When many of us think about the NHL we think about the entertainment and sports side of it, rather than thinking of the NHL as a business. The recent contract negotiations are all happening because the NHL is in fact a business with their central priority being profit. Players and owners have been facing off the past couple months and are currently in the midst of some major disagreements. Right now, the main issue is the division of hockey related revenues (HRR) fairly between owners and players. These revenues consist of ticket sales, alcohol sales, and all other food and snack sales at the rink. Some argue that the players are the ones supplying the entertainment and therefore are entitled to a significant share of the HRR. Meanwhile, others argue that the owners are the ones putting out massive allotments of money each year to keep teams running smoothly and therefore they also deserve a large share. The current talks revolve around the players taking a cut in their share of HRR to allow for a larger share in the owners favour. There is also talk of certain items being taken off the list of HRR and 100% of those items’ revenue would then go directly to the team owners. These negotiations have been carrying on for some time now and will continue through the next few days, however the central question is how do we decide who is entitled to a higher percentage of the pie that is HRR? This question raises interest about the ethics of the NHL as a major corporation and how ethics fit into these negotiations. Is the NHL as a whole being conducted ethically or are the alterior motives and concern for self-betterment getting in the way?
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/story/2012/09/11/sp-nhl-labour-lockout-video.html