IT’S A GOOD TIME TO BE A FAN OF THE NBA, NHL
Business is booming on the ice, and two Canadians were drafted to play hoops on the biggest stage
BULLS OF THE WEEK
It is draft week in the NHL and NBA, and that has made it a big week for fans of both leagues. That’s because drafting is still the surest barometer of successful franchise building. It’s true in the hard-salary-cap era of the NHL, and also in the softer-cap world of basketball, where one high draft pick can have such a dramatic impact, both short and long term.
Fast forward eight days and both leagues will be knee-deep in the frenzy of free agency, where owners, general managers, salary cap specialists (“capologists”) and team accountants absolutely lose their minds. Nevertheless, it is the most critical time of asset management for the teams and their fans, especially in the 13 years of salary caps in the NHL.
And on that note, with such a bullish inaugural season in Las Vegas and league-wide revenues approaching $5 billion (all figures in U.S. dollars), the salary cap is now at $79.5 million, up $4.5 million from just a year ago and more than double the first cap set at $39 million for the 2005-06 season. Another sign of the growth curve in the NHL: The salary floor this year has been set at $58.8 million, more than the cap itself was just nine seasons ago.
Hockey revenues are not the only numbers that are booming.
Basketball in Canada is riding high again this week after two more Canadians — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Hamilton at No. 11 and Justin Jackson of Toronto at No. 43 — were drafted (and both traded) Thursday night.
That marks nine straight years in which at least one Canadian has been drafted, consolidating Canada as the second-most productive country in the NBA behind only the basketball factory that is the United States. Even better for Canadian hoop dreams: There have been eight lottery picks dating back to Tristan Thompson in 2011.
BEARS OF THE WEEK
Russia and Qatar were controversial choices as host nations for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. The Arab country is arguably the more inexplicable selection given that the prospect of 45 C summers has already resulted in a shift to a winter World Cup in 2022.
Yet the opening days in Russia have only brought back how tainted that closed-door selection process was eight years ago, and only reminded us of how far FIFA has to go to repatriate an image so badly soiled by the corrupt regime of former president Sepp Blatter. Also operating in bearish territory this week are the U.S., Italy, Netherlands and Chile, four traditionally strong soccer nations that did not even qualify for Russia 2018. That in turn has caused tepid World Cup television ratings in each of those countries.
There has been no bigger drop in TV than in the U.S., which is 44 per cent off the pace set in Brazil 2014 when the U.S. and Portugal on ESPN drew an average national audience of 27 million Americans. Fox Sports is the biggest casualty of that after paying $400 million for the rights to Russia and Qatar.
If Germany and Argentina — the champion and runner-up from four years ago — don’t turn things around quick, they could join the bears of sport business next week.
Another sign of the growth curve in the NHL: The salary floor this year has been set at $58.8 million, more than the cap itself was just nine seasons ago.