Bettman culpable for lockout

On Friday night, knowing full well that my plans for the evening entailed sitting in a dish chair and watching TV, I began my nightly routine of searching for a live sporting event to watch.

With the baseball playoffs on a one-night hiatus, I first came upon a thrilling midseason Conference USA football clash between Louisville and South Florida. To my dismay, the Cardinals had sealed the game away by halftime.

The showdown between Wyoming and Colorado State on ESPN2 similarly failed to pique my interest.

I ended up settling on - unbelievably - an NBA preseason game between Atlanta and Miami. The Heat had opened up a 30-point lead after the third quarter, but I felt a sadly compelling need to watch the final frame.

This made me realize that for the first time this year, I missed hockey.

The start of the NHL season falls at an opportune period of the year. With the baseball playoffs on FOX, football on weekends and the NBA still in preseason, late October is the perfect time to catch a couple periods of a hockey game on ESPN to get back into the swing of things.

Unfortunately, it's doubtful that NHL fans will have a chance to watch a one-timer or an odd-man rush in the foreseeable future.

League commissioner Gary Bettman, speaking on behalf of many of the NHL's owners, insists that the league is in dire need of a salary cap to curtail the losses it has incurred in recent years.

"We had no choice in the face of the (Players') Union's continued refusal to address economic problems that are clear to everyone but them," Bettman said.

According to financial data provided by the NHL, 19 of 30 teams lost money in the 2002-03 season. Those teams averaged a deficit of about $18 million, and four teams were in the red by $30 million or more.

The players' association disputes that the deficits are that severe, but no one denies that the league is facing significant financial difficulties that need to be addressed.

The league's most recent TV contract, signed in May, is worth significantly less than the previous deal - the result of ratings that continue to plummet to new lows.

This agreement forces teams to rely on local media contracts and ticket sales for income, which can vary from team to team.

The Detroit Red Wings, for example, led the league with a $78 million payroll last season, while 16 teams' salary totals failed to top $40 million.

But Bettman, who has seen the NHL tumble from America's fourth major sport to a national afterthought under his watch, has no one to blame but himself and the owners he is representing.

He blames the players for failing to understand the NHL's economic situation, but it is hard to blame them when teams have continued to support escalating salaries. Six players earned more than $10 million in 2003-04, compared to two in 2000-01.

The league also added four teams since 1998, a nonsensical decision that has only worsened the situation. Now, teams receive even less of the shared revenue, and the further dilution of talent surely hasn't bolstered fan interest.

For spectators, the odds that hockey will be played this season are diminishing by the day, and a two-year lockout also remains a distinct possibility.

And when hockey resumes, people might not care enough to turn on an October game in the future.

That, for hockey fans, is truly a tragedy.

Contact Jacob Karabell at karabell@email.unc.edu.