NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said monetization is "not what's driving" the league to resume its season, as the proposed 24-team, two-city tournament is "not something that's going to bring in a lot of revenues relative to what our projections were for the '19-20 season," according to Daniel Roberts of YAHOO FINANCE. Bettman said, "We're doing this because we're hearing from our fans that they want to see us back and they want to see a conclusion to the '19-20 season, even if that's on television (with no fans present)." Roberts wrote returning will "at least give NBC Sports something to broadcast in the summer, when it would have had the Tokyo Olympics, which have been pushed to 2021." Returning "should make some NHL sponsors happy for the exposure." Either way, the '19-20 season is a "financial disaster for the NHL relative to normal seasons, whether it returns to wrap up or not" (FINANCE.YAHOO.com, 5/28).
PLAYING IT SLOW: SPORTSNET.ca noted the NHL informed players that "Phase 3 of the league’s return-to-play plan, which includes training camps, will not start before July 10." The league initially said that it "didn’t expect Phase 3 would happen earlier than the first half of July, and would begin only once medical and civil authorities deemed it was safe to do so." The NHL "hopes to move into Phase 2 of its return-to-play policy, which allows for small group workouts, as early as next week." In the current Phase 1, "players remain under league-mandated quarantine" (SPORTSNET.ca, 5/28).
CANADA MAKES ITS PUSH: NHL Network’s Elliotte Friedman said the province of Alberta is "really putting on a full-court press to host this thing” as the NHL has said they “would like to have one hub in Canada if they could.” But Friedman added, “I don't think Canada will be part of the process and the two hubs will be in the United States” (“NHL Tonight,” NHL Network, 5/28).
BETTER TOGETHER: NHL Network’s Stu Grimson said it is encouraging that both the NHLPA and NHL “have really demonstrated a determination to get the game back on the ice and have remained incredibly flexible through the process to map out some form of, some shape of a return to play.” Grimson: “Both sides have vested interest in this and how they want to see things unfold, but there is no perfect plan.” NHL Network’s Kevin Weekes: “I love the fact that we have a framework and … that it’s been collaborative" (“NHL Tonight,” NHL Network, 5/28). NBC Sports’ Eddie Olczyk said Bettman, the NHL, the BOG, the teams and the NHLPA “really took a great leadership here in this initiative." Since pausing the season, the league has "been out front, they've been available, they've communicated” (“SportsTalk Live,” NBC Sports Chicago, 5/28). WFAN’s Boomer Esiason said it "sounds like” Bettman and the league have a "really good relationship" with the NHLPA. The players have "gotten paid and the players have recognized that they need to finish the season" (“Boomer and Gio,” CBSSN, 5/29).
