i am prepared to change sides ...

[John Flyers Fan]

I'll never switch sides because the only side I'm on is my own. I could care less about the players or the owners. They don't care about me. For all I care the players can make $20K, or the owners can turn over all their hidden revenues to the players and operate like a player charity. From where I'm sitting, picking sides doesn't compute. I don't understand these passionate arguments on behalf of either side from people whose existance isn't acknowledged by either side. It isn't as if they're migrant farm workers and there's a crusade for humane conditions. I just want to see NHL hockey at an affordable price, and have a stable league.

 

[John Flyers Fan]

I think they'll be a downward (12-15%) adjustment of ticket prices mainly for PR purposes, and then they'll rise again with inflation. It isn't in the interest of the owners or players to charge much less for tickets than the market will bear. What I hope is that with a new CBA markets won't be forced to go up against that limit to meet costs.

As a season ticket holder I hope you're right, and I think that some cities will be reducing prices, but I doubt it in places that routinely sell-out their buildings.

 

[quat]

yes, that is a claim and its true. how foolish we should support the owners even more. they need protection from themselves ? what, are the children ?

dr

Dude, it's not so much that they need "protection" from their own stupidity... though admittedly they have acted in exactly at that manner at times, it's that richer markets will always have a financial advantage over smaller markets.

I don't think there's anyone who disagrees with the fact that there are small and large market franchises in the league.

It's this disparity that should be addressed somehow.

 

[Tom_Benjamin]

Dude, it's not so much that they need "protection" from their own stupidity... though admittedly they have acted in exactly at that manner at times, it's that richer markets will always have a financial advantage over smaller markets.

What can possibly compensate for a revenue spread of $76 million dollars? Suppose we are talking 10 teams $50-65 million, 10 teams $65-80 million, 9 teams 80-100 million and the Leafs at $120 million. If the teams aren't willing to share revenues in any meaningful way, you can't solve this problem with a salary cap that is remotely fair to the players. You have to set the cap to the bottom half of the revenue generators while the players generate enormous profits for the rich teams.

I think this was a great feature of the old CBA, so far kept intact in this one. As long as players can't move until they are 31, the financial advantage is minimised almost completely.

All rich teams seem to be able to do with their wallet is put off an overdue rebuilding for a while. That is a very small advantage - if it is an advantage at all - when the revenue deck is stacked like the NHL revenue deck is stacked.

Tom

 

[quat]

What can possibly compensate for a revenue spread of $76 million dollars? Suppose we are talking 10 teams $50-65 million, 10 teams $65-80 million, 9 teams 80-100 million and the Leafs at $120 million. If the teams aren't willing to share revenues in any meaningful way, you can't solve this problem with a salary cap that is remotely fair to the players. You have to set the cap to the bottom half of the revenue generators while the players generate enormous profits for the rich teams.

I think this was a great feature of the old CBA, so far kept intact in this one. As long as players can't move until they are 31, the financial advantage is minimised almost completely.

All rich teams seem to be able to do with their wallet is put off an overdue rebuilding for a while. That is a very small advantage - if it is an advantage at all - when the revenue deck is stacked like the NHL revenue deck is stacked.

Tom

And I said :

It's this disparity that should be addressed somehow

I didn't say anything about having only a "cap". There would seem to be several ways to approach solving the problem, and revenue sharing would have to be a big part of that solution, particularily if the Players were to accept some kind of cap system.

The Owners certainly must be held accountable for the overall health of the league, and not just their own home playgrounds.

One big change with the the UFA age of 31... well, players are now so well conditioned that a healthy number of star players are capable of playing well beyond this age.

 

[Brent Burns Beard]

The Owners certainly must be held accountable for the overall health of the league, and not just their own home playgrounds.

.

It's this disparity that should be addressed somehow

.

ok, so once again i wonder out loud how fans can support the owners.

please consider that Bill Wirtz, one of the biggest backers of "linkage" refuses to help the league "partnership" in one of the NHL's largest and most mature markets. he wont televise home games is a major ??? in the logic of supporting the buzzword objectives of "partnership" and "linkage".

why should the players be expected to partner and link with one of the most sinister businessman of our lifetime.

dr

 

[quat]

ok, so once again i wonder out loud how fans can support the owners.

please consider that Bill Wirtz, one of the biggest backers of "linkage" refuses to help the league "partnership" in one of the NHL's largest and most mature markets. he wont televise home games is a major ??? in the logic of supporting the buzzword objectives of "partnership" and "linkage".

why should the players be expected to partner and link with one of the most sinister businessman of our lifetime.

dr

Well, it should be pretty obvious that if it was just Bill Wirtz that was suffering, then there would be zero support for the owners.

Just because his voice is heard in the chorus, it doesn't mean there isn't any sense to what the owners are addressing.

I don't understand how you can ignore the bigger picture and continue to focus on the obvious exceptions to general rules.

 

[Go Flames Go*]

Ticket prices will not come down, the revenues the NHL states right now is on projections from inflated prices. Plus when the hard cap is put in place with the linkage it would cause a even larger mess when the owners want to shrink revenues.