2023 recipient of SBJ Lifetime Achievement Award

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was named the 2023 recipient of the Sports Business Journal Lifetime Achievement Award in the publication's Jan. 30-Feb. 5 issue.

Bettman will be honored at the Sports Business Awards in New York on May 24.
"Since his first NHL media rights headlined the inaugural issue of Sports Business Daily back in 1994, Gary Bettman has been a fixture in our pages and an immensely influential figure in our industry," Sports Business Journal publisher and executive editor Abraham Madkour said in an SBJ article announcing the award. "His willingness to think big, take risks and stick to his principles have solidified the NHL as an important property in the global sports landscape and positioned the League to continue to thrive well in the future."
Bettman will celebrate his 30th anniversary on the job Wednesday and surpass the late David Stern, who was NBA commissioner from Feb. 1, 1984 to Feb. 1, 2014, as the longest-tenured commissioner of the four major men's professional sports leagues in North America. He was NBA senior vice president and general counsel under Stern before being elected the first commissioner of the NHL on Dec. 11, 1992. He took office Feb. 1, 1993.

Sports Business Journal listed among Bettman's accomplishments the growth of the NHL during his tenure from 24 to 32 teams and an increase in League revenue from around $400 million per season to a record $5.2 billion last season. It also credited the Bettman's "penchant for creativity" through expansion and relocation for establishing thriving teams in nontraditional markets, with the Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights as prime examples.
The NHL became the first major professional sports league with a team in Las Vegas following the addition of the expansion Golden Knights in 2017-18. The Seattle Kraken joined the NHL in 2021-22 as its 32nd team.
Sports Business Journal also pointed to the NHL Winter Classic, the annual outdoor game created in 2008, developing into a major regular season tentpole event and the League's willingness to sign media rights agreements with nontraditional broadcast partners, beginning with Fox Sports in 1994 and later Comcast's OLN. That led to a long-term relationship with NBC Sports and, starting last season, partnerships with ESPN and Turner Sports.
"The 70-year-old has had an incredible journey in growing the game around the world and the NHL has flourished under his direction and guidance," Madkour wrote of Bettman on the Sports Business Journal's Forum page. "He has been a leader with substance and clearly helped define the sports business of the modern era. He is well deserving of SBJ's Lifetime Achievement Award."
Sports Business Journal noted that the NHL has had three work stoppages under Bettman, but also credited him with delivering "significant victories for the League at the negotiating table." Those included obtaining long-term cost certainty for owners in 2005 "with the establishment of a salary cap, improvements to the on-ice product and greater parity between the large- and small-market teams."