Gary Bettman Called Out For Preventing Millions Of Fans From Watching NHL Games

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Graham Montgomery
November 16, 2023 (6:52 PM)

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The NHL global series is an annual event in which NHL teams make a trip outside North America to bring NHL hockey to new places around the world. The league typically visits countries where the sport is already popular like Sweden or Czechia, but they've also made trips to places like Australia, where the league hosted two preseason games this year.

NHL Global Series Returns To Sweden

The NHL began its global series program in 2017, when the league sent teams to play in Stockholm, Sweden. This year the league returned to Sweden for the global series once again as the Leafs, Wild, Red Wings, and Senators made the trip across the pond to bring the NHL regular season to Europe.

However, fans in North America may feel left out as the games are blacked out outside the broadcast areas for the teams involved.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman Called Out For Global Series Blackouts

No sports fan is a fan of blackouts. That sentiment is so popular in fact, that even player agents agree with it. Allan Walsh, perhaps the league's most outspoken agent, called out Bettman and the NHL for continuing this archaic practice with the global series games.

Blackouts add nothing to the game or the league. They encourage people to pirate games illegally and prevent hard working fans from enjoying their favorite teams. With the rise of streaming, blackouts seem like they should be a thing of the past and yet the NHL continues to use them. Walsh was not the only fan to speak on this issue about the global series games specifically.

Even though they would be watching on TV, it would still be a cool experience for fans to see their team play in a unique location that they will probably never visit again. As such, it is time for blackouts to go.