The owners put in the initial investment of hundreds of millions of dollars, the fans do not. Yes, the owners get tax handouts, but that doesn't mean that suddenly Joe from the suburbs should suddenly get a cut beyond which he has put in...
LOL, not really.
Most owners buy a team with the idea of the franchise gaining worth and then selling for a profit. Most of these guys wouldn't know Bobby Orr if they slept with him.
They buy a team based on loans. Then they get brand new facilities paid for by the tax payers.
Then, after 2 or 3 lockouts, and more cost certainty is obtained, the value of the franchise increases and they sell for a handsome profit - usually by including the sale of the facitlies which they didn't put one dime into.
So yeah, the owners do owe the fans something. But Bettman and crew don't give a rats behind about the fans. If they did, they would have done more than paint "Thank you fans" after scrubbing an entire season off the books.
What he and the BOG's should have done is create a bylaw that states at least 2000 seats in every rink have to be sold for less than $10 a night, allowing honest, blue collar fans, and their family's to attend a game without giving up a kidney.
But then that would mean less money in their bloated pockets. And who gives a crap about the fans anyway?
Bettman fought gambling services like ProLine for years for no other reason than they weren't seeing a profit from it.
I can't wait for the next Lockout so the owners can cry poor again and take another pound of flesh from the players while taking the fans behind the woodshed.