Thursday, July 21, 2005

A Hockey Proposal

It seems that we are going to be inundated with hockey again next winter. There was something odd about two groups of millionaires arguing about who was going to be richer (rich vs. stinking rich was one description I heard) but they have come to an agreement.

I however have another proposal should the owners turn this one down. I propose that the NHL do away with a minimum salary. Instead we institute a maximum salary of, let's say $1 million (which is still an obscene amount to chase a little black rubber disk around the ice). Since I am feeling generous I will allow that any player can earn the equivalent of his salary in signing and performance bonuses. For any player earning more than the maximum both the player and the team have to donate 50% of the overage to a local charity. On the owner side, any franchise can only earn a limited profit, say $1 million, from ticket sales (out of generosity I won't suggest touching merchandise and concession sales at this point). If the franchise makes more than this they would be required to refund the overage to their season ticket holders. In addition, any franchise which sells luxury boxes will have to include in each sales contract that for at least 25% of the games the box will be made available to a local children's charity--for the kids, not the staf or donors.

WEll that seems like a good start. Maybe if it catches on we can spread the idea into other pro sports.

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