NHL not sold on Games

NEW YORK - The 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics makes little sense for the National Hockey League after its participation in five prior Games produced no payoff, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, said on Tuesday.

"Why did we do it five times? It seemed like a good idea at the time," said Bettman. "But we have been unable to quantify any benefit from it."

Speaking at a sports-business conference, the commissioner suggested the International Olympic Committee's appeals to the NHL's sense of Olympic spirit would not be sufficient.

The league's participation has been in doubt in part over the NHL's dissatisfaction with compensation from the IOC for insurance and travel costs to the 2014 Sochi Games.

But Bettman said the NHL's gripes go beyond that issue.

"I've said why don't you just treat us like a top sponsor? Maybe if we could promote the fact that we are there," he said.

"This has never been about the money. It didn't resonate at all. The IOC is very protective of its intellectual property, and so are we."

The NHL chief reviewed a litany of drawbacks.

Unlike when the Games are held in North America and hockey is contested during TV prime time, games from South Korea would air either in the middle of the night in Canada and the US or early in morning.

Moreover, the Olympics would interrupt the league's regular season during an important stretch between the NFL Super Bowl and the start of Major League Baseball.

Playing in the Olympics is popular among the 150 or so NHLers who are selected, but it doesn't make sense for the vast majority of players who don't participate.

Bettman estimated a league-wide vote would go 550 to 150 against going.

Bettman touted the World Cup of Hockey as a proven event that could be held every four years. The 2016 competition, held in Canada and won by the host country, generated millions in revenue.

Bettman cited northern Europe as a particularly strong hockey market and said the NHL would try to work with existing leagues in Sweden, Germany and other countries in the region that would be complementary.

Agence France-Presse