The Hockey News Money & Power 2021

OPENING LAST YEAR’S Money & Power issues, the First Word was titled “Billions and Millions,” which referenced owners’ franchise valuations and players salaries that seemed to be ever on the rise. With the arrival of COVID-19 just weeks after the 2020 Money & Power issue was printed, team valuations and player salaries have taken a pause for the time being. Perhaps we were all living in a bubble as no one saw this coming just one year ago. Last year’s Money & Power issue was a must read and much anticipated after the inaugural issue of January 2019. This 2021 issue is the third annual Money & Power issue dedicated to the business of the hockey industry, and in it we will address the impact that the virus has had on…

EVEN PRIOR TO THE COVID-19 pandemic paralyzing the business of sports, Pittsburgh Penguins CEO David Morehouse began to notice some disturbing trends at his team’s games. People were showing up later and leaving earlier. Despite the fact PPG Paints Arena has been sold out for every Penguins game since it opened more than a decade ago, there were more and more no-shows. The crowds were getting younger and Morehouse realized that in order to engage them, the Penguins had to do more than sit on their stoop and yell at those kids to get off their lawn. So the Penguins hired a consultant to examine the marketplace, and Morehouse’s instincts were confirmed. “They came back and said, ‘You’re built to sell to baby boomers and Gen Xers, but what’s happening is…

GRAEME ROUSTAN: I moved to L.A. in ’89, and in ’94 I put on a celebrity hockey game to raise money for charity. And there was no shortage of celebrities that came out and played in that game. L.A. celebrities either love hockey or they love to watch hockey. Is it the same today as it was? Or is it more? Do you find that the celebrity community – the Hollywood community – is really still very big into hockey? JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: They are. You know, fortunately or unfortunately, there’s so many sports in southern California. With two big college football programs and basketball – we got two major basketball teams. During the Kings’ Stanley Cup runs we had a lot more celebrities coming out. But there are people that have…

GRAEME ROUSTAN: Can you tell me when you first became interested in an NHL franchise? I believe it was in Vegas, do you remember about the time and how that came about? DAVID BONDERMAN: It was about 10 years ago now. Eight, nine, 10 years ago. Jerry Bruckheimer and I and a third guy, Harry Sloan, were contemplating putting together a team for Las Vegas as it then was. And we actually got as far as negotiating a deal with Gary (Bettman). Which we had to finance to continue the process. And then 2008 (financial crisis) occurred, and there was no financing for anybody. And so, the deal went away. But that’s when we started to be interested. The target had been Las Vegas at that time. GR: In your professional career,…

GRAEME ROUSTAN: Going back to the first phone call when you said, “OK, let’s talk about a jersey for Seattle,” how did you approach that? It’s a massive undertaking, how did Adidas approach that? DAN NEAR: I’m glad you asked, because this is a story a lot of people want to hear. We have a track record of working on names, identity and uniform as a package. And the Golden Knights is one, the journey was totally different, but we had done this literally three or four years ago with Mr. (Bill) Foley, in a much different environment. It was very much a one-, two- or three-person team in Vegas that was making the decisions, where the Seattle group had plenty more stakeholders. Seattle was not obligated to start with us. We…

GRAEME ROUSTAN: Why don’t we start with the history. Your company has a very storied history. STEVE BERARD: This is a great story. We’re based in Quebec, so in Canada. So, since 1975, all the NHL uniforms are made here in Quebec, in Saint-Hyacinthe. We have a factory, a very old factory that has been revamped, of course. But we’re very proud to manufacture all the jerseys in Saint-Hyacinthe since 1975. GR: What was your experience, your involvement, with the Seattle jersey? SB: It was actually very, very fun. This is the part that is the most fun. The teams, the design, we have seven people working on design. We’re working closely with Adidas. Of course, Adidas has the relation with the teams and NHL, and we are developing what they have decided.…