Dostoevsky

Yes, a sticky question. Alright here is my opinion on the whole thing. Players and owners are both self interested, they want to make as much money as they can in their business. That being said, who can blame players for accepting the huge contracts that they are offered? Wouldn't you do the same? If anyone is to blame here, I think it's the owners for getting themselves into these situations. They are the ones who agree to pay players these ourtrageous salaries, then they bitch about losing money. Well hell, if you can't afford to pay the guys so damn much, then why do you offer such large contracts and get in ridiculous bidding wars over players. It's the owners who drive the prices up through these huge salaries, then they try to pass as much as they can onto the fans.

The fans aren't blameless in this either. Sure it's fucked up that ticket and concession prices continue to rise, but fans are the ones who truly hold the power. If you don't like the way things are, stop going to games and supporting teams. Watch how quickly things would change if that happened. When Arther Blank bought the Falcons he slashed ticket prices in the GA Dome big time and attendence soared, so did revenue. If fans in other professional markets quit going to games like the Falcon's fans did, what choice would owners have but to cut prices?

Another thing I would like to say is this. Anyone with enough money to own a professional franchise is a very successful business person with a TON of cash lying around. In order to become that successful in business you can't be an idiot. With that in mind, don't believe it when these rich business men bitch and complain about losing money on their teams, it's a huge crock of bullshit 95% of the time, don't pity those guys. They are still making plenty of money on their teams, they just want to make lots more by restricting salaries. Like I said before, they wouldn't be able to pay athletes exorbinant salaries if they weren't making money hand over fist. I'm not too familiar with the NHL situation, but owners of franchises in the other 3 major sports are making an absolute killing. So most of their complaining is just complete bullshit and I have no sympathy for them.

In final, athletes are trying to make as much money as possible and I don't think anyone can blame them for this. Owners have no grounds to complain about the salaries athletes make because they are the ones who offer the contracts. And most importantly, if fans don't like the prices they are being forced to pay for attending games, they should stop going. That is the power we have as fans and if we exercised it properly it would be devastatingly effective.

Hope this is what you were looking for, I don't know much about the NHL but this really applies across the board.

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Pride is the recognition of the fact that you are your own highest value and, like all of man’s values, it has to be earned.


It is not advisable, James, to venture unsolicited opinions. You should spare yourself the embarrassing discovery of their exact value to your listener.

Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged