5 Fan Bases Hurt by the Lockout

 

Other than players signing in Europe or with the KHL there is not much new in terms of hockey, so I've decided to replace the weekly " What You Need to Know" with an idea that was once again  suggested by Jordan. Today we'll be looking at some of the teams whose fans may dump their teams all together after this lockout.

Hockey is Canada's game and for many Canadians hockey is the only professional sport they watch. But in America the NHL isn't nearly as popular. The average American sports fan would rather watch a Monday night football game than a Saturday night hockey game, heck most would rather watch the NCAA than the NHL. Sad but true. This lockout or work stoppage couldn't be happening at a worse time for the league. The NHL was just starting to gain popularity in the US, the Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup and Americans actually tuned in to watch games. Now the NHL is about jeopardize their new found popularity.

If the lockout is going to last look for many fans to turn away from the game and their teams. Some will turn to football or basketball and others will just stop wasting money on their teams. I heard something crazy on the radio last night: The price of a hockey ticket is now more expensive than a NFL ticket! That in itself is not right.

Here's 5 teams whose fan bases will take a major hit because of the lockout.

5. New York Rangers

Right after the Rangers go out and acquire Rick Nash and finally appear to have a team that can challenge for a Stanley Cup the NHL decides it is a good idea to delay the season. Not only is the actually team going to be effected by the lockout but the New York fans may be fast to move on. New York City is a fast paced city the people move around from place to place quickly. Rangers fans that live or are from New York will naturally move on to the next thing if there is no hockey. Plus in New York City there are no shortage of professional sports teams: Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Giants, Jets and the Nets are teams who play or represent New York. The Yankees are the most storied franchise in all of baseball, the Giants just won the SuperBowl and the Jets have added Tim Tebow. With all the excitement following other New York sports franchises the Rangers fan base will take a major hit. Even if Tebow is the backup quarterback he still draws more attention to the Jets than Rick Nash does to the Rangers.

4. Los Angeles Kings



Considering the weather in California, hockey probably isn't on the minds of most Californians. I know it's hard to think that the team that just won theStanley Cup could be in danger of losing fans. Sports fans have very short memories a whole season without hockey and the average American will probably forget who won the last Stanley Cup. Things for people in California to do are endless: They can hit up the beach, tour Hollywood, play golf etc. They can also cheer for one of the 13 other professional sports franchises that call L.A/California home, including the Lakers. For now the Kings have their crown but they may not have the fans. *This also goes for other California hockey teams like the Ducks and Sharks as well.*

3. New York Islanders

Has there been a professional sports team who has done less over the last seven years? The Islanders always seem to find themselves near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Even with John Tavares the Islanders can't seem to get a decent season going. The fans have to be getting fed up of being the laughingstock of the NHL. To boot the team will be up for relocation at the end of the year, thankfully they have an owners who is willing to back the team. But how much more disappointment can the fans take?

2. Columbus Blue Jackets

My heart breaks for the Blue Jackets and the lockout. They lost their franchise player in Rick Nash and got pretty much nothing in return. They were also scheduled to host the All-Star game. It seems nothing can go right for this desperate franchise right now who haven't made the playoffs since 2008. Like the Islanders the Blue Jackets are another team up for possible relocation. With the loss of Nash and the all-star game, what excitement or hope do the fans have left for their team?

1. Phoenix CoyotesPhoenix

While it appear Gary Bettman will fight to the death to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix a lockout wont help. The team filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and is currently owned by the NHL as they can't find anyone to bfan baseuy it and keep it in the desert. The team has been put through so much and already have a limited fan base. If the lockout lasts a full season expect that limited fan base to move on to other things. The Coyotes are also the favourite team for a relocation and whether Bettman likes it or not it will happen. Hockey in the desert is dead and the lockout will only help prove that point. Playing in an empty arena is no fun.

There you have it, 5 teams whose fan bases will take a major hit if the lockout does indeed last a full season. Hopefully Bettman and Fehr can wake up and realize how bad this lockout is for the teams, the fans and the game itself. If there is a full season lockout the NHL will be forever changed.

CBA Deadlock

 

By now I'm sure you've heard the NHL (Gary Bettman and the owners) did not accept the NHLPA's second offer on Friday. As a result the talks have been



recessed and the two sides have not met since. Bettman said the league would not accept a deal that didn't include a salary deduction for the players, funny howhockey players are the least payed professional athletes.

When I read the news on twitter that the owners had not accepted the proposal my heart instantly dropped. Time is running out and with both sides seemingly far apart, now more than ever we face the prospect of a third lockout in 18 years. With just 11 days left until the September 15th deadline, it's time we take a look at what the sides are really wanting from each other.

Here's a few valid points each side has in this never ending battle over who will back down first.. the millionaires or the billionaires.

NHL

Let's start with the owners. Right now whether the players like it or not the ball is in the owners court. For the owners it's not about the love of the game, it's about how much money they can make and how little they can pay the players. The league made a record $3.3 billion last season, but the owners are crying poor?

• The owners and the league believe they deserve a bigger cut of the pie known as revenue. Right now the players own 57% percent of the generated revenue, compared to the leagues 43%. That's a pretty significant difference between the two sides. The other reason they want a bigger piece of the pie is to share with some of the smaller market teams who are on the verge of going bankrupt.


• The owners and Gary Bettman believe that they pay the players too much money. In reality yes they do, no professional athlete should be making more than $5 million a year in any sport, period! They are payed to a play a game that millions of little kids play for free. But in terms of professional sports the players are underpaid. Take NFL quarterback Peyton Manning for example. He's arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, his salary is $18 million a year where as Sidney Crosby one of the best players in the NHL makes a mere $9 million a year. No Mr. Bettman you don't pay your athletes too much money.


