NO WINDFALL IN THE WINDY CITY

Stumbled across an interesting article from Melissa Harris of The Chicago Tribune (by way of Puck Daddy). Here are excerpts to chew on, and they are as shocking as they are enlightening:

Rocky Wirtz

Revenue Sharing - Playoffs

- For instance, the Blackhawks keep ticket revenue from their regular-season home games. But for every playoff home game last season, the Hawks had to give the NHL at least 50 percent of what their gate receipts would have been at a regular-season United Center sellout. And gate receipts are everything in hockey. Ticket sales typically account for up to half of a team's income. "You can technically lose money during the playoffs if you don't raise your ticket prices" for them, team owner Rocky Wirtz said.

Revenue Sharing - TV

- While the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and the National Football League also operate under revenue-sharing agreements, professional hockey has a tougher financial road because the sport lacks broad appeal and therefore doesn't command lucrative television contracts. The NBA, for instance, receives about $930 million per year from its national broadcasting partners. In contrast, the NHL receives between $200 million and $300 million per year from Canadian and U.S. broadcasts. Split among the league's 30 franchises, that equals less than $10 million per team per year.

- Unlike baseball, "where small market teams can get revenue from both television and Internet and a number of other sources," in hockey, that isn't there, Wirtz said. "You have your gate receipt, your local TV and radio package, and that's about it."

Parting Salvo

The easiest way to make money from an NHL franchise, Wirtz said, is to sell it.


Yikes!