The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
There are two sides to every story, and the NHL's current economic situation is no exception. If you're the league, you'll say it's a case in point of how an ill-advised collective bargaining agreement can lead to skyrocketing player salaries and force a major sports league to a place uncomfortably close to oblivion. But if you're the NHL Players' Association, you'll swear it's an illustration of how the league's mighty propaganda machine can manufacture deception in an attempt to force a salary cap on employees. The owners, despite some admittedly pitiful choices, have it right. There is simply too much evidence to dismiss this as a case of greedy owners wanting to undermine the union. This league, for all its mistakes, is in a grave predicament. No one is convinced of that more than one-time U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Arthur Levitt. Last month, the former appointee of President Bill Clinton released his independent report showing the league sustained $273 million in losses during the 2002-03 season. And you don't have to have an IQ the size of Mr. Levitt's to conclude what's obvious. Common sense says that you just can't have NBA or NFL-like salaries in a league whose American TV deal nets each team just $4 million a year. By sharp contrast, the NBA's deal garners each team about $27 million a year and each NFL squad takes in some $77 million. Then there's all those fans disguised as empty seats. Players have never felt so lonely skating in rinks in Pittsburgh, Washington, Chicago, Carolina, Atlanta, and the like. Half full (or half empty, if you're a pessimist) arenas aren't good for any sport, but are particularly troublesome for one so heavily dependent on gate revenues as the NHL. So if there is clearly such a problem, the question that needs to be asked is, why won't the players' union admit things are glaringly out of whack? The answer is simple. See, once the NHLPA acknowledges that there is a serious problem with the league's finances, they will be expected to help make things right. In other words, as long as they are able to plead ignorance by straightfacedly saying "Nothing's wrong," they are then able to add, "Therefore, there's no need for a salary cap." The players aren't blockheaded enough to believe the status quo is just peachy. On the contrary, they're smart enough to know when to play dumb.
