While social media engagement doesn’t always translate to live viewership or ticket sales, it can prove to media partners that a potentially massive audience beyond the existing fanbase is at least paying attention. And, of the four major sports leagues in the U.S., the NHL has the most room to grow: It consistently posts the lowest overall engagement on social media, per sports data firm Relo Metrics. Even MLS, which is still finding its footing in the U.S., has double hockey’s total engagement on social platforms.

Bettman knows this better than anyone, which is why he pressured team general managers into encouraging players to start posting more, per Sportico. But a report from The Athletic last year, based on interviews with 120 anonymous NHL players, found that 80 percent of them don’t follow what fans are talking about on social media. By contrast, the NBA and its players have a robust social media presence, which basically functions as a free, top-of-funnel marketing tool. During rights negotiations, this pipeline narrative can be an asset in the absence of more tangible viewership statistics.

Engagement on social media can also translate to more engaged live viewers—and increased chances that a fan will stick around season after season. After all, for those casually addicted to watching a star player’s highlights and daily routines, the experience of watching them speed around the ice (and occasionally drop gloves) becomes much more enjoyable. However, according to an S&P report from last year, the NHL is struggling in this area, too: An eye-popping 44 percent of fans reported “low engagement” during live games, while 32 percent said they were “moderately engaged,” and just under 25 percent were “hyper engaged.” Although S&P doesn’t compare the NHL’s engagement to other sports, tie that to low viewership—games averaged 440,000 viewers last season—and it isn’t difficult to spot the worrying trend.

Meanwhile, the league’s existing fans are… on the older side, which means that Bettman, like the MLB’s Rob Manfred, is highly fixated on finding ways to corral Gen Z or Gen Alpha viewers. Last year, 45 percent of NHL fans were over the age of 55, according to S&P Global’s “State of Sports Fans” report. Meanwhile, just 20 percent of fans were aged 18-34—compared to around 30 percent of NBA fans.

Bettman has made some moves to reach younger audiences, including entering into a new partnership with Amazon Prime Video in Canada—which is still the NHL’s most engaged market—that sits on top of the league’s ongoing relationship with Rogers. And to his credit, it’s kind of working. On Prime Video, the median audience age was closer to 43 years old, with growth in the 18-34-year-old demographic, according to the company.

Hope, ironically, may have arrived in the form of Heated Rivalry, HBO Max’s gay hockey romance show, which averaged more than 10 million viewers an episode and was quickly renewed for two more seasons. It’s a cultural phenomenon that has been a boon for Bettman and the league. On TikTok, the NHL’s primary account has increased its follower count by 83 percent since Heated Rivalry pandemonium took hold, per Sports Illustrated. New daily followers have increased by 114 percent, according to the NHL, while interest in tickets to games on StubHub shot up 40 percent while the first season was rolling out.

Heated Rivalry is not going to push media partners over the line on a new deal, but it represents the type of cool factor that’s relatively alien to the NHL. As Gen Zers continue to enter the league, Bettman may find the answer to his social media problem. Now, he just needs to translate the excitement around the league’s 4 Nations tournament, the additional buy-in from the Olympics, and a recent surge in cultural heat into a tangible deal. As one long-time sports media investor told me over drinks recently, cool is a double-edged sword. It’s great to have, but it hurts that much more when it inevitably disappears. The trick is striking while the iron is hot, and the clock is ticking for the NHL.