• The owners are wanting to put a cap on the length of contracts offered to players. Right now we're seeing some very long deals that have players locked up for 12-13 years, the owners are wanting to rope those contracts back down to 5 year deals. Thus brings us to the point of why the owners, who want to shorten the contracts, have been handing out contracts ranging from 6-12 years right before the CBA? They have too. Let's say hypothetically the Pittsburgh Penguins only wanted to give Crosby a 5 year deal but he demanded a deal closer to 10. If the Penguins don't sign him for 10 years another team would gladly sign him. Which is why the owners (despite looking like hypocrites) are handing out long deals, if they don't another team will.

NHLPA

Next we move to the players, who don't really have much to fight over other than the fact the league is trying to take more money.

• The players union feels like they lost in the CBA negotiations back in 2004-2005. They feel like the NHL got a better deal and pushed around the players union. To insure that this would not be the case again this season they hired Donald Fehr. The players refuse to lose this time around. On twitter and in the news you hear the players saying they want a "Fair deal", all they want is whats fair. Problem is there is nothing fair in business and the world of sports.


• The players do not want a deduction in the revenue they earn from the league. Things included in this revenue are; ticket sales, jersey sales and memorabilia etc. Since the last lockout ticket prices have been raised 40%! The players believe they deserve the biggest cut of this pie, after all the fans are paying to see the players play.


• The players are fighting desperately to win these CBA negotiations. They can't afford to lose again to the owners.

The sad thing is both sides are fighting because they don't know what to do with all the money they made last season. It was the NHL's best season and helped them land network deals with NBC and HBO (winter classic) deals with these larger markets would almost guarantee bigger profit next season. But the owners are willing to risk their TV deals just because they don't know how to handle the money now.

Take a minute to watch this fantastic fan made video, it will give you chills. Alone us fans have no voice but together we make a sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQs3O_IDas&feature=player_embedded

Bettman and the owners believe they can do anything they want and the players should just have to accept it. That may have worked in 2004 but it sure wont fly this time around. Hockey isn't about the money, it's about the moments and the memories that last a lifetime. Please give the fans the game they love and forget fighting over the money.

Has Gary Bettman Pushed the Best Fans Too Far?

With the deadline of September 15th inching closer every day things are getting more and more hostile in the hockey world. If people weren't upset at Gary Bettman enough already, he decided it would be a great idea to pour salt on the open wounds of hockey fans. Whether we like it or not a lockout is the main topic on everyone's mind. After the meetings on Thursday Bettman was asked "If he thought the league could survive another lockout?" and this was his response;

“We recovered last time because we have the world’s greatest fans." ~ Gary Bettman

Really Bettman, you think we're the greatest fans? How about you start treating us like the greatest fans instead of doormats! Instead of fighting till the bitter end with Donald Fehr maybe you could find some common ground and give the greatest fans what they want, hockey! At first sight his comment about the lockout may seem like a playful/nice compliment about the fans, but if you really look at what he's saying it's fairly easy to draw other conclusions.

"Maybe if the fans weren't so desperate for hockey, then I'd actually be worried"

Right now Bettman believes that the fans (the ones who help buy tickets and pay his salary) are mindless sheep, who will keep coming back to the slaughter house if it means we are provided with what we want. He's not worried about a lockout because he thinks the fans will be right back in the arena's the moment he "allows" there to be hockey. Sure maybe the die hard hockey fans will, but the majority of fans will be gone.

When billionaires and millionaires the only ones that lose are the fans, and it's true. We lose the ability to watch the game we love, to see our favourite players compete night in and night out and most importantly we will miss seeing a team fulfill a life-long dream. The 2004-2005 lockout was tough. I was just a mere child who didn't fully understand what the two sides were fighting over, I just wanted to watch hockey. Now that I'm older I understand that the two sides are fighting over money. They say "money is the root of all evil" and I'm really starting to understand what they mean. The owners and Between are really going to war against the players over money. It's not like someones human rights have been violated or a crime has been committed, the owners are trying to figure out another way to make more money.

Whether Bettman wants to admit it or not, the NHL didn't recover as well as he described above. It took a long time for people to come back to the game. Last season was a major positive for the league; they worked out a new deal with NBC and more fans tuned into games. The NHL started to gain momentum to bring the game we love to the next level. Now the league feels comfortable enough to call another lockout and ruin the momentum the NHL has been building. But has Between pushed the fans too far? Here's three reasons why fans wont be as quick to jump back on the NHL bandwagon.

•  This will be the league third lockout in the last 17 years and second in less than a decade! People can only be let down by something they love so many times, eventually they'll move. Maybe the NHL needs to adopt a rule from baseball; three strikes and you're out.


• While Canadians are crazy about their hockey and wouldn't miss it for the world, the Americans don't feel the same. Hockey is probably around the fifth post popular sport in the states. They have the NFL, NBA, MLB and the NCAA, non of which have had as many lockout issues as hockey. The NBA and NFL both had a to make a new CBA like the NHL is doing now. But they sucked back their ego's and got a deal done, as a result they didn't lose many fans. If there is indeed a lockout Between will have his opened when he realized how many fans he's lost for good!


• Lastly Bettman and the owners have a complete lack of respect for the fans. For them it's all about how much money they can make. But when Between comes out and makes comments like the one above, it makes people upset. He's taking advantage of fans and pretty soon those fans are not going to waste money on tickets and jerseys if thats how they're treated/viewed.

To end I'll leave you with a tweet I sent out on Thursday;

If Between thinks us fans are the best, maybe he should give us what we want...... hockey #NHL #NoLockout

— Caitlin Campbell (@Hockeylife30) August 23, 2012