Report reveals that Gary Bettman is paid more than the NHL's biggest stars

PUBLICATION

Tyler Ball
July 26, 2024 (5:54 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

Today a new report has surfaced that has revealed that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman likely makes more money than every single player in the NHL.

The job of an NHL commissioner is a difficult but enviable position. Keeping one of the most popular sports leagues running smoothly is not as easy as it sounds.

In the case of Gary Bettman, he is faced with growing the NHL and competing with other major sports leagues in North America like the NFL, NBA, MLB, and MLS.

Despite the major challenge this presents everyone who watches sports would say that the commissioner of any league does not majorly impact if they watch the sport or not. The athletes who compete and play for their favorite teams are what will impact their enjoyment and interest.

With this in mind it would be easy to assume that Gary Bettman and other commissioners in sports do not make as much as the athletes within the league. However, a new report today has revealed this might not be the case.

New report reveals how much Gary Bettman makes a year and it's insane

A report that was done in 2013-14 has given us an inside look into the salary of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. At the time his salary was made public by the NHL and in that season Gary Bettman made $8.8 million in salary and benefits the previous year (and $8 million in 2011-2012).

During this time that high of a salary would have been around 6 million dollars under the highest-paid player in the NHL at the time which was Shea Weber at around 14 million per year. As a follow-up to this older article, a new source calculated what Gary Bettman's salary likely is in 2023-24. Currently, Gary Bettman's net worth is reported around 39 million.

In 2024, Gary Bettman's worth is estimated at $39M. However, the salary he now receives seems confidential compared to the years 2013-2014, the date of the text!» - Via TSLH

Combine this with general salary increases in the NHL and Gary Bettman's estimated net worth and a source at Habs Fanatics was able to predict Gary Bettman's current salary.

Even though his current salary is highly confidential, if we rely on the increases from 2011 to 2015, we can probably assert, without too much error, that he likely makes more than $15 million per year currently.

Assuming this number is correct this would mean that Gary Bettman has a higher overall salary per year than every player other than Nathan MacKinnon who is compensated 16.5 million each year. This means that hockey legends like Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, and Connor McDavid are being severely underpaid even compared to their own commissioner.

If this is true the NHL needs to consider divulging this information publicly once again so that fans are aware and potentially players can use this to get wages that are more similar to their counterparts in other sports. This likely won't happen though as ownership and the league likely want to keep salaries down for players.

Source: Habs Fanatics
Gary Bettman's annual salary has been leaked, and it's worse than expected