Gary Bettman admits a Jan. 1 start date for the season is 'a work in progress' originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The NHL is dealing with a salary dispute, North America is experiencing a second wave of COVID-19 and the specific rules for the 2021 NHL season have yet to be agreed upon. Considering we are already into December, this all made the NHL's target start date of Jan. 1 for the new season largely unrealistic. Now, even NHL commissioner Gary Bettman won't commit to it.
Speaking Wednesday at the Sports Business Journal’s “Dealmakers in Sports” virtual conference, Bettman still maintained that Jan. 1 was the target start date for the season, but admitted that date remains "a work in progress influenced largely by what we're hearing from medical experts."
“Covid is going through a second wave," Bettman said, "Which could be worse than the first wave and between Thanksgiving and the aftermath and what they think is going to happen for Christmas and the aftermath, we are taking our time and making sure that as we look for ways to move forward we’re focused on health and safety and doing the right things.”
Regardless of whether or not Bettman wants to admit it, Jan. 1 has looked unrealistic for a while now. It's not as if everything can be resolved on Dec. 31 leading to a Jan. 1 puck drop. You have to account for training camp and any exhibition games. You have to give players enough time to report to their respective cities for camp considering travel to the U.S. and Canada is not as simple as it once was. You have to have time for the league and each team to set up the logistics of the season. All of these things would have to happen weeks before the start of the regular season.
With the league facing as many issues as it is just to get the 2021 season off the ground, thinking that those issues could be resolved with enough time for a Jan. 1 start just does not seem possible.
As for those issues facing the league, Bettman pushed back against the perception that the NHL is looking to renegotiate the recently agreed upon CBA.
“We’re not actually having negotiations and we’re not seeking to renegotiate,” Bettman said. “We made a number of assumptions collectively over the summer, most of which are not applicable anymore. There are a lot of things that we have to deal with if we’re going to return to play."
In November, the league sent two proposals to the NHLPA. One proposal asked the players to defer more of their salary and raise escrow for the upcoming season. The second proposal looked to raise the deferred compensation for next season and the escrow percentage in the later years of the CBA.
Considering the CBA was just agreed to in the summer, the players balked at these proposals and there was silence between the two sides until recently.
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According to Pierre LeBrun, Bettman and Don Fehr, the head of the NHLPA, have spoken several times over the past five days. That's a step in the right direction, but we don't know how far just yet.
From the players' perspective, the CBA was negotiated a few months ago in the middle of the pandemic. The fact that the NHL could not foresee at that point the possibility that fans may not be able to attend at least part if not all of the 2021 season is on them. It's hard to imagine the NHL reacting well if the shoe was on the other foot and the NHLPA came forward just a few months after a CBA was negotiated wanting to reopen talks.
But while it is hard to fault the players in this situation, Bettman did make an important point.
"Whatever the revenues are, the players only get 50 percent," Bettman said. "And if we overpay them and they don’t pay us back in the short term, they have to pay us back over time."
The owners and players split hockey-related revenue 50/50. However much more the players are collectively paid over that 50-percent, they have to give back to the owners. Ultimately, this dispute is just haggling over money the players are going to have to give back to the owners anyway. That's why I am optimistic about the 2021 season being played. It doesn't matter if the players get paid 100-percent of their salaries or lose 50-percent to escrow and deferment, if the owners' share of the pot is less than 50-percent -- which it will be given the money the league will lose this year -- the players will have to pay money back to make the owners' share 50-percent.
So what are the options? For the players, they can either dig in their heels and continue to scoff at the NHL's proposals, or they can get concessions from the league. Whether Bettman wants to admit it or not, this absolutely is a negotiation and you can't look to change an agreement made a few months ago without giving up something in return.
But the owners may be willing to dig in their heels as well and here is where things could really go off the rails.
“There are letters in the agreement which we don’t have to get into, that were put in for our benefit in the event things got out of control as well," Bettman said.
What Bettman may be referring to here is a clause known as "force majeure." This is a clause that frees a party from contractual obligations due to extraordinary unforeseen circumstances.
The owners can't lock out the players after agreeing to a CBA as that would be a breach of contract. But, with the world in the midst of a pandemic, force majeure could possibly be on the table for the owners to cancel the season.
Would this be challenged in court? Almost certainly. Would this be an ugly dispute? You bet. Do fans and people who are hurting from the pandemic want to think about losing an entire hockey season due to a salary dispute? Nope. Is it a good look to cancel a season and go to court when the NFL, NBA and MLB are all managing to play? Not at all.
But, at the very least, force majeur is a possible option for the owners. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.
