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The current battle over who should have the rights to purchase the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes (Jim Basillie or the NHL) has dominated hockey news from the summer, to the preseason, and isn’t going away with the start of the regular season on October 1. The issue has been taken to bankruptcy court, where a single person – unaffected by the issue – will rule on the decision. Here we must ask, who is being left out of the decision making process, and why? Amongst the flying spittle of lawyers, judges and CEOs, the voices of the players and communities affected by the outcome remain unheard. So, why aren’t we surprised? Because it’s long been known that major league hockey has been commodified, and is a far cry from its community roots.
In an essay included in the recently-published Canada’s Game, (mentioned here, and here) Julian Ammirante discusses the political economy of hockey and “the fragile empire” that is the NHL. He argues that Hockey players – the workers – have organized themselves into the National Hockey League Players Association – a union. From there, they have been able to disrupt the NHL, as seen by the 2004 Lockout. Part of their organizing has meant an ability to “decrease the rate of surplus value of their labour” and work towards a democratic restructuring of production and consumption. In this sense, the NHLPA can be viewed as a turn toward hockey’s community roots.
Ammirante goes on to explore the intricacies of the impact of capitalism on hockey, or rather, the basic economics of hockey as a commodity. He ties the transformations that have taken place in NHL hockey, to the transformations of global capitalism It is argued that as hockey has become intertwined with profit, large investors have “increasingly put their own interests ahead of the game, regardless of the interests of the fans” (203). Ammirante concludes that “something is wrong with major-league sports …the NHL in particular, along with society’s current relationship to it” (204). Given the case of the Phoenix Coyotes, it is hard to disagree; many might agree that the NHL requires systems of reform to compromise between the business of the sport and the integrity of the game.
Resisting the commodification of hockey is possible. While it is hard to imagine the NHL as a de-corporatized body, sports should be “different from other commodities that are produced and sold in the marketplace” (203). Hockey is a fundamental part of Canadian culture and communities rally around it from coast to coast; Ammirante suggests that sports should belong to communities, as their fostering of young athletes is central to the creation of professional athletes. Continuing his radical evaluation, Ammirante proposes that organizations, such as the NHL, should be “structured along non-profit and revenue-sharing lines. However, such a scheme would demand a serious evaluation of capitalist ideology not only in relation to sports but also in relation to economic and political power” (205).
Perhaps this is too idealistic, however Ammirante’s optimism should be applauded. The Basillie–Bettman battle proves that the NHL requires some serious re-grounding and overhaul. Hopefully when this happens, the hockey that grew on backyard rinks and frozen ponds, will find a place at the centre ice of million dollar arenas.
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