You know what I think of when I think of this generations best athlete in his sport? Nick Pivetta and Andrew Benintendi
Every time this is posted it should have a companion image for how many times NHL fans complain about how expensive tickets are.
And another to show how many NHL franchises lose money.
Those tables mean nothing if you don’t add years to it. It’s completely different if you are being paid 15M but are stuck 8 years or if you are getting 15M but it’s only for 2.
Lloyd Cushenberry out here catching strays cause they knew no one was gonna have a fuckin clue who he was lol
McDavid deliberately took less pay to stay in Edmonton – he wouldn’t have gone to any other team for that amount.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to compare McDavid’s aav to super stars across other sports, like the guys that get paid the most? Like this graphic is just comparing him to rookies, second year players, and older washed players… it’s not showing much.
To demonstrate the disparity in pay, show his salary compared to the best performers in other sports.
People always make this comparison without considering the actual economics behind each league. The NHL generates about $6 billion in annual revenue, compared to around $20 billion in the NFL, $12 billion in MLB, and $11 billion in the NBA. Player salaries are tied to league revenue through collective bargaining…so NHL players get roughly 50% of hockey-related revenue, just like other leagues do. The difference is that the pie itself is smaller.
So when McDavid makes $12.5M AAV, that’s actually proportional to what an elite player earns within the NHL’s economic structure. If the NHL brought in as much money as the NBA or NFL, McDavid’s salary would scale accordingly…closer to $40–50M per year.
It’s similar to the USWNT/USMNT pay debate: equal effort and talent don’t automatically mean equal pay if the underlying revenue and media rights aren’t comparable. Hockey’s smaller media footprint and fewer national broadcast deals directly affect salary caps and player earnings. Until league revenues grow significantly, this is the financial reality…even for the best player on Earth.
Compare against F1? There’s only 20 drivers
Sign the contract Toto!
MLB has no cap
NBA has what 9-10 players
NFL is an obsession in the US and it’s cap is like almost 300 million.
NFL salaries really just have the starting QBs with exorbitant amounts. Otherwise it’s close to 50 players and it varies the same as hockey.
NBA is just in another world. They have 60% of a NHL roster with 50% more raw cap, with the superstars making the lion’s share. And a luxury tax on top.
Ticket prices will explode in a few years, just like everything else. Most fans will be priced out yet barns will still be full.
15 million for george russell seems a bit low considering theres only 20 f1 seats in the world and hes the number one driver for mercedes. Some pretty mid footballers (soccer) are getting way more than that.
You mean how much mcdavid chose to get to get paid op.
Didn’t Joe Sakic make $19 million a year at some point in his career?
Now adjust for the amount of money each sport generates as a whole.
Your regular reminder that $12.5M is still a crazy amount of money for anyone to make in any job
The league needs to figure out how to ACTUALLY make money on TV deals. Hockey is not as popular in the US as football, basketball, and baseball but it *doesn’t have to be that way*.
I pay for Hulu, ESPN+, and Sling and still can’t watch the game I want half the damn time because of a black out.
They should really look at what the NBA did with Jordan in the 90s to explode their product.
I mean this is mostly about media rights deals, isn’t it? Most leagues have rev shares on deals which help increase salaries. NHL should be doing whatever it takes to get more exposure and TV rights deals with big networks
Of the players on this list, Benintendi is the bandit with that $15 million on a shit team like the White Sox lol.
Clearly McD’s is a strategically low, short-term, salary. His next contract after this one will certainly be the largest in the sport.
Also, not all sports have the same salary cap structure, which affects earnings.
I’ve alway said Connor McDavid is the Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers
While I understand the sentiment this could be also been done during Tom Brady’s time in New Enlgand where he was taking less than he could have.
All this tells me is Mercedes needs to fucking re-sign George Russell now!!!
The wild just signed Kaprizov for 17 mil a year, so the money is there. I dont know THAT much about contracts, but Mcdavid agreed to take less money for a winning team. That says a lot about him. Reminds me of Crosby.
Where kirill on that list? We can’t just cherry pick mcdavids super team friendly contract if we want to compare.
Andrew Benintendi. Brutal deal
It’s 3 million more … mind blowing lol
Now do Crosby
The other three leagues have more money, not surprising.
I live in North Dakota and every Minnesota Wild game is blacked out. Need cable to watch, unless they are on NBC or TNT those are basic channels with antenna. That’s only 3-4 games a year.
