Dare to compare: so the NHL wants to be considered among the big boys? A look at how the frozen league matches up

The NHL owners want the cost certainty that exists in other sports; the NHLPA wants players to earn as much as they can. But, really, how does the NHL compare with other leagues? Can it afford a protracted labor war? We crunched some serious numbers to find answers.

NHL

Teams: 30

Players per team: 23

CBA expired: September 15, 2004

Highest-paid player: $11 million, Jaromir Jail Rangers

Average salary: $1.81 million

Most valuable franchise: Rangers, $282 million

Average payroll: $41 6 million

Players' share of revenue: 75 percent

League revenue: $2 billion

Average attendance: 16,533 (includes record crowd of 57.167 at outdoor game in Edmonton)

Salary cap: None

Payroll tax: None

TV deal: TV revenues from national contracts in the U.S. and Canada are shared equally; last season, that was about $4 million per team. As for the new deal signed with NBC. "If the NHL sees a penny from NBC, it's only because the guys at NBC are good guys", a FOX executive told Alan Hahn of Newsday.

TV audience: 1.1 rating on ABC. 0.47 on, ESPN and 0.24 on ESPN2

Revenue sharing: 10 percent

Free-agent system: Players become restricted after their first entry level contract, unrestricted after turning 31 if they have at least four years of NHL experience.

Rookie system: 2004 draft picks had a rookie cap of $1.295 million and can't sign anything longer than a three-year deal; excessive and easy to-attain performance bonuses have made the cap ineffective.

Is it working? We wouldn't take up this kind of valuable editorial real estate if it were. The NHL has to get its act together financially to have a shot at fulfilling the promise it had in the early 1990s. Select owners are to blame for letting the percentage of revenue designated to salaries get so far out of control, but the players have to realize their league can't bear salaries in the same ballpark as those of other pro athletes. To think otherwise means pricing the fans out of the rink--fans already are near the breaking point-and therefore alienating the core revenue stream. Once the snowball gets rolling down the hill, it's hard to stop,

MLB

Teams: 30

Players per team: 25

CBA expires: December 17, 2006

Highest-paid player: $22.5 million, Manny Ramirez, Red Sox

Average salary: $2.5 million

Most valuable franchise: Yankees, $$32 million

Average payroll: $68.1 million

Players' share of revenue: 63 percent

MLB revenue: $4.1 billion

Average attendance: 30.401

Salary cap: None

Payroll tax: In 2004, first offenders were taxed 22.5 percent for anything above $120.5 million: second offenders paid 30 percent.

TV deal: The league has a six-year, $2.5 billion deal with FOX through 2006 and a six-year. $851 million deal with ESPN through 2005.

TV audience: 2.7 rating on FOX, 1.1 on ESPN and 0.6 on ESPN2

Revenue sharing: 34 percent of local revenue, including gate receipts, is shared equally among the teams.

Free-agent system: Players who have six or more seasons of experience become unrestricted after their contracts expire.

Rookie system: None

Is it working? Revenue sharing has made the playing field more level, but the Yankees still are regarded as the epitome of the free-spending, darn-the-consequences buyers gone wild who have become the bane et pro sports. Small-market franchises struggle to make ends meet and compete at a high level. The owners want a salary cap: the players do not (So this is where the NHL got its model.) But when you're as popular and as entrenched in American society as baseball, you can pretty much do whatever you want It's the free-market system in action, baby!

NBA

Teams: 30

Players per team: 15 (12 active)

CBA expires: June 30, 2005

Highest-paid player: $29.5 million, Shaquille O'Neal, Heat

Average salary: $4.92 million

Most valuable franchise: takers, $447 million

Average payroll: $59 million

Players' share of revenue: 57 percent

League revenue: $3.1 billion

Average attendance: 17,050

Salary cap: A complex system of sliding caps is the base. Effectively, the soft cap for 2003-04 was $43.9 million, extending to an average of $59 million after free-agent exceptions.

Payroll tax: Teams are taxed one dollar for each dollar over $54.6 million, but only if leaguewide salaries exceed a specific percentage of revenue.

TV deal: A six-year, $4.6 billion deal with ABC, ESPN and TNT brings each team $25.5 million each season.

TV audience: 2.4 rating on ABC, 1.3 on ESPN, 0.9 on ESPN2 and 1.4 on TNT

Revenue sharing: 35 percent of total revenues

Free-agent system: Players are eligible for contract extensions after three years, become restricted free agents after four (they can be unrestricted if the team does not pick up the option) and are unrestricted after five.

Rookie system: Fixed three-year contracts for first-round picks are figured on a sliding scale based on where players were selected in the draft; contracts have two option years, though the second rarely is used.

Is it working? Definitely. Teams have cut back on player salaries, but the cap exceptions have kept the league's middle class happy, The league is going into the current negotiations with the upper hand. The sport is popular and thriving, which is the point. The NBA is the new NBA!