NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has canceled a major event due to lack of interest from fans

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Hunter Bowman
October 21, 2024 (1:04 PM)

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Recent reports have surfaced that the National Hockey League and Commissioner Gary Bettman will cancel a major event that was once highly popular, due to the lack of interest from fans.

According to multiple sources around the league, the NHL is considering to do something completely different this year with the NHL Awards Event, which showcase the Calder Trophy Winner, the Leagues MVP, Vezina Trophy winner (won by Igor Shestekrin in 2022) and more.

However, it is as reported that due to the �lack of interest' from fans across the National Hockey League, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will be considering a different format.

The awards event has always been nationally televised as players accept their awards at the end of the NHL season, right before the playoffs, but considering to NHL insider, Elliotte Friedman the league is changing things up due to the lack of interest.

"What the league is looking at in combination with the Players' Association, is what else can they do that's interesting, what else can they do that will make the awards special. A couple of things have been thrown out. One of the ideas is doing it the way the NBA does it. The NBA, during the first week of the playoffs, will honour the winners at their home arenas."

Elliotte Friedman stated that there will probably not be an award show that is televised at the end of the 2024-25 season, and the league has several different approaches they are considering for the award ceremony. As many fans had complained about last season awards show, with the amount of commercials and such being the main focus.

«The word is this year that there will not be an award show per se,» Friedman reported. «What the league is looking at, in combination with the player's association, is what else can they do that's interest, what else can they do to make the awards special?»

«There'll be a press conference earlier in the day, and then at the beginning of the game, the trophy will be brought out, and the player can celebrate and get a big ovation from the fans. One of the other things they're talking about is can they create viral moments. Like maybe surprising the player somewhere with the trophy.»

While some of these proposed changes seem interesting it's still going to be hard for the NHL to gain back viewers as many need to pay for 2-3 different streaming services to just watch their team play all 82 of their games.