The plight of NHL teams in Canada received front page
treatment in Saturday's N.Y. TIMES, as Tarik El-Bashir wrote
that "in a bid to keep hockey, the Canadian national sport,
in Canada, the [NHL] has asked the Canadian Government to
subsidize the country's six major-league hockey teams by
more than $30 million a year." El-Bashir outlined the NHL's
latest position paper on the subject (see THE DAILY, 9/17),
which would give the league a share of revenue from the
provincial lotteries, and wrote the league's proposal calls
for "something entirely new: annual operating support." The
NHL feels a 20% share of the $170M in annual revenues from
the games would provide $34M to be shared among the six
teams. NHL Senior VP/Legal Affairs Bill Daly "bristled at
the suggestion that giving the league a share of the lottery
revenue amounted to a government subsidy." Daly: "We think
hockey subsidizes the Canadian Government, as we subsidize
the lottery." While El-Bashir reported that the "early
response" to the plan in Canada is mixed, Daly said, "We
think politically it's the most feasible proposal. It's a
voluntary tax, so to speak" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/25).
