NHL Players Association Executive Director Marty Walsh (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
In an extensive one-on-one interview with RG, the current NHLPA Executive Director and former US Secretary of Labor, Marty Walsh, addressed numerous topics as he continues to meet with his constituents and prepare for CBA talks that are expected to begin in 2025.
How has the job been so far?
“It’s been great so far,” Walsh told RG. “Getting to know these players is so easy because hockey players are very humble. There are not many egos, and they want to be the best they can on and off the ice. Many are married now - some are young, some are older - and it’s been great getting to know them. I’m on my second fall tour meeting with our players and team reps, and I’ve met plenty of players not just on the tours but individually, too. Throughout this experience, I’ve done my best to get to know every player in the league. I told them that when they interviewed me for this job, you have to know your membership to be an effective leader."
My relationship with the league has also been going well.
"We’re obviously dealing in a non-collective bargaining position now, and it’s obviously easier when you’re dealing with nothing really on the line, but it’s been a good learning experience. One of the things I want to do is grow hockey, and the players have asked me to do that with the different relationships I have. So, I’ve been working with the league on this because, on the business side, there should be a lot of mutual agreement on how we can grow the game of hockey.
On the other hand, obviously you’re going to have disagreements. You’re going to have disagreements over arbitrations, over grievances, and things like that. That’s the nature of the business, but on the business side, we should really be going in the same direction and trying to grow the game.”
On The Same Page As The NHL?
Do you share Bill Daly’s optimism on the current state of the game after COVID?
“Absolutely!” Walsh said. “As I said, the players want to be the best players they can be on the ice, but they obviously understand the importance of growth for the league and the sport. Last season’s revenues were the best in the history of the league. The viewership was up, the ticket sales were up, and sponsorships were starting to increase again, and when you think about all of that going in the right direction, how can you not be optimistic?"
"We have the Four Nations tournament and the Olympics, and we’re working on a World Cup agreement. So we’re going to have this best-on-best, international tournament play every two years for at least the next ten years. That’s great for the players, the league, and the fans. That grows the game tremendously."
What is the potential negative effect of TV contracts, streaming, and some fans not being able to watch their team:
“First and foremost, it affects the fans, and we need to focus on that. Obviously, for the health of the NHL and revenue, it’s great that the NHL is on TNT, ESPN, and Rogers,” Walsh pointed out.
“Those are moving forward, and in the next couple of years, they’ll be up for renegotiation. Amazon also recently took Monday night hockey in Canada. I think streaming obviously is the way sports are going. Football just did it, and basketball just cut a big deal. So, I think that on the streaming end of it, there’s no way to stop that in sports, and there will be no way to stop it in hockey. On the local level, I think it’s really important that we figure out a way to make sure that local games are still carried in local markets.
You need that to grow the game, and it’s the right thing to do.
It does affect HRR, but let’s put that aside for a second here. It impacts the game overall, and you really need to make sure that you’re bringing the game to the cities and states that teams are in, as well as the surrounding states. So, it’s an issue that we must keep an eye on. Thankfully, the Bally situation worked itself out, but Bally’s is not alone there. When you have Amazon coming in and taking a game a week from a network for any sport, that’s a big loss to those networks and big TV deals. So, obviously, we’re concerned about how it affects HRR, but it also impacts the growth of the game, which is even bigger than the short-term HRR in that regard.”
2026 CBA Talks In Play
What are key issues right now as we head towards a new CBA in 2026?
“Well, look, we’re doing the fall tour now, so we’ll gather information, input, and opinions now and evaluate when the time comes,” Walsh said. “But Gary [Bettman] and I have had conversations about entering into a CBA negotiation earlier than in 2026. We’ve explained this to the players, and no player has said no to that. So, now we’re asking players to think about what we want to discuss for the next Collective Bargaining Agreement. It’s too early to get into specifics on what the wish list would be, but I do think as these meetings with teams go on and probably by early winter, we’ll have a better idea of what the players would like to see changed in the Collective Bargaining agreement.”
Do you think it’s fair that owners receive 100 percent of expansion fees and the players receive nothing?
“I mean, that’s obviously been the way it’s always been so. …” Walsh replied. “I haven’t had a conversation with Gary Bettman about that. On the positive side, there have been two cities in Las Vegas and Seattle that have recently had very successful expansion processes, and that’s great for the game, obviously. Utah isn’t technically an expansion team, but you can still look at it that way, and they’re selling out every game."
So, yes, it’s great in that respect, but the players, in terms of HRR, have never benefited from that, and the owners' profit number has gone up in a big way, every time we’ve had expansion.
“The owners are obviously not going to say, ‘OK guys, come on in, we want to share this with you, but I’m sure it will be a conversation at some point,” Walsh acknowledged.
“It may be a short conversation, but it will be a conversation,” Walsh quipped.
“Look, maybe we can get creative and somehow have it benefit retired players, but again, the problem is, once you don’t have a benefit, or you lose a benefit, it’s hard to get it back in negotiations,” Walsh pointed out. “Look, I can’t speak to why we haven’t had a cut in the past, but maybe they did fight for it, and I haven’t had the conversations with my predecessors to ask.”
James Murphy
