How the postponements could impact the salary cap
During a recent episode of the Steve Dangle Podcast, one of the co-hosts, Adam Wydle, mentioned on the podcast that "before Omicron hit, the NHL was on track to make about 5.3 billion dollars this year, which would have outstripped the pace they were on back when seasons were normal in 2019."
The NHL had a new U.S. TV deal in the going into this season, which was a large contributing factor to this. The salary cap was supposed to begin rising this summer, but due to the Omicron variant that has resulted in many games being postponed, could this effect the NHL's salary cap going forward?
THE MONEY LOST PER GAME WITH NO FANS:
Currently, the majority of Canadian teams are playing games with 0 fans in the building because of the COVID restrictions in Canada. The only home games that are being played in Canada are Wednesday and Saturday games, because of the television contract between Rogers and the NHL. Wednesday Night Hockey and Hockey Night in Canada are this country's two biggest nights for hockey and it is important that these games are played because of advertising and revenues drawn from these games.
Canadian teams lose roughly three million dollars per home game played with 0 fans. The teams are going to have to play at least some games with 0 fans and many of the Canadian teams bankroll the rest of the NHL. Could the value that the Canadian markets provide the league be a contributing factor to the salary cap not rising this summer? If it stays the same as it is in Canada right now then there's a significant possibility.
THE SHOW MUST GO ON:
We have seen the NHL move the schedule around for every team. We saw it recently were the NHL changed where two Leafs/Islanders games would be played to accommodate the current COVID-19 restrictions in Canada. This will likely occur with more games, but there are also some where this won't be possible.
The league has 3 weeks to fill in games in February now that the NHL has pulled out of the Olympics. Who knows what the COVID situation in Canada will be a month from now, but there is a possibility that these restrictions could still exist. Games will need to be played but will the NHL be forced to play these games in front of a restricted crowd?
Games that were postponed such as the Leafs and Blues which was scheduled for December 23rd will likely need to be made up during that time and there are enough games to play where not everything can be a Wednesday or Saturday.
THE NHL CAN STILL MAKE PACE:
The NHL had a lot of extra money coming in from the new TV deals and Seattle expansion. It has been tough in Canada, but America is still going about their business as usual. The issue is that (per Forbes) only three U.S teams were profitable in 2020. The NHL has never been on the same level as the other major sports leagues in North America. The cap has gone up while the league has lost money before. Why can't it be the same now?
I think if the postponements keep coming and the league is forced to play Canadian games with 0 fans, then the salary cap should probably remain the same. However, if the Leafs and Canadiens can begin playing with a full crowd again, then the salary cap should go up, as was originally projected, this summer - especially since they were on pace to profit more than they were pre-COVID.