I don’t know who most of these people are. It’s weird he took less than Draisaitl, but seeing him only 3 million behind Russell just makes me think F1 drivers are severely underpaid as well.
I want this guy on my team
Poor guy…he can have my salary too if he wants
Well yeah Hockey is a less watched sport. Sports revenue is based on the attention it garners
I could not care less about that.
McDavid is the best player in his sport on that entire list and it’s not even close.
Yeah except McDavid is more the Max Verstappen of NHL than the George Russel. Max pulls in like 65 mill USD a year
Juan Soto made $60+ million this year alone, why isn’t he on the list to show disparity? Honest question.
Am I the only one who doesn’t know who any of these other people are?
Who the hell are these random people?
Not gonna lie, LEON DRAISAITL deserves every cent of that money.
Im convinced that guy can see 10 seconds into the future the second he gets on the ice. McJesus might not be the player he is without his seeing eye passer:
LEON DRAISAITL but the passes get more insane as they go:
Its hard to compare MLB to NHL when there is such a disparity in income generating potential. compare the number of games per season and average attendance. (81 home games per season with league wide average attendance of 29k and the top teams averaging over 40k attendees per game)
Big difference.
2 Coopers 1 Kupp
NHL players earn less because the league isn’t as popular as other sports.
The NFL makes 23 billion. NBA makes 11 billion. MLB is also 11 million. Finally, the NHL 6 makes billion.
It’s a small league comparatively. It will always be that way as well. Hockey has a very serious accessibility and diversity issue that just keeps it from being a popular league.
I only know mcdavid and draisaitl. Have no idea who the others are or what sport they play.Â
Maybe a dumb question, but when comparing NHL salaries are they all in USD or both American and Canadian?
Why does this matter? McDavid easily gets 18×8 if he wanted but he wants to win in Edmonton. He gave them 2 years and if they dont go out and spend the 6 million he just gave them to do it he is gone and making over 20 when cap rises.
I have no idea who 3/4 of those people are. Bedarded.
The only thing I see wrong with this list is how underpaid George Russel is
49 comments
You know what I think of when I think of this generations best athlete in his sport? Nick Pivetta and Andrew Benintendi
Every time this is posted it should have a companion image for how many times NHL fans complain about how expensive tickets are.
And another to show how many NHL franchises lose money.
Those tables mean nothing if you don’t add years to it. It’s completely different if you are being paid 15M but are stuck 8 years or if you are getting 15M but it’s only for 2.
Lloyd Cushenberry out here catching strays cause they knew no one was gonna have a fuckin clue who he was lol
McDavid deliberately took less pay to stay in Edmonton – he wouldn’t have gone to any other team for that amount.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to compare McDavid’s aav to super stars across other sports, like the guys that get paid the most? Like this graphic is just comparing him to rookies, second year players, and older washed players… it’s not showing much.
To demonstrate the disparity in pay, show his salary compared to the best performers in other sports.
People always make this comparison without considering the actual economics behind each league. The NHL generates about $6 billion in annual revenue, compared to around $20 billion in the NFL, $12 billion in MLB, and $11 billion in the NBA. Player salaries are tied to league revenue through collective bargaining…so NHL players get roughly 50% of hockey-related revenue, just like other leagues do. The difference is that the pie itself is smaller.
So when McDavid makes $12.5M AAV, that’s actually proportional to what an elite player earns within the NHL’s economic structure. If the NHL brought in as much money as the NBA or NFL, McDavid’s salary would scale accordingly…closer to $40–50M per year.
It’s similar to the USWNT/USMNT pay debate: equal effort and talent don’t automatically mean equal pay if the underlying revenue and media rights aren’t comparable. Hockey’s smaller media footprint and fewer national broadcast deals directly affect salary caps and player earnings. Until league revenues grow significantly, this is the financial reality…even for the best player on Earth.
Compare against F1? There’s only 20 drivers
Sign the contract Toto!
MLB has no cap
NBA has what 9-10 players
NFL is an obsession in the US and it’s cap is like almost 300 million.
NFL salaries really just have the starting QBs with exorbitant amounts. Otherwise it’s close to 50 players and it varies the same as hockey.
NBA is just in another world. They have 60% of a NHL roster with 50% more raw cap, with the superstars making the lion’s share. And a luxury tax on top.
