NHL Waiting on IOC to Make PyeongChang Decision

(ATR) National Hockey League officials continue to discuss 2018 Olympic participation without a deadline in mind.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daley told Around the Rings that discussions between the NHL and NHL Players Association remain ongoing, but no timetable remains to make a decision. Daley said the last meeting between the NHL and the NHLPA took place on Dec. 19.

"Olympic participation was one of many items discussed," Daley said in a statement to ATR. "The discussions were more in the form of a status report and no resolutions were reached."

Daley declined to say there is an official deadline that the NHL is working with to make a decision. He said the NHL will announce its position on PyeongChang "when required by the IOC and/or the [International Ice Hockey Federation]."

In October, IOC director general Christophe Dubi told reporters in PyeongChang that the IOC requires a decision by Jan. 15. Requests for comment from the IOC and the IIHF about if the Jan. 15 deadline remains in place were not returned. The IOC offices are closed until Jan. 9 for the holiday season.

NHL officials visited the ice hockey arenas in Gangneung for a final site visit in October ahead of a decision.

The NHL has participated in each Winter Olympic Games since 1998 in Nagano. Discussions over participation in the 2014 Games in Sochi were stalled over which body would pay for travel and insurance costs for NHL players. The IOC ultimately paid the insurance costs in 2014 but has remained steadfast in its refusal to cover these costs for the 2018 edition.

The latest sentiment from NHL owners signaled that the league would not shut down to allow player participation in PyeongChang. IIHF president Rene Fasel has been working behind the scenes to bring NHL players to South Korea. In his last projection he said the chances of NHL participation were around 50-50.

Fasel met with international federations earlier this month to discuss a financing plan to bring NHL players to Korea. International media reports said the financing plan could include funding from national federations.

If the NHL does not attend the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics, it could hurt television ratingsfor a Winter Games struggling to market itself internationally. The NHL will also work to avoid alienating the IOC and IIHF if it passes on allowing player participation. The next Winter Olympics are set for Beijing, seen as a lucrative market to ice hockey officials. Participation in Beijing is not reportedly tied to participation in PyeongChang.

Written by Aaron Bauer

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