We’ve heard from NHLPA head Donald Fehr about how their NHL-rejected counter-proposal calls for a 50-50 split in revenue. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly has some problems with that assessment of their offer.
In a statement issued to the press, Daly says the players’ union offer isn’t all that it appears to be.
“The so called 50-50 deal, plus honoring current contracts proposed by the NHL Players’ Association earlier today is being misrepresented. It is not a 50-50 deal. It is, most likely a 56-to 57-percent deal in Year One and never gets to 50 percent during the proposed five-year term of the agreement. The proposal contemplates paying the Players approximately $650 million outside of the Players’ Share. In effect, the Union is proposing to change the accounting rules to be able to say ’50-50,’ when in reality it is not. The Union told us that they had not yet ‘run the numbers.’ We did.”
Safe to say this is as polite as discourse can be when essentially saying the players’ didn’t do their homework. The NHL certainly broke down the mathematics of the players’ offer in a short time though, 10 minutes by Sidney Crosby’s count.