NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr took part in a conference call with the media on Friday, taking the time to explain just how far apart the Players' Association and the NHL currently sit in the ongoing CBA negotiations. The two sides have not met since Wednesday, with the NHL expected to formally respond to the NHLPA's proposal next week.
The biggest hurdle in agreeing to a new CBA is tied to the share of hockey-related revenue between the league and the players. Currently the share sits at a 57/43 split in favor of the players, yet the league is fighting for an even 50/50 split similar to what the NFL and the NBA currently share.
According to Fehr, however, the players believe that the current split is actually closer to 50/50 when you factor in all revenue.
"Let me caution you when you start taling about 50/50 splits," Fehr said. "If you start talking about all revenue as opposed to hockey-related revenue, the way we calculate it the players are already at just about 50/50. Hockey-related revenue begins by subtracting some amounts of revenue. They don't count. What I'm saying is that if you add those things back in and then take what the players get, we calculate that to be about 51 percent."
The players have made it known that they are willing to take a smaller cut of revenue if the owners would also be willing to work on a better revenue sharing plan between teams, so that the players are not the ones being asked to take the full brunt of helping out the teams that are currently struggling financially.
Fehr also made it known that the players are not the ones threatening to delay the season and that the owners are fighting to pay the players below fair market value. Be sure to read the full report on the conference call here.
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