NHL team president discusses sports betting

The Los Angeles King president said that revenue could increase if hockey wagering takes hold.

US.- Luc Robitaille, president of National Hockey League (NHL) team Los Angeles Kings said that there could be a windfall of revenue in the league due to sports betting legalisation. He said that teams will also spend more money on players.

The president said that if the money that currently goes to the illegal market gets redirected thanks to new regulations, then the sports betting industry could be profitable for the NHL and all of its teams.

”If teams profit, then everybody will profit,” he said. “If you go by the numbers on the illegal part, it’s pretty significant. If that part ends up on the team side, I think it’s going to help everyone. First of all, the [salary] cap will go up. Fans will be happy. Teams will spend more money on players. Players’ salaries will go up,” ESPN reported.

Robitaille also said that ticket prices could be affected by sports betting: “You would think this would help with always putting the pressure on fans to keep paying… hockey is still a ticket business, primarily. Hopefully that helps offset some of the ticket pricing. I’m not sure about it, but it could if the money is significant enough. There’s a lot that could go around it,” he said.

“I’m not going to guarantee it’s going to bring down ticket prices, but it might hold the raise a little bit. If a team plans on raising ticket prices by 8 per cent, they might only raise them by 5 or 4 per cent. If there’s a lot more money at the table, it makes everybody’s life easier.”