NHL Makes Big China Push, Olympic Prospects Remain Uncertain
Unlikely as it seems – given the expenses and overall lack of prior exposure – Chinese officials are hellbent on making hockey a mainstream sensation on the Mainland.
This surprising prospect was furthered elevated this week when the National Hockey League (NHL) dropped the proverbial puck and let China's small but dedicated hockey contingent have at it via announcement about its plans to put on a pair of annual pre-season games starting this year.
It'll start off this year with the Los Angeles Kings facing off with the Vancouver Canucks at exhibition games in Shanghai on September 21 and then in Beijing on September 23.
Reuters described it as the league's effort "to build interest in the country that will host the 2022 Winter Olympics, even as its participation in next year's Games remains in doubt."
That uncertainty was further cemented shortly after the slap shot-esque eagerness of the NHL's China pre-season announcement, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) cautioned the league not to expect special treatment ahead of Korea's 2018 Games, for which the organizations are in a stalemate about how to allow top NHL players to partake in the sporting event.
The IOC released a statement, saying: "The IOC knows that the NHL understands that the Olympic movement cannot treat the owners of a commercial franchise of a national league better than an international sports federation or other professional leagues with regard to the Olympic Games." If both sides can't come to terms, then 2018 will be the first Games since 1998 to not have the NHL partake.
The icy snafu started when the NHL began pushing the IOC to bankroll transpiration and insurance costs for its players, on top of apparently wanting in on the Games' marketing action.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman (pictured above, announcing the pre-season games in Beijing this week) isn't optimistic about the prospects of such a deal, saying "there are no negotiations ongoing" with Olympic officials, adding: "as things stand now people should assume we are not going."
If the Korean Games go forward without NHL players, and IOC officials decide they can do without the league and its steep demands, then the NHL's future in China as both a commercial enterprise and a player in the 2022 Games appears to be on thin ice. That proves to be a massive incentive for Bettman to cave and make a deal, according to a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation op-ed that, along with player and sponsor pressures among other reasons, says Bettman won't be able to hold out and miss out on 2018.
Its author notes: "The fact that the 2022 Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing presents an untapped revenue opportunity for the hockey world. The NHL would be nuts not to be there if it has designs on reaching the massive Chinese market."
For now though, the IOC seems content to let the NHL and Chinese hockey proponents sweat it out and run the clock down, like the team in the lead in the last period of a crucial game. China's hockey diehards should make vigorous arrangements to attend the NHL's pre-season games, however, just in case they prove to be an anomaly as the NHL sinks its chances to agree with the IOC and in essence sit out the biggest scoring opportunity imaginable, like a petulant player stuck in the penalty box.
Photo: Reuters
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