Tuesday, October 26, 2004
CHILLING
The NHL Lockout is in its 40th day and there seems to be no end in sight.
We've heard about how Canada would be affected by not having the NHL in progress right now. But I haven't read anything on how any American NHL cities would be affected by the lockout.
Until today, when I found this chilling piece at ESPN.com
Buffalo is the home of the Sabres. It's the closest American city with an NHL team to the Canadian border. In addition, Buffalo may be the most blue-collar sports town in America. Two years ago, the city of Buffalo almost lost the Sabres.
However, two years later, there is no hockey being played at HSBC Arena.
On any given gamenight, the city of Buffalo takes in about $70,000 in parking revenue. With no games to be played at HSBC Arena, there is no parking revenue to be had. The Sabres employ 600 part-time workers for their home games, but those workers have to find other sources of income to make up for the missed games. I've been a part-time employee at two sporting venues, Safeco Field and Seahawks Stadium. Remember August 2002, when baseball almost went on strike? If the strike would have gone through, I would have been without a job. Thank goodness I didn't have to worry about supporting a family at that time.
When I think about the NHL Lockout, I could care less about the players and owners. They will still have money in their pockets. I think about the employees who work for the teams, full-time and part-time. The program sellers, the ticket-takers, the marketing representatives, etc.
It isn't just the team's employees that are affected by the lockouts. The bars and restaurants in most NHL cities are suffering right now because of the lack of customers who would visit their establishments on gamenights. Hypothetically, a bar may employ over 15 people and serve over 300 customers on a gamenight. But without a game in town, that same bar may only serve a handful of customers and just employ 2 or 3 people at the most. It's devastating to say the least.
Point being, the NHL Lockout is much, much more than the players not wanting a salary cap. It's about the people who aren't noticed by the fans on a day-to-day basis. These people don't have numbers on their backs nor do they have any endorsement deals.
These people are sitting at home without an arena to work at right now. Chilling.
We've heard about how Canada would be affected by not having the NHL in progress right now. But I haven't read anything on how any American NHL cities would be affected by the lockout.
Until today, when I found this chilling piece at ESPN.com
Buffalo is the home of the Sabres. It's the closest American city with an NHL team to the Canadian border. In addition, Buffalo may be the most blue-collar sports town in America. Two years ago, the city of Buffalo almost lost the Sabres.
However, two years later, there is no hockey being played at HSBC Arena.
On any given gamenight, the city of Buffalo takes in about $70,000 in parking revenue. With no games to be played at HSBC Arena, there is no parking revenue to be had. The Sabres employ 600 part-time workers for their home games, but those workers have to find other sources of income to make up for the missed games. I've been a part-time employee at two sporting venues, Safeco Field and Seahawks Stadium. Remember August 2002, when baseball almost went on strike? If the strike would have gone through, I would have been without a job. Thank goodness I didn't have to worry about supporting a family at that time.
When I think about the NHL Lockout, I could care less about the players and owners. They will still have money in their pockets. I think about the employees who work for the teams, full-time and part-time. The program sellers, the ticket-takers, the marketing representatives, etc.
It isn't just the team's employees that are affected by the lockouts. The bars and restaurants in most NHL cities are suffering right now because of the lack of customers who would visit their establishments on gamenights. Hypothetically, a bar may employ over 15 people and serve over 300 customers on a gamenight. But without a game in town, that same bar may only serve a handful of customers and just employ 2 or 3 people at the most. It's devastating to say the least.
Point being, the NHL Lockout is much, much more than the players not wanting a salary cap. It's about the people who aren't noticed by the fans on a day-to-day basis. These people don't have numbers on their backs nor do they have any endorsement deals.
These people are sitting at home without an arena to work at right now. Chilling.
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