With both sides stubbornly standing firm, hockey headed for cold storage
Players say …
– Union chief Bob Goodenow says that a free market is the only system that works for the players and that artificial restraints have a history of favoring the owners.
– If owners are so poor, why are most of them able to sell their teams at a profit?
– For every poor team, there’s a rich one overspending. The New York Rangers, who haven’t made the playoffs in six years, have a payroll this season hovering around $80 million.
– The rookie cap failed because it left no provision for bonuses, which often total in the millions. And while the contract gave teams the right to walk away from excessive arbitration awards, only one team–the Boston Bruins–exercised that right.
– “I think it’s scarier for the sport and the owners than it is for the players. The players can play in Europe. The owners? They can lose their franchises.” –Philadelphia Flyers center Jeremy Roenick.
Owners say …
– Commissioner Gary Bettman says the current system simply doesn’t work and that the league needs “cost certainty” in the form of a salary cap.
– Revenues have grown some $1.9 billion in Bettman’s tenure but costs, especially player costs, have outstripped the cash flow.
– Many teams are struggling to make ends meet. Without changes in the salary system, teams such as the Pittsburgh Penguins (with a payroll of about $21 million) won’t be able to survive.
– In the deal bargained through 1994-95, the league sought to control costs via a rookie salary cap, restrictive free agency and reduced salary arbitration rights. Even with those parameters in place, teams are losing money.
– “Until the union is ready and willing to acknowledge the economic problems we’re having, the negotiations are not going to progress.” –Commissioner Gary Bettman.
NHL’s empty net
Here are the player costs as a percentage of revenue numbers for 2002-03:
NHL
Player
costs:
76%
NFL
Player
costs:
64%*
MLB
Player
costs:
63%
NBA
Player
costs:
58%*
* INDICATES CAPPED PLAYER COSTS source: NHL
———-
Edited by Joe Knowles(jknowles@tribune.com) and Chris Courtney(cdcourtney@tribune.com)
