It wasn't that long ago that the NHL and it's TV contract with the ESPN empire ended and with that ending, ESPN proposed it's own changes on a league that has been around for a century. ESPN in all it's arrogance suggesting changes to the way they play their game in order to maintain the status quo. Yeah, that status quo included secondary coverage on it's secondary network, ESPN2.
When the NHL had it's labor problems back in 2005, the league underwent changes that many analysts felt that they could not recover from. The NHL resisted changes to it's game just so they could have television exposure and they successfully implemented a salary cap, which it seems everyone has embraced, including the players. The NHL and it's own players association had gone through a tumultuous moment and it recovered beyond anyone's expectations. The league is thriving and with incredible ratings on Versus and NBC, the NHL has proven that when you step back and really look at your product, you must make change that benefits your fans and players. While sticking to it's guns, the NHL has shown everyone that you do not need to give in to the popular choices and with hard choices you can sometimes rise up and prove everyone wrong.
The NBA and their own impending labor problems can learn something from this. The NBA salary cap is a soft cap, and a salary control system that does not work, and in my opinion their biggest problem. What is the point in having a cap system in place that allows teams to spend millions and millions of dollars over it? There is no future for the NBA unless they create a partnership with their players, and promote their teams. The NFL has been largely successful based on that principal. The NFL does not promote their players, but their teams and their logos. The NHL simply promotes their champions and the Stanley Cup and look how well they are received. The NBA is just as interesting as it used to be. You have a handful of teams that can legitimately compete for a championship, and that just does not bode well for their long term future. The fans have nothing to look forward too in most NBA cities, except perhaps a shot in the dark draft choice or an overpaid, middle of the road scorer.
The NBA and NHL are always compared in terms of where they are in the ranks of top sports. It's a comparison that goes back to Gary Bettman and his former ties to the NBA and of course the fact that they are the other winter sports, like football. If the NBA can learn anything from their ongoing labor problems, it's that they need to create more competition in their league and do a better job of providing their fans with a product that is compelling right to the end.
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