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I agree that the current model is not working for them, but that doesn't mean that every system except a salary cap will not work. The salary cap is the most socialistic model ever discussed in sports.

As I said, the players have proposed some innovative ideas that would place some serious limits on spending (unlike MLB limits that don't deter George Steinbrenner). Moreover, the players were willing to take a 25% pay cut across the board, and then were going to agree to spending limits on top of that.

There is still a lot of money to be made in hockey. It does not approach anywhere near the level football does, but that does not mean it cannot function w/o a salary cap. The television contract is not as big, but they do take in more money in ticket revenue. (although stadium capacity is 1/3, they have 41 v. 8 home games per year + comparable ticket prices)

The salary cap is not socialistic. The Yankees do not compete against the Red Sox. They compete against Desperate Housewives and Six Flags and the new Star Wars movie. The Yankees benefit from the existence of the Royals and the Twins, but none of those teams receives any cut of the cable money that the Yankees receive from their exclusive market position. If you want to argue that the salary cap is bad, that's fine, but you have to allow teams to relocate to New Jersey, Long Island, Connecticut and Manhattan. Considering true market forces, there should be about 7 teams in the NY metro area.

The salary cap is the most socialistic model ever discussed in sports.

That's absolutely true, but there's something to keep in mind here: The unique nature of competitive sports is such that "normal" economic principles cannot be applied to a professional sports league.

In the auto industry, the predatory nature of competition works just fine. If Ford and General Motors can't keep up with Toyota and Honda, then the first two will lose market share to the latter two. Under a worst-case scenario, the first two may even go out of business. Such is the nature of capitalism.

The problem in sports is that the competition is the product, which means all of the teams in a league must walk a very fine line -- they have to adhere to souond business practices and function in a normal competitive manner from a financial perspective, but at the same time they must ensure that their competitors remain, well, competitive!

I'm not a huge fan of a salary cap in general terms, but there is no question that a league comprised of teams with disproportionate levels of financial strength does not have a strong future.