Being the Commish sure pays well...

Imagine all those TVs one can buy to watch the NBA with all this money.....

From Sporting News:

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman received a 27 percent raise during the 2007-08 season, pushing his salary with benefits to $7.1 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, according to league tax filings.

The salary is the highest Bettman has earned in his 16 years as commissioner and a major increase from his pre-lockout salary of $3.77 million. [ahah! So Gary locked everyone out for a year so he could plan on a way to make more money!] League tax filings, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, show Bettman received $4,197,694 in compensation from the NHL and an additional $2,911,550 in compensation and benefits from the NHL's business arm, NHL Enterprises. [I should be getting compensation for having to put up with Gary!!!]

Bettman's salary remains a fraction of what other professional sports commissioners are paid. Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig ($18.35 million) [peanuts compared to A-Rod's contract though!] and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell ($10.9 million) both earn more. NBA commissioner David Stern is believed to earn more than $10 million, but his salary is not reported publicly because the league doesn't claim tax-exempt status. [Seriously, Gary should've tried to take over the MLB instead of the NHL.]

COMMISSIONER COMPENSATION
MLB	NFL	NBA	NHL	PGA Tour
Bud Selig	Roger Goodell	David Stern	Gary Bettman	Tim Finchem
$18.35 million	$10.9 million	$10 million (estimated)	$7.1 million	$4.8 million

The NHL declined to explain Bettman's salary increase [no kidding], but the increase came following a 2006-07 season that saw league revenue top $2.2 billion as the NHL set an attendance record and increased NHL Enterprises and broadcasting revenue by double-digit percentages.

NHL Deputy commissioner Bill Daly earned $1.78 million in total compensation for the 2007-08 fiscal year, giving him a 2.3 percent raise from the previous year. NHL treasurer Craig Harnett, the only other officer and executive listed, earned $846,915 during the same period. [Colin the Random is still waiting for his raise!]

In total, the league spent $6,013,144 on NHL officer salaries for Bettman, Daly and Harnett. It spent an additional $22.7 million on employee salaries and $5.1 million on employee benefits. The filing doesn't list the total number of employees that the NHL compensates.

The league generated a total of $74.2 million in expenses. In addition to salaries and benefits, major costs included $7.2 million for travel, $5.8 million for officiating fees [and yet the refs still suck], $2 million in legal fees and $1.5 million for public relations [and then they wonder why nobody likes the NHL], among others.

The league reported revenue rose 14.9 percent over the period to $74.27 million. Most of that revenue came from membership dues paid by NHL clubs totaling $56 million. An additional $4.95 million came from NHL Enterprises licensing, $3 million from copyright royalties and $6.97 million came from playoff assessments.

Those numbers only represent NHL revenue and exclude revenue from NHL Enterprises, NHL Network and other business operations. Additional revenue from NHL Enterprises and member clubs pushed total league revenue to more than $2.5 billion over the 2007-08 season.