While rejecting a trio of labor proposals from the NHL Players Association Thursday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman also sounded an alarm for the Jan. 1 Winter Classic.

The outdoor game between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs is expected to attract a record crowd of 115,000 at Michigan Stadium.

A two-week Winter Festival at Comerica Park will precede the event and feature AHL, college, junior, high school, youth and amateur games, in addition to two alumni games. And the league would receive a lot of exposure from HBO's popular behind-the-scenes 24/7 series.

But, that's only if the league and the players strike a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement soon. And time is wasting.

"The issue is, and I know there's been a lot more of 24/7 and, in particular, the Winter Classic, it takes a lot of time and it takes the commitment of a lot of money in order to put on the Winter Classic,'' Bettman said Thursday during a news conference updating CBA talks in Toronto. "We're going to have to go back and revisit, but my understanding is at some point in the not-too-distant future we will have to commit many millions of dollars if we're going to play the Winter Classic on Jan. 1.

“Obviously, under these circumstances and all the uncertainty, we're not going to commit many millions of dollars if we don't think we're going to have a (labor) deal. And so the Winter Classic time frame in terms of making that decision is probably rapidly approaching.

“That's a discussion I'm going to have to have internally to see when those commitments actually have to be made.''

Two people familiar with the situation told MLive.com that the Red Wings believe Nov. 20 is the drop-dead date for getting a labor deal in place to save the Winter Classic and all the festivities leading up to it.

The league can't afford to wait longer than that because of the time needed to construct two outdoor rinks and the financial commitment involved.

Follow Ansar Khan on Twitter at twitter.com/AnsarKhanMLive and like MLive.com's Red Wings page on Facebook.



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