TORONTO: A face-to-face meeting between top officials from the NHL and NHL Players' Association wasn't enough to break their labor stalemate.
The sides spent almost five hours together on Monday going over accounting for last season, but didn't emerge with any plan to resume negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement to end the lockout.
The topic wasn't even raised, according to representatives from each group.
Nine days into the lockout, negotiations remain on hold with owners and players entrenched in their positions.
“Obviously, we've got to talk before you can get a deal, so I think it's important to get the talks going again,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. “But you also have to have something to say. I think it's fair to say we feel like we need to hear from the players' association in a meaningful way because I don't think that they've really moved off their initial proposal, which was made more than a month ago.”
Steve Fehr, the NHLPA's special counsel, declined comment following the meeting.
NHLPA head Donald Fehr and commissioner Gary Bettman didn't attend the meeting, but they were expected to see each other at an NHL alumni dinner on Monday night. Daly suggested they might discuss a timeline then for resuming talks.
The sides last sat down together on Sept. 12, when the union presented a proposal that was quickly countered by the league. Neither offer moved talks closer to an agreement, and the NHL locked out the players three days later.
Not only are the sides far apart on financial issues — they are roughly $1 billion apart based on the latest proposals — but they have also failed to find agreement on the process.
While the league has remained adamant about the need for the sides to discuss only the economic system that governs the sport, the union has said it would be willing to continue negotiations on the other aspects of the agreement that need to be worked out.
In the meantime, players have started predicting it will be another prolonged lockout. New York Rangers forward Rick Nash told a Swiss reporter last week that the work stoppage could last an entire year, and Detroit Red Wings forward Danny Cleary repeated that sentiment after an informal skate on Monday.
“Just trying to be realistic,” Cleary told the Detroit Free Press. “I think the league is waiting for us to make the move, and we're waiting for them to move. So someone has to move. And I don't see it coming from our end.
“We've given them a couple of good options that they can work with, and they, obviously, feel it's not good enough.”
Daly isn't willing to entertain the notion that another season could be lost as was the case when a lockout caused the cancelation of the entire 2004-05 campaign.
The NHL has already called off all preseason games in September, but Daly said he is hopeful an agreement can be reached in time to start the regular season as scheduled on Oct. 11.
“I'm hoping that some of (the players') pessimism is almost an intentional pessimism because certainly that's not where our mindset is,” Daly said. “We don't want an extended work stoppage, we don't want to miss any regular-season games. That's going to be our mindset until we have to cancel some.”
There was one piece of good news for the players Monday. Daly indicated they will likely end up receiving almost all of the 8.5 percent in salary that was held back from them last season in escrow - guaranteeing at least one decent payday next month.
They are due to receive the first of 13 pay checks for the upcoming season on Oct. 15, but that appears less and less likely with each day that passes without meaningful negotiations.
Still, Daly believes the sides are “light years” ahead of where they found themselves in 2004, when three months went by after the beginning of the lockout before talks started.
“We've been talking within the same framework, we've had a lot of discussions about a lot of ground in a lot of the other areas we need to,” he said. “But obviously we still have a financial divide we have to find out how to bridge.”
Daly hopes NHL labor talks will resume this week
Daly hopes NHL labor talks will resume this week
Royal Rumble set for historic Saudi debut as fan demand breaks records
- KAFD Arena built in record time for flagship pro wrestling event
- More than 700,000 fans queued on WeBook at ticket release
RIYADH: Professional wrestling has long been a polarising spectacle. Whether labelled a sport, an art for or a scripted show, one thing is now clear: WWE has captured the Saudi market in unprecedented fashion over the past decade.
Originally the home of marquee events outside WWE’s traditional “Big Four” Premium Live Events, such as Crown Jewel, Saudi Arabia quickly became a yearly fixture on the global wrestling calendar after the Saudi General Sports Authority struck a 10-year deal with the company.
2025, however, saw a landmark announcement. For the first time in history, one of WWE’s “Big Four”, the Royal Rumble, would be staged outside North America. Riyadh was confirmed as the host city, with the event headlined by the iconic 30-man and 30-woman Royal Rumble matches, where competitors enter at timed intervals until only one remains.
Months later, WWE confirmed another historic first: Wrestlemania would also make its way to Saudi Arabia, with the 43rd edition set to be held in the Kingdom in 2027.
For local fans, the moment is still difficult to comprehend. Nawaf Al-Hazmi, President of the Voltage Team Fans Association, the world’s first wrestling clan, described the journey as nothing short of surreal.
“If you told me 10 years ago that Wrestlemania would be hosted in Saudi Arabia, I would have laughed,” he said.
“We saw the ‘Greatest Royal Rumble’ take place here in 2018 with 50 wrestlers, but this is the real deal. The Royal Rumble. You see the crowds, they love wrestling here.”
Al-Hazmi is one of the pioneers of wrestling culture in Saudi Arabia and leads the Voltage Team Wrestling Clan, which has grown to more than 1,100 members in the past few years.
“If you see the Tiktok videos ranking the best wrestling crowds in WWE history, Saudi Arabia is always part of the top five,” he said. “In Saudi, we are passionate about various sports — football, F1 — and the same can be said for pro wrestling.”
One of the biggest talking points after WWE’s deal with Saudi Arabia was centred on whether a genuine fan base existed, but Al-Hazmi claims wrestling culture has long been part of Saudi Arabia.
“My father, my grandfather — have watched wrestling for a long time,” he admitted. “From Hulk Hogan to The Ultimate Warrior to Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts. Wrestling has always been part of our culture.”
The passion was reflected in the demand for the Royal Rumble, with more than 700,000 fans waiting in a virtual queue on WeBook when tickets were released.
“In Saudi Arabia, everyone loves wrestling. The passion of the fans is unbelievable,” Al-Hazmi expressed.
The event has also dominated social media discussion due to the rapid construction of the newly unveiled KAFD Arena. After weeks of speculation over the venue, WeBook confirmed the arena would host both Smackdown and the Royal Rumble itself.
“When KAFD Arena was announced, people were surprised,” Al-Hazmi said. “Where would it be? Inside KAFD? How would it work?”
Less than a month later, the venue was complete.
“People on social media thought it was a joke,” he added. “But now you see the stadium, the backdrop. In Saudi Arabia, nothing is impossible.”
The growth of wrestling in Saudi Arabia has not been limited to WWE. Saudi Pro Wrestling (SPW), part of the famous independent wrestling scene, has also seen a sharp rise in interest.
“At our last show, we sold out 400 tickets,” Al-Hazmi said. “We have more than 20 superstars on the roster, over 50 wrestlers training at the academy and even international names coming from the UK, the US and Mexico. Kalisto, a former WWE superstar, is currently one half of the SPW Tag Team Champions.”
The Royal Rumble will take place on January 31, preceded by Smackdown on January 30. Stars including highly popular Sami Zayn will battle for the WWE Undisputed Championship, while Cody Rhodes, Rey Mysterio and Roman Reigns are among the names set to enter the Men's Royal Rumble match.
It has been a long and, at times, controversional journey for professional wrestling in Saudi Arabia. Yet the response from the fans has delivered a clear message: when it comes to hosting the sport’s biggest spectacles, few places can now rival the Kingdom.