Ticket prices will explode in a few years, just like everything else. Most fans will be priced out yet barns will still be full.
15 million for george russell seems a bit low considering theres only 20 f1 seats in the world and hes the number one driver for mercedes. Some pretty mid footballers (soccer) are getting way more than that.
You mean how much mcdavid chose to get to get paid op.
Didn’t Joe Sakic make $19 million a year at some point in his career?
Now adjust for the amount of money each sport generates as a whole.
Your regular reminder that $12.5M is still a crazy amount of money for anyone to make in any job
The league needs to figure out how to ACTUALLY make money on TV deals. Hockey is not as popular in the US as football, basketball, and baseball but it *doesn’t have to be that way*.
I pay for Hulu, ESPN+, and Sling and still can’t watch the game I want half the damn time because of a black out.
They should really look at what the NBA did with Jordan in the 90s to explode their product.
I mean this is mostly about media rights deals, isn’t it? Most leagues have rev shares on deals which help increase salaries. NHL should be doing whatever it takes to get more exposure and TV rights deals with big networks
Of the players on this list, Benintendi is the bandit with that $15 million on a shit team like the White Sox lol.
Clearly McD’s is a strategically low, short-term, salary. His next contract after this one will certainly be the largest in the sport.
Also, not all sports have the same salary cap structure, which affects earnings.
I’ve alway said Connor McDavid is the Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers
While I understand the sentiment this could be also been done during Tom Brady’s time in New Enlgand where he was taking less than he could have.
All this tells me is Mercedes needs to fucking re-sign George Russell now!!!
The wild just signed Kaprizov for 17 mil a year, so the money is there. I dont know THAT much about contracts, but Mcdavid agreed to take less money for a winning team. That says a lot about him. Reminds me of Crosby.
Where kirill on that list? We can’t just cherry pick mcdavids super team friendly contract if we want to compare.
Andrew Benintendi. Brutal deal
It’s 3 million more … mind blowing lol
Now do Crosby
The other three leagues have more money, not surprising.
I live in North Dakota and every Minnesota Wild game is blacked out. Need cable to watch, unless they are on NBC or TNT those are basic channels with antenna. That’s only 3-4 games a year.
I don’t know who most of these people are. It’s weird he took less than Draisaitl, but seeing him only 3 million behind Russell just makes me think F1 drivers are severely underpaid as well.
I want this guy on my team
Poor guy…he can have my salary too if he wants
Well yeah Hockey is a less watched sport. Sports revenue is based on the attention it garners
I could not care less about that.
McDavid is the best player in his sport on that entire list and it’s not even close.
Yeah except McDavid is more the Max Verstappen of NHL than the George Russel. Max pulls in like 65 mill USD a year
Juan Soto made $60+ million this year alone, why isn’t he on the list to show disparity? Honest question.
Am I the only one who doesn’t know who any of these other people are?
Who the hell are these random people?
Not gonna lie, LEON DRAISAITL deserves every cent of that money.
Im convinced that guy can see 10 seconds into the future the second he gets on the ice. McJesus might not be the player he is without his seeing eye passer:
LEON DRAISAITL but the passes get more insane as they go:
[https://youtu.be/iE5CgW_I9K8?si=FtkoWxpo6EgeoDVk](https://youtu.be/iE5CgW_I9K8?si=FtkoWxpo6EgeoDVk)
Its hard to compare MLB to NHL when there is such a disparity in income generating potential. compare the number of games per season and average attendance. (81 home games per season with league wide average attendance of 29k and the top teams averaging over 40k attendees per game)
Big difference.
2 Coopers 1 Kupp
NHL players earn less because the league isn’t as popular as other sports.
The NFL makes 23 billion. NBA makes 11 billion. MLB is also 11 million. Finally, the NHL 6 makes billion.
It’s a small league comparatively. It will always be that way as well. Hockey has a very serious accessibility and diversity issue that just keeps it from being a popular league.
I only know mcdavid and draisaitl. Have no idea who the others are or what sport they play.Â
Maybe a dumb question, but when comparing NHL salaries are they all in USD or both American and Canadian?
Why does this matter? McDavid easily gets 18×8 if he wanted but he wants to win in Edmonton. He gave them 2 years and if they dont go out and spend the 6 million he just gave them to do it he is gone and making over 20 when cap rises.
I have no idea who 3/4 of those people are. Bedarded.
The only thing I see wrong with this list is how underpaid George Russel is