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“It’s ridiculous”: Gary Bettman doesn’t care (much) about taxes
Félix Forget
“It’s ridiculous”: Gary Bettman doesn’t care (much) about taxes
Credit: Getty Images
For the sixth year running, it’s a Florida team representing the East in the Stanley Cup Final. After the Lightning, who have been there three years in a row, it’s the Panthers who have made it three in a row.

It’s a great success for the state, of course… but it’s got people talking, and for tax reasons.

Because Florida, unlike many other markets, offers tax advantages. And since these teams have been winning, these advantages have been decried throughout the NHL.

And tonight, while Gary Bettman was on the TNT panel, Paul Bissonnette asked the commissioner about it… and clearly, Bettman doesn’t give a damn:

It’s ridiculous. – Gary Bettman

What Bettman is saying is that for the 17 years that the Lightning and Panthers were bad, nobody ever talked about it. Then, suddenly, both teams start winning… and it becomes a problem.

In the Commissioner’s eyes, it may be a factor in deciding between two teams… but it’s still less important than many other factors (be it the market, the team’s players and coaches, etc.).

The reality, as is so often the case, is probably somewhere in between: taxes probably have a greater impact than Bettman claims (especially in terms of what players already in town are willing to leave on the table to stay in those markets, leaving more money to sign other players), but it’s not the unfair advantage some claim.

What attracts players to Florida is mainly the fact that the teams… win. The Lightning have been recognized for 15 years as one of the NHL’s best organizations, and the Panthers have excelled at reviving careers over the past few years: these are big arguments in favour of signing players.

Add to all this the fact that guys don’t have to deal with winter, and that there’s a winning culture within these two organizations: taxes or not, it’s not particularly surprising that guys want to play there.

You may not like them, of course. But to reduce it all to the tax rate is to (greatly) underestimate the hard work these teams have put in over the past few years.


Overtime

– Where will Gavin McKenna play next year?

– Well done.

– News from La Victoire.

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