The National Hockey League’s Canadian broadcast rights-holders are examining their programming options in the event that the ice hockey league’s new season is delayed as a result of talks over a new collective bargaining agreement.
“We are exploring programming options in case the NHL season is delayed, but have nothing to confirm at this time,” Jennifer Neziol, a spokesperson for pay-television broadcaster Sportsnet told the Globe and Mail newspaper. “Our hope is that the CBA discussions continue to go well and that we will have an NHL season that begins on time.”
A spokesman for public-service broadcaster CBC said: “CBC has contingency plans for all areas of programming – it’s what smart broadcasters do.”
NHL team owners fired the opening salvo in negotiations over a new CBA – which governs the commercial relationship between players and the league, including the league salary cap – at the weekend with media reports saying they presented an initial proposal calling for players’ share of league revenues to drop from 57 per cent to 46 per cent.
The USA Today newspaper reported that along with the substantial reduction in player revenue, NHL owners have also proposed that player contracts be limited to five years, that salary arbitration be eliminated and that eligibility for unrestricted free agency be increased from seven up to 10 seasons. The newspaper said that with league revenues now exceeding $3 billion (€2.46 billion), a decrease of 11 per cent for the players would represent more than $300 million.
The 2004-05 NHL season was completely cancelled after negotiations over the CBA broke down. Further talks on the agreement were to take place today.