NHL gambles on getting through pandemic outside a bubble
When the NHL charter flight back from the Edmonton bubble landed in New Jersey, Gary Bettman’s phone started ringing.
The commissioner thought he’d get a couple of weeks to exhale after awarding the Stanley Cup to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Instead, it was back to work.
Of course, planning for the 2021 season began well before late September. It took a longterm extension of the collective bargaining agreement between the league and players’ union, layers of health and safety protocols, realigned divisions and convincing multiple government agencies that it is safe to play.
The season opens Wednesday and Bettman estimates the league will lose over $1 billion even by playing. It’s a gamble everyone was willing to make to keep hockey going during the pandemic.
“It would be cheaper for us to shut the doors and not play,” Bettman said Monday. “We’re coming back to play this season because we think it’s important for the game, because our fans and our players want us to, and it may give people, particularly those who are back in isolation or where there are curfews, a sense of normalcy and something to do.”
None of the four major North American men’s professional sports leagues rely as much on attendance as the NHL: Roughly 50% of all revenue comes from ticket sales, concessions and other in-arena elements. That’s why the league and players prioritized extending the CBA before completing last season in twin playoff bubbles; they knew no fans slashes revenue for everyone.
The agreement gave the NHL a blueprint to operate and labour peace through at least 2026.
“You always have to make judgments about what you think the future’s going to hold and how do you attempt to maximize the benefits and minimize the detriments, mitigate your risks, take advantage of opportunities and so on,” NHLPA executive director Don Fehr said in a phone interview. “I think the agreement that we reached last summer, certainly from the players’ standpoint, was fair and reasonable and appropriate, and took all of those things into account. And I don’t second guess it.”