The question of what will break the impasse, most likely, will come down to resolve. These are not the moves of business entities that are teetering on the edge of financial ruin.
Minnesota, which lost money, gave Ryan Suter and Zach Parise a combinedUS $196-million. Nashville, which lost money, matched Philadelphia’s 14-year, US$110-million bid for Shea Weber. Carolina, which lost money last year, signed Jordan Staal to a US$60-million contract extension and gave Alexander Semin a one-year, US$6.7-million deal. Then there is the evidence of the past summer that suggests even owners from some of the small, low-revenue markets are a hell of a long way from the poor house. Two teams, Phoenix and Columbus, account for almost a third of league losses all on their own. When Bettman and his allies insist that the league has financial difficulties, what he really means is that a handful of teams bleed money like stuck pigs. The combined operating losses of all those 18 money-losing teams: US$126-million. Toronto and Montreal had a combined operating income last year of almost US$129-million. How much do the revenues of the high-end teams dwarf those at the other end? The NHLPA’s proposal suggests the league could solve all of its economic worries by simply redistributing wealth from the rich teams to the poor. Depending on whose numbers you believe, this put between US$2-billion and US$3-billion of additional money in owners’ hands over the life of the deal. They are richer for it, though, since the NBA lockout’s real legacy was in forcing the players to accept something close to 50% of league revenues, where under the previous deal they received 57%. The weak sisters are still the weak sisters. Talent, in other words, continues to flow to a handful of teams. The defending champion Miami Heat made themselves better by signing free-agent shooter Ray Allen. The high-spending Brooklyn Nets signed all-star guard Deron Williams to a mega-contract, traded for the enormous contract of guard Joe Johnson, and came close to landing Howard themselves. The high-spending Los Angeles Lakers signed two-time MVP Steve Nash on the free-agent market, then engineered a four-team trade that landed them the game’s most dominant centre in Dwight Howard. The events of the past few months have since shown Silver’s words to be a fat load of hooey. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
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