This page brings up one point of view of a controversial topic.
The modern-day National Hockey League (NHL) became the official professional hockey league of the United States in 1924. It was made up of six teams that played a 30 game schedule. At the start of the 1926 season, there were two divisions, each with five teams vying for Lord Stanley’s Cup. By 1990, the NHL had expanded to 22 teams and had an 82 game regular season schedule followed by a playoff structure leading to the Stanley Cup.
In the last 15 years, despite a shrinking American fan base and declining revenue, the NHL continued to expand, awarding franchises in unproven markets in the American south and west. Currently, the NHL is comprised of 30 teams, a number of whom are struggling to pay escalating player salaries and remain competitive. Since its inception, the NHL has experienced two major work stoppages, in 1994 and 2004.
Despite the NHL’s complaints of player salary inflation and their demand for the salary cap, they simply passed on every opportunity they had to attempt to fix their problems. Shortly after their collective bargaining agreement expired on September 15, 2004, NHL owners locked out their players. According to an independent study by former Clinton administration Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt, the National Hockey League posted a $273 million dollar loss during the 2002-2003 seasons. In the two seasons leading up to the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement, the NHL lost more than $500 million dollars. The NHL and NHLPA have each blamed the other for this revenue shortfall. However, as evidenced by the lockouts, neither side had ever offered any solutions acceptable to the other for the problems that are plaguing hockey.
Even though the NHL and NHLPA signed a new collective bargaining agreement and the ‘05-‘06 season is about half done, there are still many problems with the NHL. There are still teams that are not profitable and although attendance is slightly higher than in previous years, their television ratings are still microscopic. The hard salary cap that was agreed on will only be a quick fix to the problems that plague the NHL. I see only one solution that will make the NHL profitable.
What the NHL needs to do is dissolve the four to six teams that have the smallest fan base and are unable to maintain profitability. Once these teams are dissolved, the NHL can hold a draft lottery much like the one held in the NBA (the worst teams have the best chance to get best players from dissolved teams) and then a draft. Successful teams like the Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings may not directly benefit from this draft, but these teams, as well as the entire NHL should benefit from improved overall quality of product. More teams will be exciting and competitive with better players.
This scenario requires a moratorium on expansion and no hard salary cap but rather the implication of luxury tax because the improved teams and play should result in more fan interest which, in turn, should bring the teams increased revenue. In a perfect world, improved teams with larger fan bases and competitive and exciting on-ice performance should enable the NHL to secure the lucrative television deal it also needs to return to prominence in North America.
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