NBA vs NHL salaries and stuff

[MDE3 0]

I looked up some things about the NBA to compare it to the NHL because they play before similar size crowds and sometimes in the same buildings.

Average attendance for 2004

NBA: 17,059/game

NHL: 16,500/ game +/-

Average Team salary:

NBA: $55.4 million

NHL: $43.9 Million (best I could calculate..may be off a bit)

(differential: NBA..+ 26.2%)

Average team roster size(not all on the bench):

NBA: 15 players

NHL: 25 players

Based on the information above and average NBA player salary should be in the $3.693 million range, and the average NHL salary $1.756 Million. Salary ratio NBA: NHL : 2.1 : 1

Pro Rated Salaries (based on the difference in roster size) 1.26 : 1

I realize this varies from the official stats somewhat, but just to show an order of magnitude.

The average NBA player recieves a salary larger than 2 times that of an average NHL player, but plays in stadiums that have almost equal annual attendance...where's the money come from? Are ticket prices that much higher for basketball? Is it the television contracts, the merchandizing?...Isn't that why Bettman was hired? Interestingly the differential in team salaries is only 26.2%...not an impossible chore for a good marketeer..... But because of the difference in the roster size, the individual player salaries will never be really comparable.

[Smith 0]

Television contracts, and merchandizing. That is most of it.

[Chadd 916]

The average NBA player recieves a salary about 2 times that of an average NHL player, but plays in stadiums that have almost equal annual attendance...where's the money come from? Are ticket prices that much higher for basketball? Is it the television contracts, the merchandizing?...Isn't that why Bettman was hired?

Average team roster size(not all on the bench):

NBA: 15 players

NHL: 25 players

That's most of the answer. As well as the lack of a minor league system in basketball and respective TV contracts.

[Smith 0]

Plus how much can a pair of shorts and some shoes cost a team. :lol: (lower overhead)

[Jim Bob 0]

Actually, NBA roster sizes are supposed to be at 12, but teams usually keep a few guys on IR.

And NHL rosters are capped at 23, not counting guys on IR.

[MDE3 0]

I actually went to the rosters of teams in both leagues..and without IR players..they were at the numbers I mentioned...of course those are not game day rosters, but "active" rosters. I wasn't sure what the league position was so I just looked up various rosters for specific games and teams.

[MDE3 0]

The average NBA player recieves a salary about 2 times that of an average NHL player, but plays in stadiums that have almost equal annual attendance...where's the money come from? Are ticket prices that much higher for basketball? Is it the television contracts, the merchandizing?...Isn't that why Bettman was hired?

Average team roster size(not all on the bench):

NBA: 15 players

NHL: 25 players

That's most of the answer. As well as the lack of a minor league system in basketball and respective TV contracts.

Well if you consider college hoops "the minors' then that sport is truly at it's most profitable in that venue.....Although hockey also has college as a feeder system, it does not account for quite as high a percentage of the "conversions"..although certainly it's getting there, nor generate the TV coverage of college hoops.

Interestingly with as many various minor hockey leagues as there are, it is surprising the sport does not have a greater fan base...I assume that 95% of hockey fans are from within families who have some members who play or have played.

I think that is the biggest difference with hockey..there is much less "street" hockey/ "pond" hockey played, than there is neighbourhood b-ball or sandlot baseball and football...consequently a lower fan base in the USA.

I really believe that growing fan attendance requires a long term investment by the sport to generate a wider base from those who play, or have played some form of the sport....The "cheap way" to do this is to get "street ball hockey" back into play more. Trying to draw fans from outside the sport has not worked....no matter which gimmicks are being used.

[Chadd 916]

In all of the recent NHL expansion cities, youth hockey participation has grown rapidly. Having hockey in all of those towns will benefit the NHL in the long term.

[beaucoup_fish 0]

I think it's got a lot to do with marketing as well. The NBA and by extension, basketball in general is all flash and dash. It appeals to all kinds of youth these days, especially white suburban kids that wish they were, well...plus, the merchandising is crazy. I can't walk 2 blocks without seeing some kid decked out in retro "Philla" gear (and this is in Canada). It's all very Kovalchuk-ish...by stark contrast, the NHL has no real high profile players that will attract tons of kids to play or want to be like them. No TMACs, no Air Canadas, no MJs or Answers or Kobes and Shaqs.

I think you'd also have to consider that basketball has deeper roots in the U.S. than hockey does - it's also more accessible. Like Smith said, shoes and shorts...not nearly as cost prohibitive as the 500 pieces of gear you need to play hockey.

[mickz 107]

I find that there's more products endorsed in the NBA. The average kid is going to want a signature shoe more than a signature skate.

[MDE3 0]

AHAH.....the root of the problem....take hockey back to the streets. When roller hockey was getting big in this country..growing by leaps and bounds, and you could find a pick up game almost anywhere with a ball and K-Mart pads, gloves, skates and sticks..the whole sport ..including ice was growing by 25 - 30% per year. Then inline went more and more elite....special floors, high end equipment...$150.00 sticks etc etc....Guess what?.....The street version and the one played in all the little disco rinks all over the country suddenly fell by the wayside. This phenomenon has been going on for about 4-5 years now..coincidentally the growth #'s at USA hockey(ice) have fallen to 1% or less over this time.

Hockey fans come from hockey players or families of hockey players.....the elitist attitude of ice players to inline players, and the similar attitude of the "elite" puck inline players to the kids playing on tennis courts with a ball....has affected the sport from top to bottom. Street hockey is the grass roots of the sport down here in the USA and it has all but disappeared. Every one of those kids playing on an open street, or unused tennis court, would have given their eye teeth to have a jersey with the name of their favorite player on it...just like you see in basketball.

To regrow the sport..no gimicks are needed, but players are needed again at the most basic levels..this is the only way the NHL will solve it's long term problems....by taking the sport back to the levels where everyone can enjoy(and afford) it in some form or other.

[beaucoup_fish 0]

Agreed. We all probably started out in the game in front of our houses with sticks and a tennis ball...

[Fonya 0]

Plus all the rappers and ghetto guys that wear basketball shoes, hats and jerseys. In the rap videos, you dont the people wearing a hockey jersey.

[MDE3 0]

Obviously there is a lack of identification between the "streets" and the NHL.....Nike and the gang needs to get their "street" act together.....

New TV ad: (to hard rap) showing a little "gang warfare" where the attacking gang rolls up on inlines (with really flashy wheels sporting flickering lights), "strapped" with the latest composite sticks (the Easton "Gat-9"), and blasts slap shots at the offending "homies".....issuing the ultimate "street challenge"

[Chadd 916]

Plus all the rappers and ghetto guys that wear basketball shoes, hats and jerseys. In the rap videos, you dont the people wearing a hockey jersey.

And BNL are never on MTV.

[Perry94 0]

Obviously there is a lack of identification between the "streets" and the NHL.....Nike and the gang needs to get their "street" act together.....

New TV ad: (to hard rap) showing a little "gang warfare" where the attacking gang rolls up on inlines (with really flashy wheels sporting flickering lights), "strapped" with the latest composite sticks (the Easton "Gat-9"), and blasts slap shots at the offending "homies".....issuing the ultimate "street challenge"

spinners on inline wheels...

[LetsGoWings13 0]

Plus all the rappers and ghetto guys that wear basketball shoes, hats and jerseys. In the rap videos, you dont the people wearing a hockey jersey.

exzibit wears a NYR jersey lol