Commissioner Gary Bettman offered some interesting insight into the recent influx of outdoor games for the National Hockey League during the regular season.
Said Bettman on the
growing slate for the 2013-2014 regular season:
"If you're looking at it on a national basis, obviously we're doing more," commissioner Gary Bettman said Thursday at Yankee Stadium, which will host two games in January. "But for teams and markets that want to host this (event), for fans that want to attend, we can't do enough of them."
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"The reason we're doing more outdoor games is really what it's now doing locally," Bettman said. "This is an incomparable event and what happens is fans get connected to the game in ways they never imagined, we get new fans who, for the first time, will come and be a part of this. This is a fan-oriented, fan-driven event, and that's why we're doing so many games so we can bring it to more fans."
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"Fans love attending this event, the demand that we're hearing and feeling from our teams and markets and venues wanting to host this game is overwhelming," Bettman said. "So if you're actually getting an opportunity to attend this game, you don't think we're doing too many of them."
Since the NHL's initial Winter Classic in 2003, the league has more or less restricted these novelty events to once or twice during the season. This year mark's a stark change in practice, with six events -- listed below -- ready for the second-leg of the season:
It's Bettman's assertion that the fans want these events.
But, judging by public reaction to the various conferences announcing the aforementioned games, I'm skeptical that's actually the case.
The question: Do you, as a fan, desire more outdoor games? Or has the fever for outdoor hockey dissipated with time?
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