[CliffFletcher]

Team owners don't want more people coming to the games. They want more money from attendance. Those are two different things.

All that stuff about tradition and community is nice. But live professional sports today is about providing an elite entertainment offering for corporate customers. Owners don't want average fans taking up valuable space that could be better served by providing a luxurious experience for big whales. Reducing the price of tickets to make the games affordable to families would run contrary to their whole business model of sucking hundreds an evening out of corporate sponsors and tier 1 fans.

Where they expect to get broad support is from television. But the digital entertainment world is changing so fast they're struggling to adapt. They do know few younger fans today will plant their ass on a couch for 3 hours and watch a game from start to finish (Bettman acknowledged as much in a recent interview). I expect we'll see game content chopped up into all kinds of smaller pieces with highlights, stats, and storylines woven into them.