"Prognosis is not really good" on NHL players going to 2018 Olympics

[sureLoss]

http://www.insidethegames.biz/articl...e-admits-fasel

Apparently a major stumbling block is that the IOC is not willing to give the NHL/NHLPA any money for insurance and transport like they did in the previous games.

Will see how much of an issue this really is or if it is just posturing to get the IOC to kick in money.

A decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) not to pay transportation or insurance costs for National Hockey League (NHL) players to participate at Pyeongchang 2018 has left a "difficult financial situation", the head of the sport's world governing body has admitted.

The IOC have contributed to costs for all five Olympic Games NHL players have participated in ever since they first appeared at Nagano in 1998.

They have now changed their stance, however, meaning there is far more pressure on the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and the NHL to shoulder the financial burden.

“The IOC took the decision not to pay transportation and insurance costs for NHL and NHL players to come to the next Olympic Games," IIHF President René Fasel, who has led the body since 1994, told insidethegames during the SportAccord Convention.

"We had a meeting with the NHL last week and the prognosis is not really good.

"Our wish is to have the best players.

"[But the IOC] not covering the cost as they did at the last five Olympic Games puts us in a difficult financial situation.

"We still have challenges - it is even more difficult than before."

In total, the IOC were thought to have contrubuted around $14 million (£10 million/€13 million) for Sochi 2014.

Around half of this amount was on transportation.

This comes alongside around $18 million (£12.5 million/€16 million) contributed by the IIHF for Sochi.

Fasel is confident they can reduce the transportation and insurance costs for Pyeongchang 2018, and estimates the total figure will come to around $10 million (£7 million/€9 million) this time around.

This is not easy, however, due to the long journey and time difference from North America to South Korea as well as the risk of injury at a crucial point in the season.

Part of the reason for the IOC decision is thought to relate to a worry that professional bodies in other sports will seek similar financial support, including in tennis, basketball, golf and, potentially, baseball should it be added to the Olympic programme for Tokyo 2020.

[Geeoff]

Pony up the dough IOC. No one cares about the Winter Olympics without the NHL players.

[Mass_nerder]

I'm not sure I'll watch much of the Olympics if the quality of hockey is reduced substantially. I would imagine a lot of other hockey fans are the same.
I wonder if there are enough hockey fans uninterested enough to actually make their displeasure felt in viewership numbers though.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

Pony up the dough IOC. No one cares about the Winter Olympics without the NHL players.

Disagree.

Disagree so much.

[Alberta_Beef]

I'd rather not have NHLers go. I hate the NHL season being interrupted by an Olympic break.

[PaperBagger'14]

For me, the olympics is about putting your best foot forward. To be sending athletes that aren't our best to a competition of the best makes me lose a lot of interest in the Olympics, especially when it's the sport I enjoy the most.

[Finger Cookin]

The Winter Olympics will still matter without NHL athletes -- but I think the Olympics needs to step back, be honest with itself, and redefine itself for the 21st century. There's been tremendous money for some time now in many of the sports that are competed at the Olympics - not just for the athletes who play those sports year round, but incentives for medalling at the Olympics itself. Throw out the amateur distinction, and make the Olympics the premiere athletic competition featuring the best athletes in the world whenever it convenes.

Originally Posted by Mass_nerder

I'm not sure I'll watch much of the Olympics if the quality of hockey is reduced substantially. I would imagine a lot of other hockey fans are the same.
I wonder if there are enough hockey fans uninterested enough to actually make their displeasure felt in viewership numbers though.

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

For me, the olympics is about putting your best foot forward. To be sending athletes that aren't our best to a competition of the best makes me lose a lot of interest in the Olympics, especially when it's the sport I enjoy the most.

It would bother me to lose the Olympics as a best-on-best hockey competition, because the other events (IIHF World Championships, NHL/NHLPA World Cup) are poor substitutes. Neither will ever hold the prestige and importance that the Olympics come built in with.

[Finger Cookin]

Whoops, double post.

[GGG]

They through out the amateur distinction long ago.

[Locke]

So the NHL would be taking all the risk sending their players and then they'd also have to pay for the Insurance and Transport? See ya IOC.

Thats a raw deal, I wouldnt do that. Time to stay home. Send the Oilers.

[RM14]

Imagine Calgary does win an Olympic bid and NHL players are back to not playing? That would be brutal. The potential 88' team this city missed out could have been legendary.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by GGG

They through out the amateur distinction long ago.

I guess I should pay more attention. I guess it isn't about amateruism anymore then, it's about dividing up the pie.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by Locke

So the NHL would be taking all the risk sending their players and then they'd also have to pay for the Insurance and Transport? See ya IOC.

Thats a raw deal, I wouldnt do that. Time to stay home. Send the Oilers.

If the IOC and IIHF were contributing in the past, surely the NHL/NHLPA were too? At least hopefully to some degree? I have no idea if the IOC retains a lot of profits/revenue from each Olympics and how that works with the national organizing committees. But the IOC should be prepared to continue to contribute funds to get pro athletes from major institutionalized sports leagues to attend. It's got to make bottom line sense for everyone involved, not just the IOC.

Stupid politics.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

Pony up the dough IOC. No one cares about the Winter Olympics without the NHL players.

Yeah, nobody watched the Winter Olympics before NHL players were involved.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

Pony up the dough IOC. No one cares about the Winter Olympics without the NHL players.

The NHL wasn't at the Calgary games and it was a phenomenal event.

The winter Olympics are about so much more than one sport or one group of athletes. Whether or not the NHL takes part, it will still be something well worth watching and generating memories from.

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

If the IOC and IIHF were contributing in the past, surely the NHL/NHLPA were too? At least hopefully to some degree? I have no idea if the IOC retains a lot of profits/revenue from each Olympics and how that works with the national organizing committees. But the IOC should be prepared to continue to contribute funds to get pro athletes from major institutionalized sports leagues to attend. It's got to make bottom line sense for everyone involved, not just the IOC.

Stupid politics.

To play devils advocate for the NHL/NHLPA, why would they spend money with zero return on the investment? Does having NHL players in the Olympics add a massive fan base that did not already exist, particularly for a games with such a massive time difference?

I can see why the NHL/NHLPA would not want to pony up a single penny.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Yeah, nobody watched the Winter Olympics before NHL players were involved.

Actually, I think hockey accounts for what, half the revenue of the entire games? You dont think the fact that NHL players are involved accounts for some of that?

Sure, people will still watch figure skating or the biathlon or ski-jumping, but they wouldnt get the same TV deal without the NHL players.

You dont get top dollar for not the top athletes.

[RM14]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

To play devils advocate for the NHL/NHLPA, why would they spend money with zero return on the investment? Does having NHL players in the Olympics add a massive fan base that did not already exist, particularly for a games with such a massive time difference?

I can see why the NHL/NHLPA would not want to pony up a single penny.

NHL players in Korea and then Beijing could be a big opportunity to build some momentum in that part of the world.

[Locke]

That should be the new rule in the NHL, the team that finishes with the fewest points averaged over the last 4 years has to play a season in North Korea.

"Hey Connor, its me Kim!"

[N-E-B]

I wouldn't care about the hockey but I'd still watch the other events.