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Money Players: How Hockey's Greatest Stars Beat the NHL at its Own Game
Incredibly, the legacy of one-time hockey czar Alan Eagleson still poisons professional hockey. The generation of players that “the Eagle” systematically abused, misled, and defrauded continues to take its revenge on his successors. When a former Boston player, Mike Gillis, suffered a career-ending injury, Eagleson, his agent, bilked him out of some $40,000 in insurance money. Gillis sued and won. What Gillis learned from the episode is that players need hard-nosed and honest representation and that no quarter needs to be given in encounters with the good old boys who run the game.
Gillis is an agent now – one of the best. The players he and other trained agents represent routinely get contracts worth tens of millions of dollars. Over the past ten years, the NHL’s payroll has shot up from nearly $200 million to more than $1 billion. Around 350 players make more than a million dollars per annum. And the league’s owners are crying the blues.
But these owners often buy up sports teams for reasons of ego and for kicks. And the general managers often are former players who like to shoot the breeze with old friends and do deals on the strength of a handshake. Neither is a match for the new breed of agent or for the players’ association president Bob Goodenow. Something’s got to give. Bruce Dowbiggin’s eye-opening report takes readers from the locker rooms to the board rooms. His inside view makes sense of the seemingly crazy labour conflict that is about to batter the NHL.
Gillis is an agent now – one of the best. The players he and other trained agents represent routinely get contracts worth tens of millions of dollars. Over the past ten years, the NHL’s payroll has shot up from nearly $200 million to more than $1 billion. Around 350 players make more than a million dollars per annum. And the league’s owners are crying the blues.
But these owners often buy up sports teams for reasons of ego and for kicks. And the general managers often are former players who like to shoot the breeze with old friends and do deals on the strength of a handshake. Neither is a match for the new breed of agent or for the players’ association president Bob Goodenow. Something’s got to give. Bruce Dowbiggin’s eye-opening report takes readers from the locker rooms to the board rooms. His inside view makes sense of the seemingly crazy labour conflict that is about to batter the NHL.
- GenresHockeySportsNonfiction
312 pages, Hardcover
First published October 14, 2003
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 4, 2017
Rating - 7.9
A blueprint on everything that has gone wrong w hockey and how an impasse between owner and player (who are equally guilty) is inevitable - Unfortunately egos cannot be restricted
Player stories are interesting in a behind the scenes fashion and believe that hockey needs to adopt a European soccer model to stay afloat (tier one tier two) - No honesty in sports
Interesting Thoughts
The primary job of an agent is to maximize compensation for the player, the primary objective of the owner is to make money
Alan Eagleson was a fraud who profited from ripping off players, keeping the owners at an advantage, and focusing on international events
League salary has gone from $195MM to $1.1B in ten years
In the 50’s. salaries were not disclosed and there were only six teams, so owners were able to exploit players. Any sort of issues and players were either traded or demoted
WHA created the money market for players - NHL had to start paying more to keep the talent. NHL underestimated the longevity of the WHA
Starting w Gretzky and Stevens, owners started to pay the stars in attempts to increase ticket revenue and sell new stadiums. Most successful owners are those that also own the stadium rights
Expansion was all about $50MM for the owners and not for the good of hockey. Only Ottawa and Tampa said they could get the money, hence they were offered the franchises
Wirtz and Snider hate each other as Wirtz orchestrated that Ziegler be elected as President of the NHL over Snider
Owners fix the numbers so that they claim losses but a large portion of revenues/costs are stored in other subsidiaries
Once agents got prepared, they over-matched players turned GMs that went on instinct alone
NHL did not capitalize on TV revenue until southern expansion and Bettman took over for Ziegler. All other leagues make triple over the NHL in television revenue
Salary disclosure started the skyrocketing of salaries. Once players knew what others made, it created benchmarks and put pressure on the owners
Goodenow used a delay to playoffs (owners would lose revenue) and the expansion argument to get salary disclosure
Lindros is a complete ass in that a player can decide where he plays. Did the same in the OHL as well where he refused to play for the Soo
At the end of the day, the Flyers got ripped off in the Lindros deal. Forsberg, Hextall, Thibault, Ricci, Duschene, and Simon far exceed the value of Lindros
Alexander Daigle parlayed the Lindros signing into a sweet contract from Ottawa. Rookie not only offers value to the team but has community promotion and seat marketing value
Florida and Anaheim were money and reputational grabs and shafted Ottawa, San Jose, and Tampa Bay. Allowed the NHL to negotiate better TV contracts with that type of representation
Appreciation of franchises is the big win for owners. For those who got in at $20MM, they were able to sell for $100MM. Not sure if this will hold true going forward
Price of tickets has gone up because of the greed of owners not because of increased salaries. Ticket prices never change in movie theatres no matter what the cost of the movie. Do not agree
Average joe can no longer attend a game as a result of ticket prices. All corporate suites where people do not care about the game or its outcome
1995 strike - owners trying to curtail the gains of players and rookies. Public opinion was disgust towards both parties
Consensus is that the owners won the 95 strike, however it was the fans who lost. No significant free agency until 31, a rookie salary cap, and three vetoed arbitration decisions. Goodenow maintained salary disclosure, arbitration, and no salary cap
Everyone says that Sinden is cheap but he has overpaid for Thornton and Lapointe. Thornton contract was deep in bonues thus nullifying the win in rookie salary contracts
Salaries still escalated after the strike. Fedorov, Sakic, Kariya, et al all made out like bandits as owners never exercised fiscal responsibility. Not limited to goal scorers as goalies, defencemen, and role players started to win big
Domi used the Berezin contract to get more money out of the Leafs. Bullshit
New statistics are being created so that players who do not get as much points can still get good money
NHLPA will select those cases for arbitration that have the best chance of winning and put them up first - precedence for future cases
Big market teams have won the Stanley Cup for the last ten years
We always blame the athletes but never the businessmen or the owners
European environment is cutthroat - agents are buying off the players
Impending TV contract review, lockout, and losses make it a buyers market for franchises
The more free agents available the better control that owners have over free agency. Could have used it in 95 but they did not recognize the advantage
Players are looking for full financial statements. LA Kings opened their books to a CA and he confirmed that they are in financial jeopardy
NHL is looking at European expansion and when that happens, bye bye low value franchises
Bankruptcies happen in all businesses - why not sports?
