Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Hockey players still have a way to go to catch up to the other sports. Faced with the cost of that minimum wage, teams would have to look for places to claw back expenses. And minimum-wage pay for players based on a 40-hour week might run . Those moves all paid off in a big way. This is the reason why a player can't go from the WHL to NCAA, they are considered professional athletes after signing a contract and getting paid. The Cup is even going to get some TV exposure with TSN broadcasting the final (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.). At the heart of it all is a lawsuit that has been filed alleging that junior hockey operators should be paying their players at least minimum wage. KPMG had access to the CHLs books, but Lander suggests that the defendants affidavit is incomplete, given it lists revenues and operating expenses as single-line entries for the leagues and teams. The minimum wage is only applicable to persons who qualify to be considered employees. However, in some cases, professional hockey leagues (such as the CHL in Canada) are not considered amateur. As college hockey grows in popularity, the hockey community has contributed to it by building high-quality ice arenas and assisting in the development of the game. The team salary cap was $70.2 million. Answer (1 of 2): Yes, NHL players receive a pension. containerEl: '#fd-form-620ead33d328ec5152cf088e' Yes, playing your favorite game for a living at the highest level imaginable is certainly a perk, but the draw of the money is undeniable. We breathlessly await those rulingsto give you an idea of the pace of the proceedings, Ted Charney, a Toronto lawyer specializing in class actions, started reaching out to players in October 2014. Glenn Gumbley, a Canadian, attempted to unionize junior hockey players in 2015. The minimum wage for an NHL salary is $750,000, whereas the NFL has the lowest minimum at $495,000. But more and more, the league is doing right by its players. And, this is true. League and club administrators currently receive more money than they contribute to revenues. As a result of this system, colleges have a national platform to compete at, and the level of competition and quality of ice hockey has increased. I should clarify in that number I put in the revenue that they get from the Canadian national rights contract which is $500 million per year. David Onley on hand for the opening ceremonies yesterday, Walter Gretzky on hand throughout and anticipation that the city's most famous son Wayne will accept an invitation. A kid paid minimum wage to play [in the CHL] will spend that moneyI would have burned through it. Games are only on Friday and Saturday so I assume most of these guys have 9-5 jobs during the week. Problem with this is that the junior teams don't make much. With little more than cursory knowledge of the case publicly available, any hunt for a villain probably says more about the hunter than the relative merits of the civil action. Apparently its a lot less than minimum wage in OHL & WHL & QHL (players are attempting to unionize). Youth Hockey Strength and Conditioning Programs to Follow! Since the Minimum Wage Act excludes junior hockey players from its definition of an employee, they are ineligible for minimum wage protection. Maybe Northwestern was the real Curt Flood v. MLB redux, a loss before a win for the good guys. All figures are USD based. The best junior hockey sticks for defensemen are the Warrior Alpha DX Grip, Warrior Covert QRE4, Bauer Nexus 2N Pro Griptac, CCM Jetspeed Composite 40, and the CCM RibCor Trigger 4 Pro Grip. So how many have been added since the Understanding high-sticking in hockey: when it is a penalty or stoppage of play. And, of that group of players the low end of the roster does well in comparison to other sports. As a student, youre eligible for a years scholarship when you spend a season in the league. And what were seeing so far doesnt look great for the CHL. In many cases, a player may be paying a 50% income tax rate, or slightly higher, meaning that with a salary of $10 million, they are paying over $5 million in taxes when adding jock and income taxes together. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Theyre given a weekly stipend that ranges from $50 to $100. I was happy as a player to get $20 a week and play in the best league out there. After the 199495 NHL season was shortened to 48 games due to a lockout, players earned only about 56% of their predicted salary. Because each player has his own unique plan for the future, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. They should be paid a decent salary, or in the worst-case scenario, the minimum wage. A junior hockey league or team can be worth as little as $1 million, or as much as $25 million or more in some markets. These figures have been gleaned from certain financial sites dedicated to professional sports, and so may not be perfectly accurate. They benefit from scholarships, playing equipment, and exposure to talent scouts for opportunities to join professional leagues. In the second round, 4 teams earned $3,125,000; in the third round, 3 teams earned $3,750,000; and in the fourth round, 1 team earned $3,437,500 as the Stanley Cup runner-up. The league is considered amateur, and therefore players are not compensated for their play. The following table presents a sample of salaries from various seasons; the players listed were not necessarily the highest paid that year. They're expecting 1,000 people a game, but more if one of the three local teams Brantford, Dundas or Whitby make it to the final. {* backButton *} The NFL is the most popular league and gets the highest television contract, but they can only sell tickets to 16 games per season (17 once their new CBA kicks in). According to reported salary estimates on job posting sites, the average Zamboni driver salary is around $13 per hour, or $26,500 (USD) annually. