ST. LOUIS — Like every hockey fan, Gary Bettman is quick to acknowledge that the 2026 men’s Olympic hockey tournament, which culminated in the first U.S. gold medal since 1980, “was an amazing hockey experience.” Even so, the NHL commissioner is already thinking about how the league can work with the IOC, IIHF and Olympic broadcaster NBC to make the competition even more impactful for both his league and the sport as a whole.
“There are things we can do based on this experience and our relationship with the IIHF and the IOC that can make it an even more impactful event for hockey,” Bettman said moments before taking the stage Tuesday afternoon at SBJ’s National Sports Forum in St. Louis. “And that’s something we’ll be talking about as we focus on the next one four years from now in France.”
In particular, the league is eyeing increased access to Olympic highlights and more ideal scheduling for big games when the league next sends its players to the Winter Games in 2030.
Due to IOC restrictions aimed at protecting its high-paying broadcast partners (such as NBC in the U.S.), the NHL and its clubs are unable to use any highlights, whether it’s on their social media platforms or in other promotional material. It was a frustration for the league before its 12-year hiatus from sending players to the Games, but the lack of highlight rights has become even more glaring given the evolution of real-time social media content.
“If you go back to ’98, when we first [sent players to the Olympics] … there weren’t the social media platforms, all of which we feed daily during the regular season,” Bettman said later during his onstage session. “But when we go to the Olympics, there are limitations on what we can do. And as good as it is for hockey, it isn’t good if the NHL disappears for two and a half weeks, and we’ve got to strike a balance.”
As for start times, Bettman is convinced the gold medal game between the U.S. and Canada would have posted a much higher viewership number had the puck drop been at a more ideal time than 8am ET. Preliminary numbers have the game drawing 18.6M viewers, which is the second-best Olympic hockey rating ever for NBC. Still, it paled in comparison to the 2010 gold medal game in Vancouver, which drew 27.6M viewers with a 3:15pm ET start time.
“While we did a terrific rating, I’ve been told by reliable sources in the broadcasting business that the rating could’ve been twice as high,” Bettman said.
The commissioner said he had a candid and productive conversation with first-year IOC President Kirsty Coventry in Milan that he is hopeful will lead to reform in future Games.
“I’m hoping that as we and the Players’ Association work together and demonstrate that this is good for hockey for us to be promoting the Olympics, hopefully the chains with which we are tied will loosen,” Bettman said.
