National Hockey League

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
980036067
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2013
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2013
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2127892000
Rating
45
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Professional Societies, Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$124,386,483
Expenses
$132,858,057
Assets
$461,789,400
Liabilities
$461,789,400

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2013. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

42 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • GARY B BETTMAN (COMMISSIONER): $9,617,464 total reported compensation
  • WILLIAM DALY (DEPUTY COMMISSIONER/SECRETARY): $3,121,594 total reported compensation
  • JOHN COLLINS (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $2,209,569 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2013. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

TO PERPETUATE PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY as one of the national games IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA.

What it reported doing in 2013

In furtherance of its purposes, and specifically the promotion of the game of ice hockey and the business interests of its member clubs, the national hockey league provides centralized coordination, supervision and services, including, among other activities: (i) preparing the regular season and playoff game schedule for its member clubs, (ii) enforcing uniform rules of play governing hockey games and conduct between the member clubs, (iii) training, supervising and providing on-ice officials, (iv) organizing an annual draft of amateur players, (v) negotiating and administering collective bargaining agreements with the nhl players' association and with the nhl officials' association, (vi) conducting lobbying activities at the federal and state levels on matters relevant to the industry and our member clubs, and (vii) engaging on behalf of member clubs in litigation relevant to the league's purposes.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 77% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.8%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.48; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.5%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 30 of 30 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $9.6M · 42 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $19.2M reported
  • Consistency: 15 of 19 current checks pass · 4 findings to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2009 to 2013
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 18 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX CompCurrentOfficersDirectors column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX ForeignGrants column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX GrantsToDomesticOrgs column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.