NHL teams that are playing in home cities gain steam to start 2021 season

With COVID-19 cases skyrocketing across Canada and the US, the NHL reiterated in a Board of Governors teleconference update that the target starting date for the 2021 season remains Jan. 1.

Nothing has been written in stone and the clock is ticking with training camps scheduled tentatively to start in one month’s time for a New Year’s Day start.

The players, who also conducted their own Players’ Association executive board teleconference update on Thursday, have not been given a date to report to their cities.

According to sources, the only tangible update is the increasing appetite for teams to start the 2021 season in each of their home arenas instead of hybrid bubbles.

Earlier this week, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman discussed details of the proposed hybrid bubbles an idea reported by TSN in September. They are one way back to the game of hockey.

However, in addition to potential lost revenue with games staged in neutral places, citing significant costs attached to operating the bubbles is for each team to travel city to city in order to complete a shortened regular season. Both the NFL and MLB have conducted their seasons in that style. The NHL spent about $75 to $90 million to host the 2020 Stanley Cup playoff bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton.

Teams would be allowed to have fans in their venues in limited capacities as dictated by local health authorities. That would permit teams to generate marginal gate revenue, hoping that capacities could expand since the season moves along and a vaccine gets prevalent, along with recouping in-arena signage as well as advertising revenue via regional broadcasts.

The only certainty is that the 2021 season will not be an 82-game slate. There is no concept on the table including a full-length regular season. There are many schedule models ranging from 60 to 56 games and up to 48 games.