Firm increases bid - NHL for sale?

[Doc Holliday]

badcompany said:

Well the transaction isn’t going to be completed in the next couple of months, if it ever goes through. So for better or worse, the new CBA will be struck between the current set of players, and the current set of owners. If Bain were to buy the league, it could take years to work out the nitty-gritty details of every little clause. So Bain realistically wouldn’t get to impose their will until the next round of CBA negotiations, which wouldn’t be for another 5-7 years, depending on the length of the new deal. By then, the players will have forgotten the hardship, and probably be set for another war. Especially if they see their salaries being cut by another 50% or so.

As for the competition issue, I still don’t see it as being a problem. The NFL works essentially on the same model as what Bain would be doing, and nobody seems to think that league is rigged. All the money there goes into one pot, and is then divided up equally. If I’m the owner of a small market NFL team, and I get the same profit as a big market NFL team, wouldn’t it be in my best interests to have my small market team tank, so that the big market team could draw more interest and therefore more fans/TV/money/profit?

While you're right that we're far from a done deal (if it ever lands), Bain is not just kicking the tires, they're pitching... Should the owners have some interest and wish to sit and talk, the first thing Bain would require, I think, is that any CBA talk gets put on hold or it could ask the league to sign no more than a 1 yr deal so they're not stuck with a CBA that doesn't fit their model. I think one of the reason Bain is so aggressive now is because the NHL is not hindered by a bad CBA, it has none... it could even say, allright, we'll go with the Union's offer of december 4th. No cap and a 24% cut. it can then establish a budget per team (the same for everyone) without being accused of collusion...

IMO, the BAIN thing is tied to the CBA thing.