The big clubs are ready to completely scrap the current league system.
At the end of the week, the background excitement of the SM League took a whole new step and level. Fed up with the league’s series system and license system, the big clubs got together and sent a letter to the League under the leadership of Tappara on Friday.
The letter talked about a very serious matter. Big clubs want to scrap the existing license system.
According to information from Iltalehti, an image has emerged among the clubs that, according to some interpretations, the activities of the SM league can at worst even meet the hallmarks of a cartel.
According to the information, the big clubs have approached the Liiga management with a letter on Friday. In the management of many clubs, it is expected that the management of the League will appear and lead the discussion. Inka Soveri
Be the first to report on the game movement of major clubs on Friday Hämeen Sanomat. Iltalehti has also investigated the matter from its own sources and received additional information about the pattern.
It’s no longer about the usual petty bickering and bickering between clubs and the league. There is now a really tough game going on, which can even break up the SM league in its current form.
Restricting competition?
At the heart of it all is changing the entire series system of the SM League in such a way that more clubs would be able to operate financially profitably and Finnish clubs would remain athletically competitive against the Swiss and Swedes.
At the moment, behind the scenes, a new type of league format has been on the table the most, where there would be 10 teams in the main league and 10–12 teams in the second tier.
In a broader sense, the rebellion driven by the big clubs can break up the entire SM league in its current form. According to information received by Iltalehti, more and more medium-sized clubs are joining the journey of the big ones.
The clubs have found legal support for their scandal. There have been doubts in the air from legal experts that the league’s shareholders’ agreement may, in certain parts, meet the hallmarks of competition restriction, abuse of a dominant market position or, in extreme cases, even cartel-like activity.
The management of TuTo, which is applying for a league license, said this week for MTV, that the club has received support from a group of experts during the application process. It suggested that Liiga might be guilty of abusing its dominant market position in share pricing.
The league clubs are afraid that they will be seen as operating in a series that fulfills the hallmarks of a cartel.
Deep silence
Is the current license system coming to an end? Jaakko Stenroos / AOP
Tampere’s Tappara is known to be the most active club in the matter. The long-time chairman of the major club’s background company Tamhockey oy Heikki Penttilä is, according to Iltalehti’s information, heavily involved in working on the clubs’ counterattack.
During Friday and Saturday, Iltalehti reached out to several board chairmen of the league clubs’ background companies. The targeted puck bosses were not willing to talk about it. Penttil could not be reached.
It tells you how sensitive and big the issue is.
CEO of the league Mikko Pulkkinen declined an interview request Saturday.
– I have always been against the expansion of the league. Ever since the Jokerit left for the KHL. At that time, we should have thought about these issues in more detail, stated the chairman of the board of Tapparaa Mikko Leinonen For Iltalehti on November 2.
It seems that the change in domestic league hockey has started, and it can no longer be stopped. Behind the scenes, the main thing to wait for is when the SM League admits the matter, gathers the shareholders and representatives of the Ice Hockey Federation around the same table and starts open discussions about the future.
The big clubs want to build the future league format and revenue distribution issues thoroughly new. The hard behind-the-scenes game of the clubs can speed up the operations of the league decision-makers.