NHL Borrows $1 Billion to Split Between Teams

The NHL has reportedly borrowed $1 billion to provide financial support for teams. This will be divided amongst the 31 teams which mean each team can borrow up to $30 million dollars. The teams can borrow this money if they have any financial problems. The lenders of this fund could not be identified and the league denied to comment on this.

Gary Bettman who is the commissioner of the National Hockey League hinted that the league would need to borrow money to fund the teams. Bettman said, “We have made some financial arrangements that make sure our cash flow is what it needs to be, although that’s not found money, that’s debt.”

NHL financial issues

The Covid-19 Pandemic halted the remainder 2019-2020 hockey season. This hiatus forced the season to end later on in the year, which means the 2020-2021 season started later too. This hiatus was a large financial loss for the NHL. The league lost billions of dollars because of Covid-19, but this loan will help keeps teams afloat.

The Pandemic brought upon a lot of economic problems for many industries including sports. Sports leagues and teams are losing a large chunk of their revenue due to the challenges Covid-19 brings to the world of sports. The NHL borrowing $1 billion for their teams shows the severity of the financial troubles they are in because of Covid-19.