Dread on the Horizon?

[johnnybluenose]

TheStar.com | Sports | Marriage between union, NHL starts to sour

Players watched a video showing clips of the NHL commissioner before the crippling 2004-05 lockout. Both Bettman and his No.2, Bill Daly, did the media rounds in those days, explaining to anyone who would listen why the pro hockey business needed an overhaul. Tickets were too expensive, Bettman said at the time. The NHL needed to introduce a system that would allow its 30 teams to be successful in their current markets.

also
LET'S MAKE A DEL: RANGERS PICK ZOTTO - New York Post

The NHLPA informed Bettman yesterday that the union would exercise its five-percent bump on the cap. Thus, the 2008-09 cap will be $56M, with the floor set at $40M

The shit is going to hit the fan sooner than later.

I remember getting into arguments with friends and family all throughout the period right before the last labour stoppage, and during the stoppage...about how the NHL's business model is truly flawed and how the Owners only needed a re-set and not a cap, that the owners are their own worst enemies etc...All I got was flack over how 'the players are greedy prima-donnas'

Now we are seeing this work itself out.

What happens if the American economy bounces again, or if the Canadian falls again? The Canadian Teams are keeping the league in play along with a few good American markets(New York, Colorado, Minnesota, Detroit, Philly) and there are a few markets returning to prominence (Pittsburgh, Chicago, Boston)

The Bettman experiment has failed. He has tried to model the NHL through reverse engineering the NFL and MLB. Low ticket prices coupled with huge TV deals. The Yanks don't 'get' Hockey on TV, if they ever make it to a game live, they get hooked...but it doesn't translate to TV.

The NHL needs to be modeled after the NBA and prior NHL Model/current Canadian Model...Decent to high ticket prices with good TV deals regionally. It is a gate driven league...Sellouts+ good regional TV deals = good business for a niche sport. Putting teams in Warm Climes has proven to be a failure....Even Mighty Los Angeles (the article above states it is the Second Largest market in North America) is losing $10 million a year!? You cannot tell me that Winnepeg, even with the small (15.5k seater) rink would lose that much...The NHL is in hot water with recent(ish) expansion franchises that have failed...The NHL awarded Franchises in South Florida, Tampa, Nashville, and Atlanta to owners who no longer own their teams...Nashville is in a precarious spot now as the owner has gone bankrupt through allegations he bought the team by borrowing money in which he fraudulently procured...thereby putting the Lease into default...yet Jim Balsillie the Blackberry guy can't get his foot in the door.

Now certain failed markets are having to spend up to 40 million just to qualify for revenue sharing, and will lose more money than ever, even pre-lockout when having to compete with the Big market spenders...

What is to be done?
Fold franchises? Not likely...the NHLPA would then have the owners by the nuts and could probably get out of it's current CBA
Move teams to better markets? probably...Seattle could support an NHL team with the Sonics leaving, they just need a new building, Nashville could easily move to Southern Ontario and the reveune loss would hardly be felt by the Maple Laffs, Phoenix could easily be slid back into Winnipeg, even though the area has 5000 less seats, they could get $80+ a seat average there vs not being able to give them away for free in the Desert.

At the end of the day the NHL is suffering a terrible generation off the ice, now they had enough leadership that was mostly player driven to fix the on-ice product...Bettman is 100% to blame, but who will fix the problems?

[redwoods]

Originally Posted by johnnybluenose

TheStar.com | Sports | Marriage between union, NHL starts to sour



also
LET'S MAKE A DEL: RANGERS PICK ZOTTO - New York Post


The shit is going to hit the fan sooner than later.

I remember getting into arguments with friends and family all throughout the period right before the last labour stoppage, and during the stoppage...about how the NHL's business model is truly flawed and how the Owners only needed a re-set and not a cap, that the owners are their own worst enemies etc...All I got was flack over how 'the players are greedy prima-donnas'

Now we are seeing this work itself out.

What happens if the American economy bounces again, or if the Canadian falls again? The Canadian Teams are keeping the league in play along with a few good American markets(New York, Colorado, Minnesota, Detroit, Philly) and there are a few markets returning to prominence (Pittsburgh, Chicago, Boston)

The Bettman experiment has failed. He has tried to model the NHL through reverse engineering the NFL and MLB. Low ticket prices coupled with huge TV deals. The Yanks don't 'get' Hockey on TV, if they ever make it to a game live, they get hooked...but it doesn't translate to TV.

The NHL needs to be modeled after the NBA and prior NHL Model/current Canadian Model...Decent to high ticket prices with good TV deals regionally. It is a gate driven league...Sellouts+ good regional TV deals = good business for a niche sport. Putting teams in Warm Climes has proven to be a failure....Even Mighty Los Angeles (the article above states it is the Second Largest market in North America) is losing $10 million a year!? You cannot tell me that Winnepeg, even with the small (15.5k seater) rink would lose that much...The NHL is in hot water with recent(ish) expansion franchises that have failed...The NHL awarded Franchises in South Florida, Tampa, Nashville, and Atlanta to owners who no longer own their teams...Nashville is in a precarious spot now as the owner has gone bankrupt through allegations he bought the team by borrowing money in which he fraudulently procured...thereby putting the Lease into default...yet Jim Balsillie the Blackberry guy can't get his foot in the door.

Now certain failed markets are having to spend up to 40 million just to qualify for revenue sharing, and will lose more money than ever, even pre-lockout when having to compete with the Big market spenders...

What is to be done?
Fold franchises? Not likely...the NHLPA would then have the owners by the nuts and could probably get out of it's current CBA
Move teams to better markets? probably...Seattle could support an NHL team with the Sonics leaving, they just need a new building, Nashville could easily move to Southern Ontario and the reveune loss would hardly be felt by the Maple Laffs, Phoenix could easily be slid back into Winnipeg, even though the area has 5000 less seats, they could get $80+ a seat average there vs not being able to give them away for free in the Desert.

At the end of the day the NHL is suffering a terrible generation off the ice, now they had enough leadership that was mostly player driven to fix the on-ice product...Bettman is 100% to blame, but who will fix the problems?

Hey chicken Little...look up!!

What a bunch of horse Sh*t...You have so many false statements in this rant I don't know where to begin. I know right away when I read that a team in Winnipeg could get 80$ + for a ticket each night you have no clue. Been there lately? Not what you would call an affluent city.

And since when does Bettman set ticket prices in in buildings owned by independent operators?? And how is he a 100% to blame? I am by no means a bettman fan but when does some responsibility fall on owners to market their own teams and run a succesful business? I love lines like ' they just need a new building" becasue we all know how easy it is to just build a hockey rink or stadium, just ask the whitecaps.

Hockey is a regional sport and I would agreee the cap is too high and the NHL has a few teams in markets that don't work but besides the NFL show me a league that doesn't?

Just cover your head and watch for stuff falling from the sky!