Jun 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman greets fans to start the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft at Peacock Theater. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

NHL Focused on Growing International Market

Originally posted on Breakaway on SI | By Jacob Punturi | Last updated Oct 16, 2025 9:00 AM ET

As the NHL continues reaching record-high revenues and franchises soar in total valuation, the league is not content with their current growth. Instead, the league is eyeing more.

The NHL Board of Governors recently met, and one of their main points of discussion was how they can continue to grow their international presence and market. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman spoke afterwards about their efforts moving forward, and they see a golden opportunity in the global market.

“We're focused on what we can be doing more outside of North America to continue to grow the game on a worldwide basis," he said. "That's becoming an increasing focus and priority for us because we believe we're the most international, certainly with our player composition, of the four major sports in North America and we think there's a great opportunity. But even more than the opportunity we'd like to see the game continue to grow."

Expanding Coverage and Access

The question that comes up is how does the NHL exactly do that? Right now, the league has some footing in Europe, but it’s not at the level Bettman would like them to be. The NHL Global Series has become an annual part of the regular season schedule. This year, the Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins meet in Sweden for a pair of contests.

So they have part of their plan in action, as Bettman sees it. But the next steps are beyond just playing games in front of their crowds. The commissioner envisions more media and programs within those markets to help grow their presence and popularity in those international markets. More than anything, Bettman says it’s about being more active and present in those spaces.

”It's more about playing games, media, grassroots programs, providing content… the things we do in North America on a regular basis and we've been doing to some extent in Europe,” he explained. “But this is about investing more of ourselves in building."

The NHL is not the only major professional sports league eyeing international expansion. The NFL has also been at the forefront of growing internationally. The league plays multiple games per regular season in Europe, and the speculation over a future NFL franchise based in Europe continues to grow.

The key for the NHL is following up on these discussions and plans. Hockey remains one of the most popular sports in the world and the group of players emerging from Europe continue to dominate the NHL more. It just makes sense to continue growing this market, and if Bettman gets his way, the NHL will certainly do so.

This article first appeared on Breakaway on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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