Don’t Speak Of The L Word
It’s actually pretty difficult to find out the current situation of the talks between the NHL team owners and players association (NHLPA) in their attempt to find an agreeable new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). I’m attributing that to the fact that media and fans alike don’t want to think about the fact that just 8 years on from an entire season being lost, a lockout is once again looming.
The CBA is the labour contract between the two parties deciding on issues such as the salary cap and the individual player contracts that are handed out amongst other agreements. Your friendly neighbourhood Commissioner Gary Bettman; who acts as a head for the owners and presided over the two previous lockouts (For which he is often reminded of by the fans), has said that a deal must be done before the current agreement expires on 15th September or the new season will be delayed.
That may seem like plenty of time for negotiating but when you consider the owners submitted their initial proposal a month ago and we’re only just getting around to the NHLPA’s first reply plus the fact the sides are so far apart, you can understand my pessimism.
So who’s to blame? Well, despite the fact it was thought that the owners got the better of the 2005 deal, they are the guilty party wanting to make the change. If you offered a renewal of the status quo to the players they would snap your hand off, as it has proved great for them over the 8 years, salaries have gone up as well as the arrival of bloated length contracts to circumvent the cap. They also seem to be willing to compromise and want to get the season underway, I have sympathy for them at the moment.
I know the powers that be are easy targets, but to put the fans in this predicament again so soon is hugely disappointing and their first offer to the NHLPA was never going to be accepted. These were the main points:
1. Reduce players’ hockey-related revenues to 46% from 57%.
2. 10 seasons in the NHL before being eligible for unrestricted free agency.
3. Contracts limited to 5 years.
4. No more salary arbitration.
5. Entry-level contract are 5 years long instead of 3.
This was pretty much an attempt to limit the players’ earning potential on all fronts, far too dramatically for it to be fair. I understand that this last season only 12 of the franchises were profitable despite the rise in revenue so salary costs do need to come down, however teams have clearly dealt out contracts knowing that they’d be in the red as a result. The Minnesota Wild just dished out two huge 13-year contracts last month and they are far from the only ones to have burdened themselves with such deals.
Nobody wins if we end up with a lockout, least of all the fans. That translates back to the owners when they don’t come back, which is a real possibility in all but the most devoted of hockey markets. It’s like playing chicken with your fanbase, they might put up with it once but I fear the backlash this time around could be more severe.
Followers of other US sports will know that it’s all a bit reminiscent of the NFL and NBA just last year, the football escaped unscathed but months of the basketball season were lost. They eventually settled on 50% revenue share and although the dispute was more complicated than that simple statistic the NHL will no doubt use that number in their negotiations.
Maintain hope/optimism that someone will see sense and remember that it’s taken a while for the arenas to fill again since 05 so we can get this whole mess cleaned up. If that happens maybe some hockey might break out.