Hockey

The NHL’s revenues are so huge that players will earn more than their respective salaries
Marc-Olivier Cook
The NHL’s revenues are so huge that players will earn more than their respective salaries
Credit: Getty Images

The NHL forecasts this season's revenues at (approximately) $6.8 billion.

Gary Bettman, the league's commissioner, has said that revenues are really good – and that we're on the right track right now. This shouldn't change the projected salary cap figures that have already been released for the next two seasons.

But…

But NHL revenues are so big right now that players will earn more than their respective salaries, according to what agent Allan Walsh mentioned in a recent tweet.

The players don't have to pay escrow anymore… and that makes the players a bit of a winner in all this because the ceiling is too low right now. This sentence sums it up:

Players pay no escrow and will receive about a 4% bonus on the face value of contracts for this season. – Allan Walsh

The league and players share the revenue 50%. For those wondering: What's the escrow?

The players and the league split all hockey-related revenues equally, 50-50. Sometimes, the combined salaries of all players exceed their 50% share of revenues in one season. In anticipation of this, the league withholds a certain percentage of their salaries over the course of the year, which is put into escrow.

But now…

The players have finished paying the escrow, and this results in the owners getting “too much” money when you look at the league's annual revenues and the guys' salaries. The players will therefore earn 4% more than their current annual salary… and that's quite a difference when you consider the respective salaries of each player.

One thing's for sure: the salary cap isn't high enough right now. The cap is going to go up in the next few years (and we already knew that)… and we also know that COVID has left its mark on the National League's monetary books.

At some point, the numbers on paper are going to have to reflect what we see everywhere else, even if the revenues are split 50/50: the NHL, in monetary terms… it's rolling solid. Translation: the money is there. The coffers are full… and if things continue like this, the salary cap will only increase (even more, in a sense) over the next few years in the National League.

Reminder: the NHL salary cap could rise to $170 million within the next few years. And when you look at the revenue stream… it's only logical that we should expect to see a whole new world in the National League.


Overtime

– The guys are ready.

– Great story.

– Still.

– That's right.

– Yikes.

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