NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a league conference call that the NHL and all it's clubs will lose billions of dollars in revenue to continue with a 2021 season mostly without fans in the stands of games in each of the teams home markets. However Bettman did also state for the health of the game, it was vital that the league play the season out as planned because of the critical nature of the health of the sport.
via conference call (see full video below)
"Let me make something really clear: We're coming back to play this season because we think it's important for the game, because our fans and our players want us to, and it may give people -- particularly in isolation, or where there are curfews -- a sense of normalcy and something to do," Bettman told reporters in a video call on Monday. "It would be cheaper for us to shut the doors and not play. We're going to lose more money, at the club level and the league level, by playing than by not playing."
Bettman went on to say each of the 32 clubs in the league should be able to find a way to make the season work.
"While there is an economic consequence to playing the season, all of our owners and our clubs are in position to weather it and we have no concerns in that regard," Bettman said on Monday. "Except that everyone is going to lose a lot of money to do this."
See the Commissioners full comments below via Youtube
Photo Courtesy Of Getty Images