@boosbuzzsabres
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is vociferously booed every time he takes the podium in front of the general hockey public. Perhaps it's a little more tradition now than it was just after the 2004-05 NHL lockout, the first time in the history of pro sports a league lost an entire season due to labor strife. On behalf of the NHL owners, Bettman locked out the players for 310 days in an effort at "cost-certainty," otherwise known as a salary cap. When all was said and done the owners got their way, the players saw a 24% rollback in salary and the fans were left to simmer in rancor for the entire length of the lockout.
There are a myriad of other reasons that fans have a strong distaste for Bettman. Canadian fans in particular saw him bastardizing their hockey roots by moving franchises (Winnipeg and Quebec) out of "the Birthplace of Hockey" and into U.S. markets and they showed particular displeasure as Bettman focused upon "non-traditional cities" for relocation and expansion. Dallas, Phoenix, Florida, Atlanta (for the second time) and Nashville were not places one thoght of when it came to hockey nor were they they in the type of climate that invoked childhood memories of skating on frozen rinks for a game of shinny in the cold of winter.
Some didn't like his demeanor (seen as aloof) and some didn't like his height (or the Napoleonic aura he seemed to project) or that he opted to move on from ESPN post-lockout to "a television leader in action and adventure sports" known OLN, or the Outdoor Life Network for national games (OLN would become Versus and eventually NBC Sports Network.) In fact anything that a fan disliked about the game could be (in their minds) traced back to Bettman.
However, most of the vitriol sent Bettman's way was actually tied to work stoppages, with him presiding over all three lockouts (1994-95, 2004-05, 2012-13.)
The NHL is on break for the All-Star Game and Bettman stood at the podium in San Jose yesterday expressing optimism that the League and the NHL Players Association won't see another work stoppage. The present collective bargaining agreement is set to expire in 2022 with both the NHL and the NHLPA having the right to terminate the current CBA in September, a mere eight months from now.
The '04-'05 lockout set the salary cap precedent and made for a revenue split that saw the players receive 57% of hockey-related revenue as opposed to an estimated 75% of HRR prior to the lockout. Bettman oversaw the 2012-13 lockout and at the end of the day the league and the players agreed upon an even 50/50 split of HRR. Defining exactly what constituted HRR was debated but regardless of what either side thought, a 50/50 split seemed logical.
Revenue has been flowing for the NHL since their return in '05-'06 and that includes a 10-year, $2 billion television contract with Versus/NBC signed in 2011. Since '05-'06 total league revenue has more than doubled, according to statista.com, from $2.27 billion to $4.86 billion in 2017-18. NHL owners also can also bank on non-HRR via expansion fees paid by the Vegas Golden Knights ($500 million) and the soon to be Seattle franchise ($650 million.)
On the players side, their average salary went from $1.352 million in '05-'06 (according to semanticscholar.org) to $2.78 million for the 2018-19 season (statista.com) although there's an expanding gulf between the highest paid players and those on the lower rungs. Regardless that the top players are shattering previous contract values with Connor McDavid signing the first $100 million contract in July, 2017. In '05-'06 the highest salary belonged to Jaromir Jagr at $8.36 million. Three players hit the $10 million salary mark in 2007-08 and in 2012-13 all of the top-five salaries were eight-digit with an average of $12.4 million. The average of top five salaries for this season is $14.8 million lead by John Tavares (TOR) at $15.9 million.
This will only go up as the group of young players entering the league is amongst the best the NHL has seen since the original expansion in 1967. Edmonton's McDavid leads a group of young guns that includes Auston Matthews (TOR,) Nikita Kucherov (TBL,) Jack Eichel (BUF,) Patrick Laine (WPG,) Johnny Gadreau (CGY) Leon Draisatl (EDM,) and Mitch Marner (TOR,) among others, who are tearing it up. They're playing a highly-skilled, fast-paced game that fits right into the way the NHL wants to see the game played. That group along with veteran superstars like Sidney Crosby (PIT,) Alex Ovechkin (WSH) and Patrick Kane (CHI,) make for an NHL product that is demanding more attention.