Not going to get the same ABC contract (low ratings) - game is now boring and a lot of teams are salary dumping w no takers
Solutions
View the player as a sponsor opportunity not a cost
Lower the draft to one round
Keep the 95 CBA and have owners be responsible
Revenue distribution - only issue is that it rewards poorly run large market franchises
European soccer system - tier one clubs and tier two clubs - everyone has interest and the lower clubs will be a breeding ground
Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die
A blueprint on everything that has gone wrong w hockey and how an impasse between owner and player (who are equally guilty) is inevitable - Unfortunately egos cannot be restricted
Player stories are interesting in a behind the scenes fashion and believe that hockey needs to adopt a European soccer model to stay afloat (tier one tier two) - No honesty in sports
Interesting Thoughts
The primary job of an agent is to maximize compensation for the player, the primary objective of the owner is to make money
Alan Eagleson was a fraud who profited from ripping off players, keeping the owners at an advantage, and focusing on international events
League salary has gone from $195MM to $1.1B in ten years
In the 50’s. salaries were not disclosed and there were only six teams, so owners were able to exploit players. Any sort of issues and players were either traded or demoted
WHA created the money market for players - NHL had to start paying more to keep the talent. NHL underestimated the longevity of the WHA
Starting w Gretzky and Stevens, owners started to pay the stars in attempts to increase ticket revenue and sell new stadiums. Most successful owners are those that also own the stadium rights
Expansion was all about $50MM for the owners and not for the good of hockey. Only Ottawa and Tampa said they could get the money, hence they were offered the franchises
Wirtz and Snider hate each other as Wirtz orchestrated that Ziegler be elected as President of the NHL over Snider
Owners fix the numbers so that they claim losses but a large portion of revenues/costs are stored in other subsidiaries
Once agents got prepared, they over-matched players turned GMs that went on instinct alone
NHL did not capitalize on TV revenue until southern expansion and Bettman took over for Ziegler. All other leagues make triple over the NHL in television revenue
Salary disclosure started the skyrocketing of salaries. Once players knew what others made, it created benchmarks and put pressure on the owners
Goodenow used a delay to playoffs (owners would lose revenue) and the expansion argument to get salary disclosure
Lindros is a complete ass in that a player can decide where he plays. Did the same in the OHL as well where he refused to play for the Soo
At the end of the day, the Flyers got ripped off in the Lindros deal. Forsberg, Hextall, Thibault, Ricci, Duschene, and Simon far exceed the value of Lindros
Alexander Daigle parlayed the Lindros signing into a sweet contract from Ottawa. Rookie not only offers value to the team but has community promotion and seat marketing value
Florida and Anaheim were money and reputational grabs and shafted Ottawa, San Jose, and Tampa Bay. Allowed the NHL to negotiate better TV contracts with that type of representation
Appreciation of franchises is the big win for owners. For those who got in at $20MM, they were able to sell for $100MM. Not sure if this will hold true going forward
Price of tickets has gone up because of the greed of owners not because of increased salaries. Ticket prices never change in movie theatres no matter what the cost of the movie. Do not agree
Average joe can no longer attend a game as a result of ticket prices. All corporate suites where people do not care about the game or its outcome
1995 strike - owners trying to curtail the gains of players and rookies. Public opinion was disgust towards both parties
Consensus is that the owners won the 95 strike, however it was the fans who lost. No significant free agency until 31, a rookie salary cap, and three vetoed arbitration decisions. Goodenow maintained salary disclosure, arbitration, and no salary cap
Everyone says that Sinden is cheap but he has overpaid for Thornton and Lapointe. Thornton contract was deep in bonues thus nullifying the win in rookie salary contracts
Salaries still escalated after the strike. Fedorov, Sakic, Kariya, et al all made out like bandits as owners never exercised fiscal responsibility. Not limited to goal scorers as goalies, defencemen, and role players started to win big
Domi used the Berezin contract to get more money out of the Leafs. Bullshit
New statistics are being created so that players who do not get as much points can still get good money
NHLPA will select those cases for arbitration that have the best chance of winning and put them up first - precedence for future cases
Big market teams have won the Stanley Cup for the last ten years
We always blame the athletes but never the businessmen or the owners
European environment is cutthroat - agents are buying off the players
Impending TV contract review, lockout, and losses make it a buyers market for franchises
The more free agents available the better control that owners have over free agency. Could have used it in 95 but they did not recognize the advantage
Players are looking for full financial statements. LA Kings opened their books to a CA and he confirmed that they are in financial jeopardy
NHL is looking at European expansion and when that happens, bye bye low value franchises
Bankruptcies happen in all businesses - why not sports?
Not going to get the same ABC contract (low ratings) - game is now boring and a lot of teams are salary dumping w no takers
Solutions
View the player as a sponsor opportunity not a cost
Lower the draft to one round
Keep the 95 CBA and have owners be responsible
Revenue distribution - only issue is that it rewards poorly run large market franchises
European soccer system - tier one clubs and tier two clubs - everyone has interest and the lower clubs will be a breeding ground
Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die
Displaying 1 of 1 review