Many of us are probably starting to wonder if there are any limits to the endless greed that has permeated professional sports.
The NHL lockout is well into its second week and there isn’t any reason to believe there will be any games – exhibition or regular season – played any time soon.
Across the border in Alberta, Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz – the owner of the Rexall pharmacy empire and one of the richest men in Canada – is again threatening to move the hockey club if he doesn’t receive more taxpayer money and concessions from Edmonton’s city council to subsidize a sparkling new downtown arena.
Katz had already secured a sweetheart deal several months ago, where local taxpayers would be on the hook for all but $125 million of the proposed $450 million building. However, Katz and his business cronies appeared before Edmonton council two weeks ago asking for more cash as the proposed costs on the building had skyrocketed.
The man obviously has no shame and absolutely no consideration for the hockey fans in Edmonton or local taxpayers.
Katz continues to threaten to move the Oilers if he doesn’t get the further concessions and taxpayer dollars he demands.
His request is even more outlandish when you read the details of the proposed deal with the City of Edmonton as Katz will basically own and operate the building for 11 months of the year and reap in most of the profits, while Oilers fans will not only pay for the majority of the building, but have to pay an extra seat tax for years to come to again line the pockets of one of Canada’s richest men.
The NHL lockout has, once again, pitted a group of multi-millionaires and billionaires (owners) against more than 600 millionaires who belong to the NHL Players Association.
Eight years after the NHL became the only professional sports league in the North American history to lose an entire season to a labour dispute, the battle lines have once again been drawn and it appears there’s little to no chance of the current lockout ending any time in the near future.
Without taking sides, the bottom line is professional hockey is being denigrated by greed.
NHL players and supporters argue their careers are short, fans pay to watch them and not the owners and they deserve to be compensated for the years of hard work and dedication they have put into the game they love.
The reality is they are incredibly well-paid and have been for the better part of 20 years.
Each and every NHL player should thank their lucky stars they have the opportunity to make ridiculous amounts of money playing a kid’s game.
The NHL owners are worse.
This is a group of largely ignorant, egomaniacal fools who have no clue how to run a business and continue to throw around insane amounts of cash at players they are now embroiled in yet another labour dispute with.
The owners can’t control their spending habits on players’ salaries and continue to adhere to a “win at all costs” philosophy that has thrown financial integrity out the window.
The only losers are true hockey fans who miss the game they love. These are the same fans who are now forced to spend hundreds of dollars to attend a single NHL game.
If you bring your wife and two children to an NHL game now, you’re looking at spending between $600 and $1,000 in most Canadian NHL cities.
That’s very sad.
Greed has brought down many people over the course of history and it appears one of the seven deadly sins might just ruin Canada’s national pastime.
Here’s an idea. Hockey fans should spend their entertainment money attending Junior B and Junior A hockey, where the skill level remains exceptionally high and players compete for a love of the best game in the world. And you can take the wife and kids for three hours of terrific hockey and entertainment for less than the price of a single NHL ticket.
Many of us are probably starting to wonder if there are any limits to the endless greed that has permeated professional sports.
The NHL lockout is well into its second week and there isn’t any reason to believe there will be any games – exhibition or regular season – played any time soon.
Across the border in Alberta, Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz – the owner of the Rexall pharmacy empire and one of the richest men in Canada – is again threatening to move the hockey club if he doesn’t receive more taxpayer money and concessions from Edmonton’s city council to subsidize a sparkling new downtown arena.
Katz had already secured a sweetheart deal several months ago, where local taxpayers would be on the hook for all but $125 million of the proposed $450 million building. However, Katz and his business cronies appeared before Edmonton council two weeks ago asking for more cash as the proposed costs on the building had skyrocketed.
The man obviously has no shame and absolutely no consideration for the hockey fans in Edmonton or local taxpayers.
Katz continues to threaten to move the Oilers if he doesn’t get the further concessions and taxpayer dollars he demands.
His request is even more outlandish when you read the details of the proposed deal with the City of Edmonton as Katz will basically own and operate the building for 11 months of the year and reap in most of the profits, while Oilers fans will not only pay for the majority of the building, but have to pay an extra seat tax for years to come to again line the pockets of one of Canada’s richest men.
The NHL lockout has, once again, pitted a group of multi-millionaires and billionaires (owners) against more than 600 millionaires who belong to the NHL Players Association.
Eight years after the NHL became the only professional sports league in the North American history to lose an entire season to a labour dispute, the battle lines have once again been drawn and it appears there’s little to no chance of the current lockout ending any time in the near future.
Without taking sides, the bottom line is professional hockey is being denigrated by greed.
NHL players and supporters argue their careers are short, fans pay to watch them and not the owners and they deserve to be compensated for the years of hard work and dedication they have put into the game they love.
The reality is they are incredibly well-paid and have been for the better part of 20 years.
Each and every NHL player should thank their lucky stars they have the opportunity to make ridiculous amounts of money playing a kid’s game.
The NHL owners are worse.
This is a group of largely ignorant, egomaniacal fools who have no clue how to run a business and continue to throw around insane amounts of cash at players they are now embroiled in yet another labour dispute with.
The owners can’t control their spending habits on players’ salaries and continue to adhere to a “win at all costs” philosophy that has thrown financial integrity out the window.
The only losers are true hockey fans who miss the game they love. These are the same fans who are now forced to spend hundreds of dollars to attend a single NHL game.
If you bring your wife and two children to an NHL game now, you’re looking at spending between $600 and $1,000 in most Canadian NHL cities.
That’s very sad.
Greed has brought down many people over the course of history and it appears one of the seven deadly sins might just ruin Canada’s national pastime.
Here’s an idea. Hockey fans should spend their entertainment money attending Junior B and Junior A hockey, where the skill level remains exceptionally high and players compete for a love of the best game in the world. And you can take the wife and kids for three hours of terrific hockey and entertainment for less than the price of a single NHL ticket.