In San Jose, Bettman extolled the virtues of what he's been able to accomplish and how it's helped the game today. "The players financially as the League financially has never done better," he exclaimed to the media. "Whether or not we've had disputes in the past, there's no question the League is healthier now, dramatically. We wouldn't be where we are today if we didn't have a system that corrected some of the ills of the past. We have stability, we have competitive balance and the game has been able to grow, and that's been for everybody's benefit who has been a part of the game. I don't just mean financially, I mean that competitively and aesthetically, which has been great for the fans."
It has been great for the fans as the product on the ice has been as exciting as it's been since possibly the 1970's/early 80's when we saw talent fly up and down the ice in the form of the dynastic Flying Frenchmen of the Montreal Canadiens as well as the dynasties that followed in the NY Islanders and Edmonton Oilers. Even the All-Star Game that takes place tonight is entertaining as Bettman found a format that showcases skill but also involves competitiveness.
This is a good era for the sport with both owners and players, as well as fans, reaping the benefits of labor peace. So what's there to fight over this time around?
Katie Strang of The Athletic penned a piece back in August concerning the big issues facing the NHL and NHLPA and first on the list was hockey-related revenue which may be something of strong concern to the owners. Strang calls the 50/50 split something that "appears to be fair and equitable" and she goes on to write that, "for one side to try and claw back an extra percentage point or two would be risky, not only from a public relations standpoint, but also igniting another bitter standoff."
No truer words have been said, and Strang also points out that the definition of HRR may be a sticking point moving forward as she quoted one player agent as saying "Defining HRR. That's what it's all about." Strang mentions that the league may try "change the way HRR is codified" and wrote that Deputy NHL Commissioner Bill Daly sent in an email stating that he "thinks there will be discussions designed to add more clarity and specificity to various items."
It could be a big sticking point, as could players escrow, which she says "might be the biggest gripe amongst players, according to their agents." Strang's quick definition of escrow is that a portion of their check is taken out and set aside "in order to reconcile the frequent discrepancies at the end of the NHL year between projected revenue vs. actual revenue." Since 2012 the escrowed amount taken from the players came in at anywhere from 15% to almost 17% with the amount refunded anywhere from just over 86% to just under 90%.
When taken in the context of the '04-'05 lockout where the league got their salary cap and '12-'13 where the league fought for a reduction of players share from 57% to 50%, those issues are really a matter of small change.
Then again, there's max contract lengths to discuss, which may also garner a lot of attention. That provided a battleground in the last lockout as the League pronounced a five year max-length as "a hill to die on" but they eventually settled for max-lengths of eight years, seven if the player was a free agent. Lengthy contracts have a way of getting ugly in many cases and Sabres fans can look no further than the contracts of Matt Moulson (relegated to the AHL the last two seasons) and Kyle Okposo, who's underperforming yet still has four more years left on his contract at a rather large cap-hit.
That said, a case could be made that the front office is ultimately responsible for offering contracts and signing players, so the players shouldn't be blamed for a team's foolishness.
Other than that, Strang brings up the Olympics, and we might add in the World Cup of Hockey, neither of which should be issues.
As a mostly regional sport that is still struggling to make mass forays into the U.S. market, the NHL can look back over the past 13 years and see they've come a long way. And that includes that mega-deal (for them) with NBC for national television rights. They've got the Winter Classic rolling as a mid-season centerpiece and have had a lot of success with outdoor games, including one in Southern California with volleyballers playing beside the rink in 65-degree weather.
Far be it for me to know the pratfalls of negotiations between billionaires and millionaires, but in this blogger's eyes the NHL and it's players, seem to be doing quite well and I, like many fans, couldn't be happier with the overall product, especially after going through what they did the past 14 years. The only thing that could derail this enthusiasm would be another work stoppage caused by petty nickel and dime stuff.
It would seem as if all that's needed is a little tune up in the next CBA and adherence to time-tested words: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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