NLL Players Hoping To Play Despite League Canceling '08 Season
NLL players “continue to hold out hope that a new [CBA] can be struck” before the first scheduled game on December 27, despite the league cancelling the ’08 season early yesterday morning because of a lack of a labor agreement, according to George Johnson of the CALGARY HERALD. However, NLL Commissioner Jim Jennings indicated that by “notifying arenas to open dates that had been slotted for NLL games, the season was unsalvageable.” The league had offered the players a 3% pay raise over five seasons, but players were trying to get a “no-restrictions policy on salaries.” Calgary Roughnecks player rep Kaleb Toth: “I could not in good conscience advise the players to take the offer” (CALGARY HERALD, 10/17). NLL Deputy Commissioner George Daniel said that the union during a weekend meeting "proposed to lift the cap on maximum salaries." Daniel: “We simply couldn’t agree to play in an uncapped system.” However, Professional Lacrosse Players Association Exec Dir & VP Dave Succamore said, “That is hogwash. They had no intention to get an agreement. I really think they’re trying to test the mettle of the players and break the union.” Succamore added that player salaries “are tied to team revenue,” and with revenue at $1.7M, with players receiving 22% of that. Succamore: “We hit $1.8[M], and [NLL] owes $874,000 to the [PLPA] for the 2006 season” (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 10/17). Succamore said that the PLPA "remains willing to negotiate a deal for 2008, but also will seek an agreement beginning with the 2009 season" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 10/17).
OWNERS, MANAGEMENT RESPONSE: Roughnecks Owner Brad Bannister said, “Already, a couple players phoned today, saying, ‘Hey, we can still negotiate.’ And I told them: ‘Don’t you get it?! It’s over.’ Maybe the PA thought we were bluffing. If they did, they were wrong” (CALGARY HERALD, 10/17). However, Jennings said, “We’ve never had an agenda to break a union. It never entered into our discussions with our owners.” Jennings said the league “will be back in 2009,” but using replacement players for the ’08 season has “never been an option for us” (CP, 10/17).
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Several Team Owners Like Batinovich (r)
Will Save Money With Cancelled Season |
TEAM BREAKDOWNS: Philadelphia Wings Owner & President Russ Cline said that the league was losing an average of $750,000 per team per season, and the Wings lost $500,000 in ’07 and “have not made money for the last three years.” Cline: “We’re not the NFL. We have to pay to be on TV.” Succamore believes that some owners were “diverting their revenue to avoid showing a profit.” But he said, “We really don’t know since not all of them are giving us full disclosure” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 10/17). In Denver, Theresa Smith reports the 13-team NLL "lost an average of $600,000 per team" and five teams "averaged less than 9,400 fans" per game. The Colorado Mammoth, Toronto Rock and Buffalo Bandits were the only three teams that made money last season (DENVER POST, 10/17). In Arizona, Carrie Watters reports the Coyotes have “struggled financially and ended the 2006-07 NHL season about $30[M] in the hole,” $5M of which is due to operating the Arizona Sting. Coyotes & Sting President Doug Moss said, “We will have our best financial season with the Sting by not playing.” The Sting drew around 6,000 fans to games last season at Jobing.com Arena (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 10/17). Portland LumberJax Owner Angela Batinovich said that the franchise "lost around $1.2[M]" last season, and by not playing, she estimated the '08 loss at $800,000-900,000 (Portland OREGONIAN, 10/17). Rochester Knighthawks Owner Steve Donner said that the team lost more than $100,000 last season. Daniel said, "They wanted to change the entire economic system. We've had this system since the inception of the league. We've been able to grow in a slow and steady way for a number of years. Their proposals wanted to lift those limits and have an uncapped system" (Rochester DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 10/17).
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