October 3, 2007

DOWN ON THEIR KNEES THE NHL SCOURS THE FLOOR FOR AMERICAN PENNIES

       Plain and simple,” stated the NHL poobah, “we are doing this to have some fun.  There is something very special about taking hockey out into the elements, back to its roots.” 

       What NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is speaking of is the second installment of the outdoor carnival the league initially created four years ago in Edmonton to drum up interest in its sport.  The pond hockey recreation featuring professional clubs was classified a success at the time in spite of the cold temperatures and the problems inherent with staging such a large event.  But since more than fifty seven thousand hockey fans attended the event Bettman believes that its reproduction is long overdue.   After all, everything the league does, every decision made by the league, is done so with the fans’ best interests at heart.  Right?

        Who are they kidding?   The league has an American president feeding American interests, with the hope of scoring American dollars, but inevitably scoring nothing more than American pennies.  Does it really think we’ll swallow this story?  Do they think that we will buy the fact that they are willing to foot the cost of the entire event simply because they wanted something enjoyable to do on New Years’ Day?  That it will be a fun atmosphere aimed at rewarding the loyal fan base and not at all about making money?  I hope that’s the case because they sure as hell won’t be making much at all.

      I think the league hopes that millions of American couch potatoes will flick to the event during those lengthy commercial interruptions during the annual New Year’s Day football bonanza.   By staging the game on the day that Americans salute college life and college football the league is trying to attract, for even just a few minutes, those sports fans curious enough to check out the event.  The problem is, however, that most of those American football fans have already checked out hockey and will know that the event’s freewheeling style is not representative of the game.  It is likely that some of those fans will turn the game on at some point, but it is just as likely that most of those fans will stop thinking about hockey the moment they change the channel back. 

      Now, I continue to impress upon everyone that if professional hockey were forever eliminated from our lives tomorrow, I wouldn’t miss it at all.  So understand that I have absolutely nothing to gain by asking this question—when will hockey fans in this country finally stand up and say enough and attempt to halt the continued American embarrassment of a Canadian game?

       Jim Balsillie tried to stand up to these American businessmen.  He attempted to buy a failing American franchise with the desire to turn it into a successful Canadian franchise…but the change would have adversely affected American interests so the league branded Balsillie a rogue and banished him from the process.  So it wasn’t surprising to read that the city government in Nashville is balking at the handouts needed by the local ownership group to effectively take over control of the Predators.  The municipality is claiming that giving the amount requested by the group would constitute an improper management of the city’s funds.  And if the business group cannot convince the municipality otherwise their desire to own and operate the hockey club will be financially impossible leaving Gary Bettman and the league office with a face full of egg to wash off their faces.

       Having dispatched Balsillie into the nether regions because he had independent thoughts and the financial wherewithal to formulate independent actions the league will be stuck without a group interested in buying the Predators.  The league will also have to placate an angry owner who had played ball with Bettman and was convinced to not only ignore Balsillie but also insult him in public, but who is now back at the starting gate holding a losing commodity without any prospective buyers.  The league may be forced into absorbing a large percentage of the club’s losses for the coming season before paving the way for the club to move to another American city (Kansas City?) next year.

       So if Balsillie was expelled because he thought his way was best, how do we take the lawsuit filed by Madison Square Garden or the letter sent to the other 29 governors by MSG head honcho James Dolan?  MSG is alleging that the NHL violated anti-trust laws and is acting like an illegal cartel in their attempt to control the marketing operations of the individual clubs.  The commissioner’s office is, according to the letter, attempting to centralize the league’s power—and its actions are infuriating the powerful clubs.  The allegations were made public in the New York Post and are a scathing indictment against the commissioner and his moneymaking methods following the lockout. 

      "We know that many of us have sought the League's support on business matters from time to time, but we fundamentally object to forced consolidation of core club rights in the League's hands," Dolan wrote. "Key among our concerns has been the NHL's new media plan and the takeover of all club Web sites.  We have repeatedly expressed our belief that individual clubs could achieve the same or better results by entering the new media business on their own terms, rather than being mandated to submit to a league-wide initiative.

       “Moreover, the NHL's projection of revenues and implementation of this plan has been flawed - the June projected results were already $12.6 million behind plan for the first two years, even after reducing spending by $2.7 million.  After sacrificing a season to set our player cost economics on a proper footing, we believe that the League continues to squander opportunities to improve our business and solidify and grow our fan base.  The League cannot be permitted to accumulate team assets in the League office, growing centralized revenues at the expense of the clubs. Hockey is a distinctly regional game - unlike other leagues, most of hockey's revenue is generated locally - 93 percent of our revenues as a league are local.”

       Looks like Gary’s got some work ahead of him.  I hope he does have fun at the New Year’s Day carnival—it might be his only fun day this year.

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