Upcoming TV deal may help NHL owners in long term

Posted by | On 7 November,2020 | In NHL news

Chairman, CEO and Governor of the National Hockey League (NHL), Bill Foley, told ESPN that if fans are not allowed into stadiums next season, many teams can’t make it, including themselves.

Foley also said he doesn’t believe that Bettman is going to have them fly all around the country and play without spectators.

There are a few ways in which the 2021 season could go ahead. One of those is the Bubble Hubs, in which teams gather in four cities and compete on a rotating basis. However, this way obviously wouldn’t sit well with Foley as well as many other owners.

It can’t be made clear where we will be with the COVID-19 pandemic come mid-January, when also may be the time the league is likely to begin. Meanwhile, if rapid testing can be done on site, some teams may want their arenas to be filled to 25 or 50% of capacity.

Whatever happens, it seems that the owners will take it on the nose financially next year.

Players agreed to play for 72% of their salaries in the collective bargaining agreement signed prior to the league conducted the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. The owners also agreed to cap escrow over the following five seasons as follows:

• 14 to 18 percent in 2021-22

• 10 percent in 2022-23

• 6 percent in the following three seasons

This seems like a big win for the NHL players.

However, there is a golden goose that the NHL owners are banking on. And it has to do with its television contract with NBC, which will expire after next season. That contract pays the league $200 million per year.

There’s no doubt that the league has become more and more popular over the last decade. Regular-season viewership in the 2018-19 season was up 2 percent over the previous season, according to hockeywriters.com.

Still, the NHL owners are hoping the next TV contract will fatten their wallets to the point that those escrow percentages aren’t even important.

Meanwhile, it is possible that the league owners could balk, stop the season completely, and force players to rework the CBA.