Remember that TV rules in sports. The deals cut with broadcasters are really the telltale signs of which league can move forward and which ones are stumbling around.
The NFL is doing everything possible to get games on the television. The main reason the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers game hasn’t been cancelled is those games give the NFL $6 billion annually.
It’s why you see the NBA starting training camps on time, while the NHL seems like it’s again stumbling around in the dark trying to find the light switch.
NBA money is almost $3 billion annually. The NHL makes $200 million from its U.S. partners and another $400 million per year from Rogers in Canada.
That should give you the perspective necessary to discern why NBA training camps have opened up, while the NHL and the players’ association still can’t see eye to eye on what the players should make because the revenues no longer match up with what the players are making.
The NHL is far more reliant on gate revenue and with Dr. Fauci down south doubtful about full stadiums by summertime, I can’t imagine Gary Bettman’s headache will get better anytime soon.