The Knights' emergence has played a role in league-wide revenue approaching $5B per seasonGETTY IMAGES
The revenue the Golden Knights have pumped into the NHL will "help deliver the largest salary cap increase" since '14, according to Frank Seravalli of TSN.ca. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said that the current projection for the '18-19 salary cap upper limit "remains between" $78-82M (all figures U.S.). Even if the NHL and NHLPA "decide not to enact an inflator, that means the salary cap will rise" at least $3M from this season’s $75M. The cap has risen an average of $2M over "each of the last three summers, with revenue remaining mostly flat." League-wide revenue is approaching $5B per season, and the success of not just the Golden Knights, but "also a 31st team in general, has helped." Daly: “There’s a lot of revenue certainly generated by the Las Vegas franchise. Certainly on their jersey sales and licensed merchandise, it’s off the charts. It continues to be off the charts. It’s an amazing story in every category” (TSN.ca, 5/28).
LET'S GET STARTED: Daly and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman both said that the league is "eager to start negotiations" with the NHLPA "immediately to secure labor peace and avoid a lockout" in '20. Daly said, “There’s certainly a shared desire to try to at least have those discussions to see if we can get there. From our perspective, we’re prepared to have those discussions at any point in time. My expectation is the (NHLPA) is interested in talking sooner rather than later.” NHLPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr said that the union is is "open to discussions." THE HOCKEY NEWS' Ken Campbell cited a source as saying that the problem is that "unless both sides come into negotiations with constructive ideas and a willingness to compromise, negotiating early can actually harm the process and bog it down more than help it" (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 5/28). THE ATHLETIC's Pierre LeBrun writes the NHL and NHLPA have "shown historically that they need the pressure of a season in jeopardy to get down to business, unfortunately." LeBrun: "Still, I don’t remember the last time the NHL commissioner so openly invited the process to start ahead of time." One would "think both sides have reasons to want to get at it sooner rather than later" (THEATHLETIC.com, 5/29).
PLACE YOUR BETS: Bettman said that the Supreme Court ruling on sports wagering is "something the NHL continues to monitor." Bettman said, "We’d like not to have it vary state by state. Now, if all the states want to come together and do the same thing, that would be the equivalent of federal legislation, and that’s something that we’re focused on." Bettman added, “I’m not sure I buy the term integrity fee. ... If you’re going to allocate for yourself to run a business on our intellectual property and the performance of our athletes and the platform that we put on for our games, we’re entitled to be involved in that” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 5/29).
