The NHL ranked 10th, with only 22 percent saying the league does a good job of selling itself, according to the Sports Business Journal study. Even in Canada, the cradle of hockey, teams are on the financial rocks. At some point the teams will either go out of business or south of the border, and there aren't a lot of markets left that make sense. In fact, last year, the Fox Network exited its national hockey contract after watching ratings drop 30 percent over five years. Nationally, it's a more difficult sell.
Winners struggle, too Even winning teams appear to have losing bottom lines.
Meanwhile, Wings' payroll costs continue to climb from last season. If you look at our situation, we won't be able to pay every player what they think is their marketplace value and keep everybody. The numbers don't add up. A lot of teams are just getting by and are struggling with the game's economics. Teams need to run like businesses and can't assume they'll make the playoffs.