February 14, 2004
BY HELENE ST. JAMES
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
A loss of $273 million? Apparently, it depends on how you define the millions.
Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman questioned a report released Thursday by the NHL that showed the 30 teams lost a combined $273 million last season. Arthur Levitt Jr., former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, conducted the study.
"I would take it with a grain of salt," Yzerman said. "We've asked the same questions, with the players' association, about how legitimate is this and where these numbers come from, and are they true or aren't they true."
The report stated 19 teams suffered operating losses and 11 made money, but didn't break down individual teams' finances. The NHL does not have a salary cap, which allows some teams, like the Wings and their opponent today, the Colorado Avalanche, to have payrolls in the $60-million to $80-million range while others operate in the $20-million range.
At a players' association meeting in October, players were shown examples of how teams report revenues.
"There's a lot of things that aren't reported," Yzerman said. "The huge debate is, basically, what are the revenues of hockey, and the league chooses to not include some significant revenues in the business of hockey (that) the players' association feels there are. There's your big discrepancy. It's not really a secret; they're not hiding anything, they're just not there. And we say they are."
The sides are gearing up for a major labor war when the collective bargaining agreement expires in September. Many expect it will cancel next season.
"There's plenty of time to get issues resolved, but I'm still not very optimistic that they will be," Yzerman said.
Asked if he thought it would be devastating for the league to shut down for an entire season, Yzerman said, "I think devastating is an overexaggeration. It would be a huge step backward for the league, but maybe that is inevitable. Maybe that is what has to happen. We want the league to do well, but I don't know that we expect every team in the league to do well."