It has been said that the NHL and NHL Players’ Association can afford to sit out for a while, at least monetarily.
NHL Lockout: NBC Will Pay NHL $200 Million If Season Is Lost
For the NHLPA, escrow payments due to be paid on Oct. 15 have the players feeling comfortable and not having to worry about finding gigs in Europe for a while.
For the owners, not only do they avoid (especially in small American markets) money-losing early-season games that have to go up against playoff baseball, football and basketball, they’re still getting a little money thrown into their pockets, thanks to the good folks at NBC.
I had been told a while ago from a source what NHL player agent Allan Walsh wrote on Twitter Wednesday: If the NHL cancels the 2012-13 season, NBC will pay the league the $200 million or so they are owed in rights fees anyway, with NBC getting a free season at the end of the deal, which would incidentally be 2021-22, if there’s not another lockout by then.
If lockout wipes out 2012-13 NHL season, NBC makes $200M payment to league and extra year is added onto deal for no rights fee.
— Allan Walsh (@walsha) August 22, 2012
While the NBC money wouldn’t exactly be a cash cow when divided up by teams, it still gives the owners a small profit to look forward to even if they wait this out as long as possible.
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