Money. It was money.

I haven’t cared about professional hockey for a couple of decades now.

I noticed that their business model turned into cultivating fans. Fans by tickets and merchandise at unreasonable prices, regardless of the quality of hockey and the way that the fans are treated. That’s the way you maximize the profit you can extract.

For example, take the Toronto Maple Leafs. I’m in my 60s, and I was 5 years old when they last won the Stanley Cup. Yet season tickets range from $2300 to $28,000 each, with an upfront fee that can be more than $100,000. And there is a 20-year waiting list. An extreme example, but also a perfect example of a franchise abusing its willing fans.

You see it with the marketing surrounding national teams as well. I first noticed this when I was living in japan, and my kids became confused about whether they should root for their father’s Canadian team, or their mother’s Japanese team. I wondered why they should have to choose, and why we shouldn’t just appreciate the beauty and thrill of competition rather than identifying with one side.

Greed.

Rogers

This is just awful.

Can’t have anything good anymore. Nothing’s sacred.