Do stick companies make money at the pro level?

[dsjunior1388 81]

A conversation in chat got me thinking. We were discussing orders of pro blade patterns and how they are not cost effective at the retail level, even with a markup. So my question is this. When a company sells a batch of sticks to an NHL team, do they lose money on that transaction because of the higher setup costs of the custom specs of the stick, added to the discounted rate they sell the sticks to the NHL?

For clarity, lets remove marketing gains from the equation. Obviously CCM benefits overall from Ovechkin using their stick. I just would like to know if CCM spends more to make 122 of his sticks than they actually charge the capitals for them? And disregard endorsement deals too, I just want to know whether the cost to produce a batch is more or less than the bill to the NHL team.

And I know an inexperienced MSHer is going to say it, so to start with, No, Oveckin does not get free sticks. It has been made perfectly clear several times that CCM charges the capitals for every stick, even as they pay Ovechkin to use them.

[dsjunior1388 81]

If you are asking whether or not manufacturers make a profit in the Pro sales category, the answer is no. It is considered part of promotions department.

Since you brought up CCM, if you knew what the guaranteed money to some of the hockey athletes was, you might respond with "WTF are they thinking?"

Thanks, that was kind of the impression I was getting.