• by Wayne Friedman , July 14, 2005

The National Hockey League may have ended its yearlong lockout with its players, but many problems remain. One of them includes making good some of its league sponsors.

Sports analysts expect major league sponsors such as McDonalds Corp., Anheuser-Busch, DaimlerChrysler, Mastercard International, Southwest Airlines, and Nextel to perhaps renegotiate their deals, lowering some yearly license fees by 25 percent or even 50 percent for next season. At the top end, NHL sponsors pay anywhere from $8 million to $20 million per year as league sponsors.

"Sponsors have taken some financial hits," says one media agency executive who buys sports programming. "They could get rebates of anywhere up to a half of their sponsorship fees."

The league announced the agreement in principle on Wednesday. But details won't be released until the deal is approved by players and the NHL's board of governors. That is scheduled for next week.

Several months ago, the league advised clubs to avoid refunding any money to its local sponsors unless 25 percent of the season is cancelled. Instead of returning cash to those sponsors, the league was telling teams to reduce their rights fee for the 2005-06 season.

Last fall, on the eve of the lockout, the league signed several league sponsors to long-term extensions. Others, such as Best Buy, Sirius Satellite Radio and Home Depot Canada, came aboard as first-time sponsors. Phone calls to NHL executives were not returned by press time.

Only NBC remains as the league's TV partner, which was in its first season of its contract with NHL. As opposed to paying a traditional license fee, NBC has a joint venture with the league in which it shares profits.

Several months ago, ESPN became angry at the long lockout that caused a cancellation of last season and optioned out of its contract. The NHL doesn't have a cable TV partner as yet.