Gary Bettman is the commissioner of the National Hockey League (NHL), a post he has held since February 1, 1993. He was previously a senior vice president and general counsel for the National Basketball Association (NBA). Mr. Bettman is a graduate of Cornell University and New York University School of Law. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.
Under Mr. Bettman, the NHL has seen rapid growth of annual league revenues, from $400 million when he was hired to nearly $5 billion in 2018-19. He has overseen the expansion of the NHL across North America, with the league’s 32nd team, the Seattle Kraken, set to begin play next season. Mr. Bettman’s vision has also enabled the NHL to be an innovative leader in sports in the area of technology and the creation of tentpole events such as the Winter Classic and Stadium Series games. In May 2014, Mr. Bettman was named “Sports Executive of the Year” by the SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily. In 2016, he was inducted as a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.