In the last week we've seen huge long-term deals given out to Unrestricted Free Agents and one gigantic, potentially landscape-altering offer sheet given to a Restricted Free Agent. As I wrote earlier in the week, it feels just like old times. Of course things theoretically should be different this time around. We have cost certaintly. We have linkage. We have revenue sharing...
So my question is, how healthy is the NHL?
I've been doing some number crunching and analysis over the weekend but wanted to throw it out to you guys before getting into the details to get some thoughts.
Over the next week or so I'll be revisiting the Levitt report, looking into leaguewide and team revenues based on the information that is available, as well as paid attendance, ticket prices and an in-depth look at how revenue sharing works.
Here are a few quotes from Gary Bettman from the lockout to start off the discussion. There was a lot of talk about affordable ticket prices and about 30 healthy franchises...
"Before we can open our arenas, we need to fix the economic system under which our sport operates. We'll be back as soon as the players' Union is prepared to talk to us about a partnership that allows us to offer all NHL fans affordable tickets prices and 30 stable and competitive franchises."
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"This league has lost $1.8 billion over the last decade including $500 million in the last two years. We simply cannot continue to sustain losses. It's not about "compromise," it's about doing the right thing to ensure that the game and the franchises are healthy."
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"We believe that a partnership is critical for the future of our game. A partnership will ensure 30 healthy and competitive franchises with affordable ticket prices. This is a goal that we will not abandon."
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"The reason we don't have 30 healthy franchises is we pay too much out of our revenues on our expenses, and there are disparities which have competitive implications in terms of what our teams can spend and the product that they can put on the ice. With the right economic system, we can have 30 healthy, competitive franchises all with affordable ticket prices, which frankly all of this is about the fans. All of this is making sure that our game is as healthy as it can be."
From these discussions I think we'll have a much better idea as to how the league has been affected by the new CBA and whether they achieved their objectives that were stated during the lockout.
If you have any thoughts or data, feel free to send me an e-mail or post in the comments..
Danny -
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