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The Red Wings-Maple Leafs Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium attracted a record crowd of 105,491.

(Courtney Sacco | The Ann Arbor News)

The Jan. 1 Winter Classic between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs was named the 2014 sports event of the year by the SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily.

The spectacle at Michigan Stadium won out over Super Bowl XLVIII (Seahawks defeated Broncos 43-8), the Floyd Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez fight, the 2013 Breeders' Cup World Championships and the 2014 Phoenix Open.

The Sports Business Awards recognize excellence and outstanding achievement in the sports industry for the period from March 1, 2013 through Feb. 28, 2014.

A record hockey crowd of 105,491 watched the Maple Leafs edge the Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout. The event attracted 8.2 million viewers in the United States and Canada, a record for a regular-season matchup.

In addition, the publications named the NHL as the 2014 sports league of the year and commissioner Gary Bettman the 2014 sports executive of the year.

The NHL beat out Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the Atlantic Coast Conference, NASCAR and the PGA Tour for the honor.

"The NHL not only quickly put the recent lockout in the rearview mirror, it has flourished since then,'' wrote SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily. "The NHL signed a $5.2 billion Canadian media rights deal with Rogers Communications. Attendance remained strong and the league sold out six stadium games. Ratings for NHL telecasts on NBC and NBCSN are up. That momentum has the league projecting to reach $4 billion in national revenue by the end of next season."

Bettman beat out Randy Freer, president and chief operating officer of FOX Networks Group; MLS commissioner Don Garber; Kevin Plank, chairman and CEO of Under Armour; and Vivek Ranadive, managing partner of the Sacramento Kings.

"After signing a long-term collective bargaining agreement with the NHL Players Association in January 2013, Gary Bettman didn't take a break," wrote SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily. "The league reached an agreement with the NHLPA and IIFF for player participation in the Winter Olympics in Sochi. It implemented a divisional realignment that emphasizes geographic rivalries. Within a seven-week period last summer, Bettman ushered in new ownerships for the Phoenix Coyotes, Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils.

"The NHL reached a 12-year, $4.9 billion broadcast rights agreement with Rogers Communications for Canada, representing the largest media rights deal in league history. Capitalizing on the success of the NHL Winter Classic, which brought more than 105,000 fans to Michigan Stadium on Jan. 1, the NHL created the Stadium Series, bringing two games to Yankee Stadium and one each to Dodger Stadium and Soldier Field. Such initiatives are why the NHL, a $2.2 billion business in 2006, expects to surpass the $4 billion mark by 2016."

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