NHL Commissioner and Hockey Hall of Fame Inductee Gary Bettman Named 2025 McCormack Department Executive-in-Residence

Gary Bettman, commissioner of the National Hockey League, Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, and the longest-serving sports commissioner in history, will serve as the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management Executive-in-Residence at the Isenberg School of Management this fall, visiting the UMass Amherst campus on December 2, 2025.

“The Executive-in-Residence program continues to honor Mark H. McCormack’s legacy by bringing to campus Commissioner Gary Bettman, one of the most accomplished and respected leaders in the sports industry,” said Matt Katz, chair of the McCormack Department of Sport Management. “Welcoming an active commissioner to campus to meet with our students is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for all our aspiring sports industry leaders. Each year we learn so much from our esteemed guests and Commissioner Bettman’s perspective on fan engagement, international growth, and the future of our industry will further strengthen the McCormack tradition of innovation and insight.”

"We are honored to have Commissioner Bettman join us as our esteemed McCormack Executive-in-Residence this semester, joining an impressive group of sport business leaders who have shared their stories of forward-thinking innovation and career fulfillment with our students, faculty and alumni, " said Will Norton, senior lecturer and graduate program director. "Commissioner Bettman stands alone as the only active commissioner to serve as McCormack Executive-in-Residence, and his presence in our classrooms will enrich the student experience immensely. For students studying the growth of professional sports leagues and learning the management skills needed to lead and inspire from the top, Commissioner Bettman’s visit will serve as the highlight of our academic year and help reinforce the leadership pillars that remain the hallmark of Mark McCormack's legacy."

The keynote event of Bettman’s visit is the Mark H. McCormack Sport Fireside Chat, to be held on Tuesday, December 2, at 6 p.m., in room N151 of the Integrative Learning Center. This event is open to the UMass and Five College community and will also be live-streamed. Bettman’s residency activities will also include classroom visits, roundtables with McCormack students and faculty, and participation in the McCormack Collection Oral History Project.

Gary B. Bettman has served the National Hockey League as commissioner since Feb. 1, 1993, and has guided the world’s top professional hockey league for over three decades of growth and advancement—on the ice and off.

Record revenues, record attendance, and a variety of fan-friendly initiatives are just a few trademarks of Commissioner Bettman’s tenure. The innovation of the Winter Classic outdoor game has turned New Year’s Day into a celebration of hockey. The implementation of four-on-four overtime and the ‘shootout’ eliminated tied games during the regular season. The implementation of the two-referee system has revolutionized hockey officiating around the world. Exclusive, original content on the League’s NHL.com website provides fans with original stories, highlights, and videos, while the Game Center Live subscription service on NHL.com affords fans the opportunity to watch up to four regular-season games simultaneously and offers such features as “picture in picture,” a DVR function, and variable bit-rate streaming options to optimize video quality.

Advancements in the game under Commissioner Bettman’s direction also have included repeated innovations around instant replay and elevations in the study of injuries—concussions, in particular. The NHL was the first major professional sports league to mandate neuropsychological baseline testing to help determine return-to-play guidelines for players who have suffered concussions.

Commissioner Bettman also has focused attention on the league’s international makeup and appeal. In 1998, he led the NHL to its first Olympic Winter Games, with NHL players stocking the rosters of six world-class teams, and the league has returned to the competition in 2002 at Salt Lake City and in 2006 at Torino. The 2010 Winter Olympic Games, in Vancouver, British Columbia, were played under NHL rules on NHL-sized ice surfaces. The NHL will return to Olympic play in 2026 in Milan.

As a further testament to the league’s international appeal, NHL games now are televised in more than 160 countries worldwide. Further, the World Cup of Hockey, which features the top NHL players representing their homelands in an international tournament, was played for the first time in 1996, returned in September 2004, and is expected to resume in the future.

Before being named NHL commissioner, Commissioner Bettman served 12 years with the National Basketball Association, attaining the position of senior vice president and general counsel. Prior to that, he was associated with the New York law firm of Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn.

A native of Queens, NY, he graduated from Cornell University and the New York University School of Law. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, Shelli. The couple has three adult children.

Recent McCormack Executives-in-Residence include:

• Former CBS Sports Chairman and CBS News President Sean McManus (Fall 2024)
• Former NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith (Fall 2023)
• Trailblazing marketing and sport sponsorship executive Harlan Stone (Fall 2022)
• International Olympic Committee Board Member Anita DeFrantz (Fall 2021)
• NBA Commissioner Emeritus David Stern (Fall 2019)
• Sport marketer and The Aspire Group founder Dr. Bernie Mullin (Fall 2018)

For a complete listing of former Executives-in-Residence, click here