I no longer like sports,because of salaries,are you like me?Poll.

1. The players have skills that very few others have

2. Their skills are in high demand

3. A very small amount of employees (the players) make billions for the NHL

4. They entertain millions of people who willingly pay to watch them

Grow up. Stop being jealous. Find a way to make yourself valuable to others.

I gotta say, it must really suck to be some of the people in this thread. I mean, sports have been a big part of my life since forever, couldn't think of my life without MLB, The Masters, March Madness, NBA, NFL, College Football, Boxing etc, etc, etc. Living preoccupied with how much other people make, not only in sports but life in general, must be a miserable feeling.

Like I said,the pro sports figures SHOULD be paid very well and get full benefits,but to get paid millions upon millions of dollars to skate around or to throw a ball in a basket is just plain stupid.Yes,they have talent most people don't have,but are they more important then a police officer,or the armed forces.No.I believe in lowering salaries of sport pros.Crosby can't win the NHL scoring race making $250,000,does he really need to make $10 million,$15 million a season to win championship trophies.So I got to spend $150 dollars for my ticket,then more on food,drinks,transportation,etc......Assuming my nephews or nieces don't come along with all their expenses and such.But just as long as the pros get the little money I have to have fun playing the sport they so love.........After all,they need millions,they got a family to feed.

Professional athletes are incredibly skilled at what they do (I'd like to see anyone who complains about how much they get paid play alongside them competitively) and the market in which they work is a huge money-maker, demanding they receive large salaries to keep up with the rate at which money comes in.

What, would you rather they make much less money and all the other advertising and beer revenues go to the owners?

Ok, so detail how would that come about.

I do agree to some point.But in the NHL,both sides of the border,almost half the teams are losing money.The employees{players}are making more money the a majority of the owners.Thats no lie.If yourself opened up a EB Games,a bussiness of your own and you paid all expenses but no profit for yourself at all,and you went on like that for as long as you had your bussiness,would'nt you shit and complain.Players really need to make $50 million a lifetime or alot more.???????

Not a big deal to me besides most athletes go broke 5 years after they retire

Half the teams are in markets that don't make money on a winter sport because they never see winter. People in Georgia didn't care about hockey because it's always 80+ degrees there. They moved the team to here (Winnipeg) and it, in a single season, became one of the most profitable teams in the league (behind Detroit and a couple others). People in Canada LOVE their hockey, and pay whatever it takes to see it (season tickets here require a three-year commitment, and costs start at ~$6000 a seat, and they all disappeared originally in a few minutes).

The players know they can demand higher salaries if their skill sets them apart from the rest of the league (I'm surprised Sidney Crosby isn't making WAY more than he is now). The market of the NHL allows them to make that money because people give their money to the business willingly.

You should really be complaining about the NFL, NBA and MLB. They make WAY more money than NHL players. Like, almost a disgusting amount more (some MLB players are making like $25 million a year now).

@brimmul777: If it's not worth it to you, don't go to the games and don't watch. There's many people who are more than willing to pay the price to watch their favorite teams play. Hence why these guys get paid so much.

And $150 for a ticket to an NHL game? What fvcking world are you living in? It doesn't cost anywhere near that unless you want a seat at center ice right along the boards. ANd why do you have to eat at the game and buy things there? Eat before the game and don't buy sh1t you don't need if its that big of a deal to you.

I live in Montreal.To get a decent seat at the Bell Centre for a Habs game,it's over a $100 easy.As you said $150 along the boards,maybe in some/most city's,NOT MONTREAL.And as far as eating is concerned,I am one person,there are over 20,000 people at the game,and I'm guessing right that most do eat at the Bell Centre and I'm sure most of them are not millionaires.Also,as a answer to your first comment,it is not worth it to me to watch games and go to sporting events.I am simply making conversation and a little disagrement.No offence to anyone intended.

Why do you care how other people spend their money?

Just some info:Teams like the Flames and Oilers are still not financially stable year by year.Other info you should know:I am not just referring to hockey,but to all sports pros.The market of the NHL allow them to make that money,because the of the strikes that went on,it did not go the way of the NHL high brass,it did go the way of the NHLPA and in the end the NHL players got exactly what they want in the end:More MONEY,meanwhile fvcking over not just the owners pockets,but the fans as well.But like you said,and I do agree,the NHL players and ownership makes alot less then other pro sport leagues.

I don't care,honestly,but when a couple has a few kids,and the kids want to go see the habs in action and it costs the parents a week to two week salary just for one hour of hockey,don't tell me there's nothing wrong with that.

They get paid too much yeah, but I still love sports.

Man some athletes get paid 15-20+ mill a year. That's wayy too damn much imo. I do think they should be paid in millions though, just not that much.

NCAA makes billions off college football/basketball players and the players get nothing(besides scholarship)

agreed

No? They don't have to go to the game if they can't afford it, and also what kind of jobs are these parents having that their combined earnings only hit around $500 a week in Canada? Not to mention, just because you suddenly start paying athletes 90% less doesn't mean that ticket prices are going to shoot down by 90% or even 10%.

This is more of a criticism of our economic system than it is of professional sports.

My biggest gripe with modern sports (at least in the U.S.), is that these are considered billion-dollar business with the oenwers and players usually being millionaires. I'd be ok wiht that if they could make it so that ticket prices to games were more affordable to the common public. Most often it's the local community or state that finances their stadiums (subsidy) through taxes. That to me is horrible.

I watch but when my team does bad I always say they could have paid me $5 million/year to drop passes and lose games.

I only watch WWE, because it feels more like a tv show than a sport show, I used to be a purely wrestling fans, but that die down with times. I enjoy sports, not watching them though. I can watch football (soccer) and olympics when my family is watching, but that's about it.

I'm not mad at the amount of money they make since they are generating it. if people weren't interested in what they do, they wouldn't make as much. The police, firefighters etc are paid by the government, not by businessmen.