Grange on Fehr

[eyemissgilmour]

This article is terrific.
I often have trouble explaining why I'm so pro-owners in the this dispute.
So I'll offer this Grange article as support.

It's not that I'm against the players for getting paid so well. Not at all.
It's for the very simple fact that they are arguing on principle instead of being pragmatic. Are the owners being stubborn and unreasonable? Somewhat, Yup.
But I would be too if half the league was unprofitable, despite continual revenue growth. It is an unsustainable business model. Simple as that.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl-l...r_donald_fehr/

[Axeman33]

Solid article indeed!

[kevinsrangers]

another good point of view.

[arctic_rogue]

Great perspective. Anyone with a few minutes should definitely read.

[SixtyPercentOfTheTime]

Very good article indeed.

[DuklaNation]

Its obvious the players are coming out net losers at this stage. For the owners, if you're incurring operating losses, a lockout is a no-brainer. Some people are getting some bad advice. Interesting that the agents are rarely heard from.

[ultrawhiteness]

why does it seem like everyone at Sportsnet is pro-owners?

honest question - i'm deliberately trying to not follow this crap because it's depressing, so maybe a small sample size is giving me the wrong impression.

anyway, the assumptions Grange makes in that shill piece are pretty laughable. yup, the players should just take the offer because there's no way the owners won't come back in 5 years asking for more. totally honest bunch.

[rangersfury]

Marvin Miller and the current CBA negotiations deserve a better turn than what Grange provided on Sportsnet so here goes Craggs over at Deadspin... Take a step back from the rhetoric and honestly ask yourself whats best for the league? Browbeating players into the ground every time a CBA expires or actually attempting to build a sustainable economic climate among owners/markets for your league?

http://deadspin.com/5963780/marvin-m...-into-baseball

[eyemissgilmour]

Originally Posted by rangersfury

Marvin Miller and the current CBA negotiations deserve a better turn than what Grange provided on Sportsnet so here goes Craggs over at Deadspin... Take a step back from the rhetoric and honestly ask yourself whats best for the league? Browbeating players into the ground every time a CBA expires or actually attempting to build a sustainable economic climate among owners/markets for your league?

http://deadspin.com/5963780/marvin-m...-into-baseball

That's definitely a good read too. Thanks for the link.

As for the sustainable economic climate, I think the NHL is in a different position from the other leagues in that its revenue streams don't have the benefit of an enormous TV cash cow. So the cost controls become even more imperative. Players represent the largest chunk of those costs.

Is it unfair what the owners are doing? Yes.

Life is unfair. Always will be.

[rangersfury]

Originally Posted by eyemissgilmour

That's definitely a good read too. Thanks for the link.

As for the sustainable economic climate, I think the NHL is in a different position from the other leagues in that its revenue streams don't have the benefit of an enormous TV cash cow. So the cost controls become even more imperative. Players represent the largest chunk of those costs.

Is it unfair what the owners are doing? Yes.

Life is unfair. Always will be.

Oh, absolutely. The NHL is different in terms of its external economics but the principle, I think, when it comes to internal economics, is similar. You can't have a closed economic system (read: salary cap) with wildly uneven revenue growth from team to team without meaningful redistribution to ensure everyone can participate. Those teams who generate the least growth (or negative growth relative to the rest of the league) cannot pull in external money to address their shortcomings and will fall behind unless the league ensures they have the resources needed. The NHL is, from what I've seen, extremely stratified in terms of top revenue producers - the bottom X number of teams will never be able to keep up. Forbes' latest report on the NHL came out recently and they pointed out that even at 50/50 revenue, 20% (6 teams) have no chance at breaking even unless they reach the conference/cup finals.

My point is simply that blaming players or owners here is a red herring. The league picked its battle 8 years ago and got its economic system, this time around they're still fighting old battles against labor rather than addressing the unsustainable inequalities in a system of its own design.