When will next season start? Return to Play Negotiations

[N-E-B]

I gotta be honest, I don’t have much sympathy for the players right now. Even if they all took 75% pay cuts they’d still be better off than most people right now.

Athletes are absolutely some of the most expendable people in society right now. They should be the last people complaining about money.

There’s probably some economic factors I’m overlooking but it’s tough to sympathize with millionaires right now.

[CASe333]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

I gotta be honest, I don’t have much sympathy for the players right now. Even if they all took 75% pay cuts they’d still be better off than most people right now.

Athletes are absolutely some of the most expendable people in society right now. They should be the last people complaining about money.

There’s probably some economic factors I’m overlooking but it’s tough to sympathize with millionaires right now.

But from the players point of view most owners are billionaires so why should they or the fans have any sympathy for them?

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by CASe333

But from the players point of view most owners are billionaires so why should they or the fans have any sympathy for them?

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel bad for the billionaire owners either. The only people I feel bad for is the fans.

[gunnner]

Originally Posted by Knut

https://twitter.com/andystrickland/s...778791428?s=20

https://twitter.com/user/status/1329055143778791428

https://twitter.com/walsha/status/13...678511616?s=20

https://twitter.com/user/status/1329159006678511616

What kind of ink takes 4 months to dry?

[Erick Estrada]

I assume Walsh isn't an idiot but I don't understand what he thought would be gained by tweeting something like this. It's certainly not going to generate sympathy from fans and in fact probably works against the players. Not very smart or professional IMO.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by CASe333

But from the players point of view most owners are billionaires so why should they or the fans have any sympathy for them?

Should people with money be expected to just throw it away for no good reason? should hold true no matter if you're a CP 1%er or a billionaire owner.

the league is going to lose hundreds of millions, if not several billion. I don't care how much you're worth. that's a lot of money.


I look at it this way.
I have a roommate that I split $1000 with every month, because I'm doing well. he keeps all his $500, but I use my $500 to buy all the groceries, pay ultilities and chip in for his car insurance.
If I now only have $200, why should I split it evenly with him if I'm still expected to pay all the bills?

[sureLoss]

Latest from Friedman. Players are quite upset with the NHL's proposal

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...ent-proposals/

But looks like he expects a deal to get done once tempers have cooled down

I think we’ll get to a deal, but we’ve been knocked off course. The players and their agents need a few days to cool down, consider options and do the math. No one’s happy with what’s going on, but the alternative (not playing) is even worse.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I assume Walsh isn't an idiot but I don't understand what he thought would be gained by tweeting something like this. It's certainly not going to generate sympathy from fans and in fact probably works against the players. Not very smart or professional IMO.

Yeah, if I’m a player who just lived in a bubble away from my family to keep the league going, I’d probably be rattled about a pay deduction for yet another ####ty season. However, never in my wildest dreams would I expect any shred of public support about that idea. Keep that stuff behind closed doors and let the media talk about it. Don’t come out with it yourselves, or through representatives, like any of us really give a ####.

[ricardodw]

A group of NHL level players have established that they would play in Europe for 5-10% of what their contract in the NHL says they should be getting paid.

What player are getting paid in Europe

[Strange Brew]

As Friedman states in his article, summarizing the NHL's view: "CBA is a 50-50 revenue split, and COVID-related damages are more significant than what was projected even four months ago. There’s going to be a shortfall, and it must be addressed".

This all comes down to timing as they have already agreed to split revenues. The players seem to expect a better than 50/50 split in current year with it being paid back in future years. They even mention that it has never been cheaper to borrow money.

Are other businesses advancing their employees money at this time?

[krynski]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

As Friedman states in his article, summarizing the NHL's view: "CBA is a 50-50 revenue split, and COVID-related damages are more significant than what was projected even four months ago. There’s going to be a shortfall, and it must be addressed".

This all comes down to timing as they have already agreed to split revenues. The players seem to expect a better than 50/50 split in current year with it being paid back in future years. They even mention that it has never been cheaper to borrow money.

Are other businesses advancing their employees money at this time?

Not to my knowledge.

Honestly, I'm not surprised players are upset; with my experience with unions, any union would push back against this. However, the league needs the players as much as the players need the league. I think it will take time with strained relations, but we should get a deal.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

One thing this all certainly guarantees is that the salary cap is not going up at any point before 2025.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

Yeah, if I’m a player who just lived in a bubble away from my family to keep the league going, I’d probably be rattled about a pay deduction for yet another ####ty season. However, never in my wildest dreams would I expect any shred of public support about that idea. Keep that stuff behind closed doors and let the media talk about it. Don’t come out with it yourselves, or through representatives, like any of us really give a ####.

Yeah this simply isn't the time for millionaires to be complaining about pay deductions as it's been the reality for the NHL's fans and season ticket holders who have either lost their jobs or had their hours reduced. It's one thing for a media leak that the players are upset but for the director of the NHLPA to air this out via twitter is in bad taste.

[CroFlames]

I kind of flip flop on the issue. Part of me screams, just shut up and play. You get paid millions, and so a fraction of that is still a lot of money so be grateful. Tons of people are out of work.

On the other hand, the owners are billionaires, and the players ARE the product. Most billionaires net worth grew during the pandemic. Pay them their salaries if you want the league to continue playing.

Not sure what to think.

[Flamesm]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

One thing this all certainly guarantees is that the salary cap is not going up at any point before 2025.

For the Oilers this really sucks - as good as Mcdavid and Drai are - no two players should be worth 21 million in an 81 million cap market. I guess they will have to increase their TOI to make up for the cap hit

[Leeman4Gilmour]

My initial reaction was "players won't have much choice, as I'm sure the league will just kick start the force majeure clause(s)". So, I googled it and this Larry Brooks article came up;

https://nypost.com/2020/09/26/nhl-un...ns-over-money/

League agreed to waive force majeure for the 20/21 season and stick with the 72% pro-rated salary.

I understand why the players may be pissed now.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I kind of flip flop on the issue. Part of me screams, just shut up and play. You get paid millions, and so a fraction of that is still a lot of money so be grateful. Tons of people are out of work.

On the other hand, the owners are billionaires, and the players ARE the product. Most billionaires net worth grew during the pandemic. Pay them their salaries if you want the league to continue playing.

Not sure what to think.

It's not about billionaires. Their personal wealth has nothing to do with the businesses they own. This is about the business of the NHL that cannot make the same revenue at during these times. If Gary Bettman called up the owners individually and asked them to supplement the league with their own personal money he would get fired immediately. He and the people running the league need to make this work themselves as that's what they get paid for.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

One thing this all certainly guarantees is that the salary cap is not going up at any point before 2025.

Good.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I kind of flip flop on the issue. Part of me screams, just shut up and play. You get paid millions, and so a fraction of that is still a lot of money so be grateful. Tons of people are out of work.

On the other hand, the owners are billionaires, and the players ARE the product. Most billionaires net worth grew during the pandemic. Pay them their salaries if you want the league to continue playing.

Not sure what to think.

They negotiated a CBA with a revenue split - so they could share in the goodnness.
Now they get to share in the downside.

For me it's pretty straightforward, and largely what the current players seem to be wanting to do (unless I misunderstand which is possible) is have future players pay for that loss, so they can get theirs now.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

They negotiated a CBA with a revenue split - so they could share in the goodnness.
Now they get to share in the downside.

For me it's pretty straightforward, and largely what the current players seem to be wanting to do (unless I misunderstand which is possible) is have future players pay for that loss, so they can get theirs now.

Theres a Union joke in here somewhere, but it would be too on-point. So I'm going to let it slide, just this once.