Gary Bettman's latest comments hint that the NHL could be moving away from Cable Television
The NHL has been very successful in Canada for years now, but with the world moving away from Cable TV, it appears the NHL could soon follow suit.
For years, the world has been moving away from Cable Television in favour of streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus and many others, and while sports leagues have embraced streaming, it hasn't completely replaced the traditional methods of watching a game. That may soon change, as Gary Bettman was interviewed ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Montreal Canadiens game that was cast on Amazon Prime.
During the interview, he repeatedly commented on how the NHL's viewership was much higher on Prime than traditional cable, with reporter Louis Jean revealing all on X.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that the NHL's viewership was down for its opening night triple-header, with the WNBA reportedly seeing much higher numbers than the NHL, a trend that Gary Bettman won't be excited about. Throughout the interview, Bettman continued lauding the viewership numbers on Prime, leading many to believe the NHL could be abandoning its traditional viewers in the very near future.
When asked by reporters whether or not they would risk losing those traditional viewers, he repeated that the world is moving away from cable, and given how available Prime, Sportsnet and other streaming services are, it certainly makes sense.
"The world is moving away from cable, the whole planet is changing!"
Years ago, this could have been a bad move, but given how many viewers the league get on Prime and Sportsnet, it makes total sense, and would not be shocking at all if the league completely abandoned cable soon.
