NEWSLETTER
The Blackhawks’ front office has stripped the roster down to the barest of bones. There’s nothing left; Chicago doesn’t have a single forward on the NHL roster signed beyond the 2023-24 season at this time. And they only have two defensemen left — Seth Jones and Connor Murphy — signed beyond the coming season, as well. So to say they have some wiggle room is an understatement.
Unfortunately for the rest of the NHL, the coming season is going to be a tough one for many front offices. During his State of the League comments before the Stanley Cup Final began, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the cap will only go up $1 million for next season as the players finish paying back their escrow balance from the pandemic. That’s going to put more than a couple teams in a bit of a bind.
And the Blackhawks are in position to continue their asset collection process in weaponizing their current cap space to help other teams facilitate deals. We saw a blockbuster deal on Tuesday in which the LA Kings paid a second-round pick to shed salary.
But I’m thinking long-term today, folks. What about beyond this coming season? When will the cap really go up? Because, again, the Blackhawks have as close to no money committed beyond this season as possible at this point.
Well, a report from Ad Age would lead one to believe we might see a boom coming for the cap in the not-too-distant future.
The opening paragraph of this piece should get you excited about where the future of league revenues are headed:
NHL sponsorship revenue surged 21% to $1.28 billion this season, powered by spending on new “digitally enhanced dasherboards,” an expanded field of league advertisers and jersey sponsor patches, according to a new report from SponsorUnited, which noted that “professional hockey is having a moment.”
Having a moment you say? And here I thought only Blackhawks fans were doing that after the draft lottery!
This line also grabbed my attention: “Some teams are “generating as much as 25% more revenue in dashboard signage alone,” said SponsorUnited CEO Bob Lynch in a statement.
So the business of hockey is having a moment.
With the new television deals with Disney (ESPN, ABC) and Turner (TNT) rolling out this year, revenues from media partnerships are way up. And now the league is enjoying a massive increase in additional revenues from sponsorships.
What could this mean for the salary cap?
It’s going to be $83.5 million for the 2023-24 season. But once the escrow balance is put to rest, could we see a $5-6 million increase the following year? That might be an aggressive projection at this time, but this report indicates the ways the league is finding to make more money will undoubtedly force a significant increase soon.
