Neither the players or the management will benefit financially from a prolonged lockout
When Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the National Hockey League, recently announced that the lockout would result in the cancellation of the opening 82 games of the regular season, it is an understatement to say that it had a devastating effect on numerous hockey fans. Although a lost season may be a frightening prospect for fans, the teams, and ultimately their respective cities will most likely experience even greater ‘visible’ damage.
The league’s revenues are taking a monumental hit due to the lockout. Bill Daly, the deputy commissioner, has recently discussed that the league has already lost roughly $100 million dollars in revenue in just the cancellation of it’s preseason games. The team’s themselves are only a few of the many who are currently affected by the lockout. In addition to those directly related to the NHL, the neighbouring stores near the arenas will also be affected. Local businesses may suffer if they depend on traffic that passes through their shops on game days.
Vancouver Sun gives these observations about union meetings, there was “little to discuss, the meeting ended quickly and left both groups frustrated”. At this point I believe that neither the player’s union nor the owners can benefit and ‘win’ the lockout, as both sides has lost a significant amount of revenue in addition to the loss of support from their fans.