THE CANADIAN PRESS
Nobody knows how many teams there’ll be or how many games will be played, but the National Lacrosse League season has been saved.
The NLL and the Professional Lacrosse Players’ Association have announced that they’ve agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement for seven years, with either side able to opt out after five years if it so chooses.
The PLPA executive approved the deal Wednesday night and the board of governors ratified it Thursday afternoon, but it won’t become official until the players vote on it.
"Reaching a long-term collective bargaining agreement with the players was our number one priority in this process," commissioner Jim Jennings said in a release. "We’ve been building positive growth in the league over the past few years.
"Securing long-term labour peace puts us in a position to take our league to the next level."
The $21,294 capped veteran salary and the $25,552 capped franchise player salary — each team can have a maximum of two franchise players — will increase five per cent next season, while the $6,880 rookie and $9,282 second-year maximum will increase by six per cent.
The previous three-year CBA expired last July. The governors of the 14 teams cancelled the season Oct. 16 when no agreement was reached before the league-imposed deadline the previous night, but negotiations were revived last week when governors urged Jennings to renew talks.
Union executive Dave Succamore said it could three days to a week to complete a vote by players, but that is scene as a formality now.
"Hopefully, if it gives the league a little more stability and they can get things going in the right direction and if it makes the league grow, then it may be good," Succamore said of the new CBA. "But time will tell."
Players were elated with the news.
"I’m a very happy man," said Toronto Rock forward Josh Sanderson. "With the cancellation, we’d have been taking a step backwards.
"Everybody would have been disappointed. Now it appears both sides got a fair deal and we can keep taking the sport to the next level."
The season was originally set to begin Dec. 27. Some teams released arena dates so a new schedule is required. It is expected to be released next week.
Regardless, the players now look forward to the start of practices in about three weeks.
"Both sides figured a way to get it done and we’re all happy about that," Sanderson said.
Calgary Roughnecks forward Lewis Ratcliff voiced similar sentiments.
"It couldn’t be a better situation for not only myself but for the sport," said Ratcliff. "Missing a year would not only be bad personally for me but for lacrosse in general.
"I’m ecstatic they’ve figured something out and we’ll continue to play and the league will continue to grow. I was pretty excited when I read the (PLPA) e-mail (Wednesday night) that we’re going to be able to play." .
Jennings couldn’t say during a conference call with the media what teams will be on the new schedule.
"We don’t know which teams will participate," he said. "We don’t know how many games will be played.
"There are too many variables up in the air right now. We’re going to assess each market, each team, and see which ones will be able to play. We’ll look at arena availability and that will determine how many games will be played.
"Some teams held onto their dates hoping something could be resurrected. Some arena dates were released right away. Everybody had a different story."
Jennings insisted that the Oct. 16 cancellation announcement was not a ploy.
"No, it wasn’t," he said. "For all intents and purposes, the season was cancelled.
"It was dead as it could be. The owners gave me the authority to pick up the phone (last Friday) and make one last-ditch effort."
After weekend talks with the PLPA, he updated the governors on Monday.
"Our owners said, `Jim, you’ve got two days."’
It all worked out in the end.
The PLPA says the NLL owes it $870,000 through a revenue sharing provision in the old deal. The NLL disagrees and Jennings says the matter will be taken to an arbitrator.