According to many leading economists, the National Hockey League will find itself in bad shape if the economic recession continues. The league lacks an American television contract of much meaning and and the Canadian dollar is falling rather steadily, which may lead to some serious struggles with the league.

The NHL is expected to suffer more than other North American sports leagues because it is such a Canadian-based league, contrary to what many critics suggest. Much of the league’s interest and base is in Canada, which has led to speculation that a team may be moved to the Great White North to help stimulate the economic prospect. This would be welcome news to many of us, I’m sure.

Despite how things are going in the United States, markets in Canada are actually ripe for hockey teams.

“Hockey is the most vulnerable and that’s primarily because of the lack of a TV contract in the United States,” said Richard Powers of the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto. “I really do think we’re going to see some contraction and/or relocation. And it’s very likely we’re going to see another franchise in Canada. Where it will end up, Winnipeg or southern Ontario, is anyone’s guess. But the market here is ripe.”

Many analysts agree that it will be the National Football League that will emerge from the recession with little to no damage to show for itself. With massive television contracts and huge amounts of revenue across the board, the NFL looks to be the one sports league that could actually profit from a recession.

Contrast that with the NHL and the difference is rather alarming. The National Hockey League bases a lot of its revenue on the gate and ticket sales. With economic struggles occurring and spreading like California wildfires in the dry months, less people are spending money on those tickets. Owners will have to either drop the ticket prices and hope for more purchasers or they’ll have to bite the bullet and take the hit in the wallet.

Some markets are still selling well, of course, but many are not. The Phoenix Coyotes, for instance, are reportedly in line to lose as much as $35 million this season.

With failing teams in questionable markets such as the aforementioned Phoenix, owners finding themselves heavily in debt, and more turnover in ownership than the other major sports leagues, Gary Bettman’s NHL needs to start getting its fiscal act in gear. Responsible owners should not be made to pay for the mistakes of the other owners in the National Hockey League who have taken on poor markets and produced poor products.

With Detroit selling some hockey tickets at $9 a pop, something’s gotta give. And soon. Here’s hoping the Board of Governors meeting figures something out.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 11:13 am and is filed under Features, Gary Bettman, NHL, NHL Notes, Team Ownership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.