Woo! It is lock out time for the NHL and not a moment to soon. The great showdown between millionaires is about to begin supported by the gullible hockey fan. Just take in the love they have for fans as they gouge you for parking, beverages and food. Oh and ever higher ticket prices, let us not forget that.
“Damage from another lockout will occur almost immediately, and there is no telling how jilted fans and sponsors will react to another shutdown, especially if it stretches through the fall and into the winter.
Management’s latest offer has a short shelf life. Once the lockout begins, Bettman says the economic damage would cause owners to offer players a less beneficial deal.
Players currently receive 57 per cent of hockey-related revenue, and the owners want to bring that number down as far as perhaps 47 per cent — which is an increase from their original offer of 43 percent.
“The fact is, we believe that 57 per cent of HRR is too much,” Bettman said.
The union offered a deal based on actual dollars, seeking a guarantee of the $1.8 billion US players received last season. Annual industry revenue has grown from $2.1 billion to $3.3 billion under the expiring deal.
Players are concerned management hasn’t addressed the league’s financial problems by re-examining the teams’ revenue-sharing formula. Having made several big concessions to reach a deal in 2005, the union doesn’t think it should have to make more this time after record financial growth.”
It is you, the fan, paying for all these rubber disk chasers and yes you might be pissed off now, but you’ll come crawling back and they *KNOW* that. Maybe this time they won’t spread rice on floor before you prostate yourself once again to the hockey gods, and you’ll be happy.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
3 comments
September 15, 2012 at 11:18 pm
John
Hockey’s but a stick-handling shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the ice
And then is heard no more: it is a game
Told by an announcer, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
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September 16, 2012 at 9:46 am
The Arbourist
@John
This would probably work, with slight modification, for all sports.
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September 16, 2012 at 1:50 pm
bleatmop
Good post Arb. Collective bargaining rights aside, I agree with what you’ve said. The owners have priced professional hockey out of the common person’s pocket, then they try and hold cities hostage by saying build me a new stadium or we are leaving. That ‘ol socialism for the rich but fuck everyone else stick really annoys me.
I think both sides figure a lock out will be fine because they actually grew significantly after the last one in 04. I think they are wrong for a few reasons.
1. The Canadian market is a given. It has not significantly grown during this time. How could it when it was already super-saturated. It could shrink to mear saturated levels and remain at the same revenue.
2. The growth they had was in the USian market. The reason for the growth was not because they came back after a year off, but because the product was better. They came back with many rule changes and effectively took the clutch and grab out of the game. The game was fast and exciting again for the first time since the Rangers won the cup (the last height of USian NHL popularity). They won’t be able to do this again.
3. The USian market is not like the Canadian market. When baseball last went on strike, the fans went away and they stayed away, for years and years. Only now are they starting to get rating like they did before. This lockout, when the NHL is finally gaining traction in the US is the worst thing for both the players and the owners. The players salary is linked to revenue. When it goes down, so will their salary. Even if the players or owners “win” this lockout, they are going to lose. A bigger part of a smaller pot is still less.
TLDR – Alienation of the USian market is going to hurt both the players and the owners.
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