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Lawmakers took note of this development and responded. Enter your email below and we'll send you another email. But CHL contracts do vary based on the round in which a player is drafted, and education packages are to some extent determined by that. Jonathan Toews, the leagues highest-paid player, earned $13.8 million per year, while Patrick Kane earned $14.4 million. American NHL teams have had a great impact in the NHL. }); link to Understanding high-sticking in hockey: when it is a penalty or stoppage of play, does fairly well with ticket revenue and other sponsorships, quite impressed that the NHL is able to get so much revenue, The NHL has a maximum roster of 23 players, minimum wage for an NHL salary is $750,000. I am actually quite impressed that the NHL is able to get so much revenue with a U.S. television contract that is so much less than its peers. For instance in baseball it seems like everything is geared towards the guys who have made it to free agency and the guys entering the league get the scraps. If an NCAA program or coach doesnt take a shine to a player, he can be hung out to dry with no options. Those advocating for the players will say scale has nothing to do with the principle of thing. But whether Joe Fan knows or cares, lawyers representing a few hundred CHL players past and present are seeking damagespay for time those players put in over the course of the junior careers. All the while not making much. As of 2015, the average annual salary for a Junior hockey player in the United States was $44,499, which equates to approximately $21.39 per hour. For the majority of people, they must uproot their lives and relocate to a new place with an unknown family. Every week, they receive a $50 to $100 stipend. And they usually (always?) Mongeon argues its not a matter of spending more money; its simply a matter of allocating revenues where they belong. The member teams of the leagues cumulatively operate at a profit of not quite $3-million per year, according to the KPMG report. These hockey teams generate their revenues from their junior hockey players, who end up taking home as little as $50 weekly. you gotta take a breath, kid. Junior hockey players have not received a salary because they are no longer classified as employees by state law. The team salary cap was $71.4 million. If you are considering junior hockey, it is important to do your research and speak with people who have been through the process in order to make the best decision for you. So, while junior hockey players in Canada are not paid to play, they do have some financial support. Smiths report also takes a look at five teams that were sold in 2014 and 2015, not one for less than $6.4 million. Yes, they get paid, just like NCAA (nod & wink to the blind bat). Now that we have a picture of the salaries of players in each league lets look at how the leagues get their revenue. The clubs income statements, which show that their revenues and costs are highly correlated, do not accord with basic economic principles, Mongeon writes. Ive never heard one player say, I should be getting paid for this., Not every CHLer can follow former-Knight Mitch Marner to the NHL, but according to player agent Jeff Jackson, "Everybody has choices and everybody goes into it with eyes wide open. They feared that their business might be unsustainable if that bill wasnt passed. Some guys make 500+ per game in New Brunswick, if it were less than that the talented players would just work in Alberta between the fishing seasons. But its a lot less so if the work weeks were knocked down to 15 or 20 hours, so how you calculate the work week would be crucial to franchise viability going forward. We are the premier subreddit to talk everything hockey! There will be 340 games played in total, with the exception of 64 on holidays and Fridays. Thus, the listed totals are a sum of the amounts each player was contracted to receive for a full season. 2023 The Hockey News, Roustan Media Ltd, Get the latest news right to your inbox > Sign up here. With a pending class-action lawsuit bringing a new source of financial uncertainty, an ever-present question is freshly relevant for the Mississauga Steelheads: Can junior hockey survive in the Greater Toronto Area? Knkx: Why Does For-Profit Hockey In Washington Not Have To Pay Players Minimum Wage? Conclusion. How much do NHL Zamboni drivers make? 3 of 8 4 of 8 Washington Capitals left wing Marcus Johansson (90) skates with the puck as San Jose Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro (38) defends during the first period of an NHL hockey game . If you were to look at a list of the top 100 paid athletes in the world, there would be no hockey players. Playing less than 10 year. Canada in general has higher tax rates, so a player for the Canadiens may pay a 53% income tax rate while someone on the Lightning will only pay about 40% because of Floridas lower income tax rate. That is one case, but not uncommon. I didnt really think about getting paid to play and I havent heard players today talking about it.. The main sources of revenue for a professional sports team are broadcasting rights for television and ticket sales. Many players take it upon themselves to pay for their own training programs to ensure that they can maintain peak physical fitness without losing a step. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Multiply that by 20 teams in the OHL and 22 in the WHL and it looks dire. Top earners, such as NHL Zamboni drivers, earn a salary range from $29,000-$31,000, per ZipRecruiter. The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) is one of the three major junior hockey leagues in Canada. For most teams, the amount they pay in salaries and benefits to non-players dwarfs the entire expense budget (which includes equipment, travel and scholarships), and in many cases is double the entire amount they spend on players. They will tell you that there are merits on each side, but thats about it. Lets dive right in. No NHL team has fewer points in 2023 than the Washington Capitals. I have some numbers later on. These programs play a huge role in the performance of any hockey player. The money that is currently collected by the club owners is generated by the players, Mongeon writes. This isnt much considering the salaries of professional hockey players, but it still adds up to a hefty chunk of change that the player wont receive throughout the year. Based on the large increase in the fiscal 2016 management fees, Smiths report says, it appears that a significant portion of those management fees may be a distribution of profit., By CHLs own admission, its dealing with professionals, (THN.com reached out to Rebels owner, GM and head coach Brett Sutter for clarification, but did not hear back.). 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