2008 indoor-lacrosse season is canceled

Got Philadelphia Wings indoor-lacrosse tickets? If so, we've got bad news.

The 2008 National Lacrosse League season was canceled Tuesday.

Because the league's 14 owners and the players' union failed to resolve a long-simmering labor dispute, there will be no pro indoor lacrosse at the Wachovia Center for, well, no one knows how long.

So don't show up for the Wings' Jan. 12 season and home opener.

"It's tragic," said Russ Cline, the Wings' president and owner, a member of the NLL executive committee and one of the league's founders 21 years ago.

"It's a black day," said Dave Succamore, the executive director of the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association.

"The fans get hurt the most," said Rocco Granato, a longtime Wings season-ticket holder.

There is no resolution in sight. Cline said the owners would convene in the next few weeks to work on a deal for 2009. Succamore said the union, which rejected the league's final offer, has "a duty to continue negotiations."

"The plan is to take the season off and try to get with the union and negotiate a deal that works for both parties and get back playing in '09," NLL commissioner Jim Jennings said.

But there are no guarantees.

"Both sides have to give something," Granato said. "If they don't, who knows what could happen."

A spokeswoman for the Wings said their 5,000 season-ticket holders will receive full refunds and can expect a communication Wednesday. The Wings had a 16-game schedule, with eight games at the Wachovia Center. They averaged 12,500 fans last season.

Comcast-Spectacor spokesman Ike Richman said the Wachovia Center does not expect to have difficulty substituting events for the eight canceled games.

Money is the main sticking point. Cline said the league was losing an average of $750,000 per team per season. The Wings, Cline said, lost $500,000 last season and have not made money for the last three years.

"We're not the NFL. We have to pay to be on TV," he said.

Succamore, a former NLL player, said some owners were diverting their revenue to avoid showing a profit. "But we really don't know," he said, "since not all of them are giving us full disclosure."

The disagreement goes back years. Cline said the league and players' union have had four agreements in the last seven years and worked the last two years on the old contract and without a formal agreement.

"We got to the point where we had to take a drastic step," Cline said. "We couldn't convince the players how fragile the league is."

According to Cline, players' salaries range from $13,000 to $75,000, with the higher salaries being a combination of base pay and fees paid to top stars for appearances and other contributions to the team.

Succamore said that the players - 21 per team - haven't received significant raises in years and that none of the teams was even close to the $500,000 salary cap.

Cline said the teams have failed to reach revenue thresholds that automatically would divert money to the players. Succamore said those thresholds have been reached, but the teams will not make that fact public.

Another issue is free agency. Succamore said the old agreement, which allowed players to become unrestricted free agents at 32, means that players who enter the league at 19 or 20 have no leverage for more than a decade.

"And if they put the franchise tag on you, they can keep you in perpetuity," Succamore said.

Cline said the teams need the financial stability that unrestricted free agency would erase.

Granato, a 42-year-old customer-service representative for a medical lab, said both sides were at fault.

"Why did they wait until a month before training camp to get to this point?" he said.

Said Wings forward Jeff Ratcliffe, "No one wanted the season to be canceled."

On the bright side, Granato said, he can spend the money he will get back from his season tickets on his coming wedding.

"But next year," he said. "I'll be back watching lacrosse. I hope."