Players' proposal should help move negotiation along | Dallas Stars ...

The NHL Players Association on Tuesday put forward a new way of looking at things, and both the players and the NHL left their meeting sounding optimistic.

?While the plan has not been made public, many details have been reported by reliable sources.

Check out the Canadian Press story here.

See Pro Hockey Talk?s info here.

?Read USA Today?s story here.

?Under the plan, the NHLPA is offering that the players would stay near their current money amount (not percentage) while the owners are allowed to take advantage of the growth of the league to help start revenue sharing and bail out teams that might be in trouble. The NHL had gross revenue of $3.3 billion last season, and the players earned 57 percent of that under the current CBA. The owners are hoping to reduce that total to closer to 50 percent (they actually proposed 46 percent in their initial offering), the same number that the NBA and NFL decided upon recently.

But instead of looking at total percentage of revenue and taking possible cutbacks on current salaries, the players have offered to let the current contracts stand, and take only slight raises?above the total player take of $1.89 billion in 2011-12 (57 percent of $3.3 billion). Players would get a 2 percent raise over $1.89 billion in the first year of the deal, a 4 percent raise in the second year and a 6 percent raise in the third year. Because the total player take has been increasing at an average of 7.1 percent a year during the current CBA, players estimate that owners could save between $465 million to $800 million (over the current 57 percent take) depending on the growth of the league.

Total revenue has increased from $1.9 billion in 2003-04 to $3.3 billion last season, so there clearly appears the possibility for further growth.

According to reports, the players then suggested that owners use the extra money to help poorer teams and that a partnership between the league and the NHLPA could work to distribute the revenue sharing equitably.

Again, we are going on reports that are leaking out, but these are from people like TSN analyst Aaron Ward, a former player who has a strong relationship with the NHLPA.

So, can this work?

Probably not in its current form. The deal is supposed to go back to 57 percent of total revenue if any of the years show an increase of revenue of 10 percent or more, and the players have an option of going back to 57 percent in the fourth year of the deal.

The owners aren?t going to like that.

After all, the NBA and NFL just negotiated deals at 50 percent, and many owners will be willing to suffer through a lockout to get to that number.

The other problem is this deal is really just for three years. That means it?s just a band-aid for the owners. Would it be better than simply carrying on in the current system? Yes. Would it address revenue sharing issues that are important to many teams? Yes. Could you live with this deal, avoid a lockout, and start working on a better long-term deal that could be broached in three years? Sure.

But that?s not how the owners work. They push hard, they ask for givebacks, and they put pressure on to get what they want. At least that?s what they have done?in the past.

?This is a business negotiation, and the guess is many owners believe the best ?partnership? between players and owners is a 50/50 split in revenue. We?ll see if that?s a sticking point once they get to study the NHLPA proposal more closely.

But, with the Sept. 15 deadline looming, and?a potential lockout in the future, it was a good step forward.?

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Source: http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/2012/08/players-proposal-should-help-move-negotiation-along.html/

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