The NHL and its players’ union have a collective bargaining agreement in place and a tentative Jan. 1 start to a 2021 season. But the Avalanche and the league’s 30 other teams have enough concerns about COVID-19 to push the start date back or possibly not play at all.
In other words, the NHL season is up in the air, and the Avalanche and its championship-caliber roster could be among the most affected because its window to win is now.
Despite agreeing to COVID-19 concessions for the 2020-21 season in July while extending the CBA through 2025-26, owners now want player escrow to grow from 20% to 25% and deferrals from 10% to 20% for the 2021 season. Owners also suggested a Plan II: Keep 2021 escrow at 20% but increase deferral to 26% and escrow in years four-to-six of the CBA to between 8.5 and 9%.
The NHL Players’ Association was outraged at both revamped plans, given that a deal was already reached in July.
The Avs as an organization is already hurting because its owner, Kroenke Sports Enterprises, has a regional sports network (Altitude) that hasn’t had contracts with Comcast or Dish Network for more than a year. So television revenue is down, with just DirecTV as Altitude’s only “Big 3” provider.
In addition, the NHL’s estimated $200 million TV revenue stream with NBC pales in comparison to the billions attached to the NFL, NBA and MLB. Because of the relatively weak national TV contract, the NHL is in financial trouble without fans. And because of the non-essential travel restrictions on the U.S.-Canadian border, the seven Canadian teams might have to form a division and not play any U.S. teams until the travel restrictions are lifted.
So there are two more reasons why the Jan. 1 start date is in doubt.
The fact is, a large chunk of the NHL’s business model revolves around fans in the stands, and the Avalanche did well in that department until the 2019-20 season was paused in March. Colorado stood eighth in home attendance last season with an average of 18,708, and fourth in home capacity at 107.1%, per ESPN.
Without fans in the stands — and no sign of that changing anytime soon — plus the owners’ balking at the COVID concessions they agreed to in July, hockey at its highest level is in an uncertain state.
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