R.I.P. NHL

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Feb 16, 2005 9:28PM

Did anybody even realize that there had been no hockey this year? With its limited fan base and the Blackhawks never on TV, Chicagoist sees how the whole lockout might have passed you by.

So then it probably doesn't concern you that following a 153-day lockout, the NHL pulled the plug on the 2005-2004 season. In spite of some major concessions in recent days by both sides, commissioner Gary Bettman annouced this afternoon that the entire season was cancelled. For the first time in pro sports, a league will lose an entire season to a labor dispute.

Unlike other labor disputes in pro sports, this one focused exclusively on money. The owners wanted to tie player salaries to league revenue by establishing a salary cap based on a percentage of revenue. The players opposed any sort of cap -- at least until yesterday. While they finally caved on that issue, the players and owners were far apart on where to set that cap and couldn't compromise in time to salvage any of this season.

Under the last collective bargaining agreement player salaries climbed from $560,000 to $1.8 million, yet the league doesn't have the lucrative national TV deals that the NFL, NBA and major league baseball have. As a result, many teams were on the brink financially.

Now that the NHL has cancelled the 2005 season, is there any hope for the league? Hockey was already the red headed step child of pro sports, which is why it didn't have the TV revenue to support million dollar salaries. The millionaires fighting billionaires will only drive fans away, further harming the league's financials. By the time the players take the ice again, will anybody care? At least in the U.S.?

Once a regional sport with teams in Canada and the Norther U.S., the league has agressively pushed into warm markets like Florida, Arizona and California. But while fans may come back eventually in Montreal, Boston, Toronto or Chicago, has the NHL forever alienated its fans in Atlanta, Dallas, Tampa and San Jose? Will that leave the league in an unhealthy situation even at a lower cost structure? Will the league continue to spiral downward?

Chicagoist thinks that for the NHL to survive, they need to radically alter the league. If commissioner Bettman is truly committed to a 30 team league, then they need to move half abroad. The NHL has changed its All Star game to a North America vs. World format, and maybe the league needs to do the same. Many players are from Scandanavia and the former Soviet Bloc. So move teams there! Set up a European conference and a North American conference. Other pro leagues talk of their desire to expand abroad, but the NHL is the best suited for it. They need to do it. The survival of the league may depend on it.