NHL Lockout: Gary Bettman Assumes Fans Will Be There - Joe Chacon's Blog

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Joe Chacon's Blog

NHL Lockout: Gary Bettman Assumes Fans Will Be There Stuck

Posted on September 20, 2012 at 02:05 AM.

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The NHL officially canceled all preseason games for the month of September and could soon decide to forgo the entire exhibition slate if a deal between the players and the owners is not agreed upon.

As of this writing not only are both sides nowhere near an agreement, there doesn't appear to be a sense of urgency from either side. Unlike the NFL and NBA lockout deadlines, this one pretty much came and went with very little fanfare.

Sure, Bettman says the owners need to dig in due to these tough economic times -- even though Bettman's salary has nearly doubled to $8 million since the last lockout in 2004 which wiped out the entire season.

I know this isn't all the commissioner's fault, but it doesn't appear he's doing much to help bring the two sides together either.

I wrote earlier this year about the NHL lockout being on the horizon and how the league would lose all of the momentum that they have amassed over the last five years. I especially see this happening in Los Angeles where not only has the lockout wiped out the feeling of "hockey town" over here, but the team is also up for sale as part of the AEG package.

The very last thing the NHL needs is to be lumped into the category of being perceived as spoiled crybabies in the same way athletes and owners of the other major sports are.

Per USA Today hockey columnist Kevin Allen, here are the major bullet points with regards to the current lockout:

Quote:


	What is the major issue? How revenue, which last season totaled $3.3 billion, will be divided. Players are guaranteed a 57% share of the revenue, and the owners want to see the players' share dramatically reduced. How far apart are they? There is a wide gap, both in philosophy and dollars. The owners' last offer was a straightforward six-year deal that would reduce players' share from 49% to 47% over the course of the deal. The players are offering a three-year deal in which they would accept less of a share of anticipated future growth. Their latest offer tacked on the possibility of extending it by two years. According to players, their share of the revenue would be reduced from 54.3% to 52.3% over the course of their offer. Players want that money to be used to fund additional revenue sharing for financially stressed teams. Owners dispute their numbers because they are tied to an anticipated growth of 7.1%, the average for the past seven years. Will does the lockout mean? Players can't use team facilities and won't be paid. Training camps won't open until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached. However, under lockout rules, any injured player will be paid until he's cleared by the team doctors. That would cover players such as the New York Rangers' Marian Gaborik, Edmonton Oilers' Taylor Hall and Philadelphia Flyers' Chris Pronger. Will the Oct. 11 start of the season definitely be delayed? Probably, but it's possible to reach a deal by Oct. 1 and start on time if training camps were reduced to seven to 10 days. Given the fact players train year-round, this is possible. Will players begin signing with European teams? It's possible that some Europeans will start playing right away, but most players will wait a few weeks to see what happens before they start heading overseas. Other issues: The Swedish Elite League isn't going to allow its teams to sign NHL players unless they commit for the season. The Kontinental Hockey League has placed restrictions on which NHL players would be eligible to sign there. The Russia-based KHL is the European league that comes closest to paying NHL-style wages. Players can get up to 65% of their NHL pay. How would this lockout be different from the season-canceling 2004-05 one? The last time the owners and players negotiated, the main issue was the systemic change from a free market season to a salary cap. Coming into the lockout, both sides were preparing as if the season could be lost. There is no such undercurrent this time. This fight is clearly about money. What are the pressure points that will bring the sides together? Players would normally start drawing checks Oct. 15, and their checks are significant. The average NHL salary is $2.4 million. In addition to losing revenue, owners would not want to lose the Winter Classic outdoor game Jan. 1. This is a major event for the league, and this year it will be played at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, where it's likely to draw a hockey-record crowd of more than 115,000.

So, here we are in the midst of yet another sports labor issue in which both sides will play tug of war for money until they eventually realize they've gone as far as they can go without jeopardizing their own futures as professional athletes.

With NCAA and NFL football in full swing, as well as the home stretch of MLB, and the opening of NBA training camp, how long will it take before fans start to realize hockey is gone?

Joe Chacon is a staff writer for Operation Sports and a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.

Comments

# 1 onac22 @ Sep 20

Gary Bettman has the Stanley Cup Owners Selling Their team just to prove his point.

# 2 onac22 @ Sep 20

BOOOO bettman and the players none of them deserve the idea of the sport. Or the FUN!

# 3 rudeworld @ Sep 20

Worst commish in pro sports.... cancelling an entire season not once but twice maybe? and wonders why the NHL is not talked about "come on man!".... NHL hockey... is a great sport.... get rid of the commishiowner (see what I did there?) and we can drop the puck, get on the ice.... score some goals, get into some fights... and eventually raise the cup..... I got a question, since there is a lock out.... who's getting paid from the revenue that thing such as NHL13 will bring in?