The Business of Hockey
NHL Prospect Development: Making an Educated Decision
November 28th, 2018 The competition to recruit elite hockey prospects amongst North American leagues is fierce. Those players who are looking to develop their skills and feed their professional aspirations, while laying the educational groundwork for life after hockey, have...
NHL General Manager Ethics and the Minimum Salary Cap Floor
November 24th, 2018 On June 21, 2018, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the Team Payroll Range for the 2018-19 season. The upper limit, or salary cap, was set at $79.5 million while the lower limit, or salary floor, was fixed at $58.8 million. The salary cap attracts most of the...
Traditional Statistics vs. Advanced Analytics: Making Better Business Decisions
November 22nd, 2018 Traditional statistics have always played a significant part in the analysis of teams and players in the NHL. Statistical data influences decisions made by hockey executives regarding draft picks, trades, and contract negotiations. Coaches are dependent upon this...
NHL Practice Facilities: Financial, Recruiting, and Corporate Social Responsibility Considerations
November 16th, 2018 Why are NHL teams deciding to move out of the confines of their home arenas for both game-day skates and off-day practices? The answer is practice facilities for professional hockey franchises have become a business necessity and good business. The rinks that house the NHL...
Hockey Fans & Technology: The New Game-Day Experience
November 11th, 2018 The game-day experience for today’s hockey fan has changed significantly over the last 10 years. As a fan, you are no longer entertained exclusively by the game itself. You expect that the entertainment value of the off-ice experience will match or even exceed...
Young Stars Underpaid Thanks to Rookie Salary Cap
November 6th, 2018 Entry-level contracts (ELCs) started in 1995 with the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed by the NHL and the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA). This part of the agreement intended to keep salaries lower for young, unproven talent entering the league and not put a...
Cap in Hand is Thought-Provoking History Lesson
October 16th, 2018 Parity in the National Hockey League – or "competitive balance," as it's termed by commissioner Gary Bettman – has been a much-discussed concept since the introduction of the salary cap in 2005. The addition of cost certainty was seen as a big positive from the...
NHL Game Blackouts & Why They Happen?
September 28th, 2018 Picture a scenario. Your local NHL team is playing a nationally-televised game. It's on NBCSN, which you access through an app because you don't have cable or satellite. You're excited to watch it, but when you turn it on, you're denied because of your location. Another...
Ceci and the Senators: A Case Study in Salary Arbitration
September 16th, 2018 The arbitration process grants eligible Restricted Free Agents (RFAs) an avenue to receive fair salaries for their play. However, it is one of the most misunderstood elements of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). While it does give players additional ways to...
The NHL and Gary Bettman: 25 Years of Progress and Controversy
September 5th, 2018 * originally published in Feb. 2018 Gary Bettman gets booed when he speaks. A lot. He is the public face behind the decision not to allow NHL players to participate in the 2018 Olympics. When an owner wants public funds used to finance a new arena, Bettman makes the...
Diving Into the Detroit Red Wings No-Trade Clauses
August 3rd, 2018 The Detroit Red Wings and no-trade clauses (NTCs) simply go together. Like Steve Yzerman and leadership or Nicklas Lidstrom and perfection, it’s a match made in heaven. That may seem like hyperbole, but the fact of the matter is that the Red Wings have doled out 10 (!)...
A Brief History of Rinkside Advertising
August 1st, 2018 A look at what could be in store for the NHL and the other professional leagues in North America as board advertising and in-ice logos become more prevalent in every arena. From display ads on the ice and boards to television commercials and corporate sponsorships,...
How Escrow May Lead to Another NHL Lockout
July 30th, 2018 There is mounting evidence that NHL players are preparing for a lockout with countless tweets, blogs, and articles hinting that escrow may be the final straw. There is no doubt that escrow is a growing concern, with some calling it the “dirtiest word in hockey dressing...
