The NHL is lucky.
Three labor lockouts in 14 years would have killed the fanbase of most organizations, but hockey enthusiasts kept coming back for more.
But, what about now? The league and the players union are in disagreement yet again, putting the magic number at four lockouts since 1997.
It's nothing short of ridiculous, and both sides need to shuffle their priorities. NHL.com posted an article in April of 2011 titled "Best-ever business year highlighted by record revenue," so it's not like no one is making money here.
The only side that's really losing out is the fans. No hockey, for any period of time, is sacrilegious to the sport's most devoted followers. They have endured the disappointments so far, but enough will be enough at some point.
Talk about shared revenue and splitting the money as much as you want, but we are talking about billions of dollars here. Fans contributed to a large amount of that money, but they continue to get the short end of the stick.
Hockey will probably never be most Americans' sport of choice. Baseball, basketball and football are too ingrained in American culture to ever be repla ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Ian Hanford
NHL Lockout: Both Sides Must Value Fans over Money as Labor Dispute Continues
September 17th, 2012 by Ian Hanford Leave a reply »
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