Is There Any Loyalty Left In Sports?

In an era where money seems to be the biggest factor for sportsmen, it looks more and more clear that winning championships, and building a legacy, is second on people's minds, and the big multi million deals is all that matters. With the Saudi league in football sending shock waves around the world with the ridiculous contracts, and NHL players forcing trades just because they want a big deal, they question whether money is all that matters.

Here is why loyalty and hunger is slowly fading away in the world of sports, and why commercialised sports have ruined the authenticity and landscape of the sporting world.

On the 11th of December 2024, Major League Baseball star Juan Soto decided to join his fourth team in only six years after signing a tremendous $765 million, 15 year deal with the New York Mets, changing the landscape of sporting contracts for the worse. Soto, who lost the world series with the Yankees at the end of the 2024 season, decided to make the move to the teams rivals after signing a $51 million a year deal with the New York Mets, being the perfect example of money over loyalty. After suffering a disappointing world series loss, it seemed at the age of 26 Soto had already decided to settle down, and choose money over loyalty, and sees the financial gain more important than drive to be the best. 

Soto, who had already won a world series with the Nationals in 2019 perhaps believed he had already achieved everything he wanted to, becoming a world series champ, batting champ, and an all star whilst being in Washington, and felt the financial side of the game is more important. But if this was the case, in modern day sports, the sheer magnitude of money is too attractive to sportsmen, and all hunger to be better goes out of the window. 

What most don't know about Soto’s move to the Mets is the massive $75 million signing bonus he received, on top of the 765 million dollars he will receive over the next 15 years. Don't get me wrong, the Mets are a decent team, and with Soto on the books, could make a very good case for the playoffs, but it's hard to ignore the deciding factor of the move for the four time all star is the disgusting number of financial incentives within the contract.

But how exactly has Soto’s historical contract extension changed the landscape of contract negotiations across all sports?

One sport which is seeing a rapid growth in increasing salary demands is the NHL. The NHL is by far the league with the smallest contracts, the biggest contracts being around 15-16 million dollars per year, but ever since the Sot deal, the demands have been pretty hefty. With the commissioner announcing the massive boost in salary cap next year, some of the biggest stars including Mitch Marner and Mikko Rantanen have decided to capitalise on the potential money making opportunities under the new salary cap. Rantanen being the perfect example. The Finnish international was traded from the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes two weeks ago due to contract negotiation breakdowns between Mikko and Colorado, as he demands a base salary which the Avalanche refuse to grant. It's rumoured that he is asking between the $13-15 million a year average salary, and is prepared to join any team which offers him what he desires. But why not take a pay cut and stay on a team pushing for the cup and win a second ring? Rantanen has made it clear, the new generation of players prefer the financial opportunities compared to cup success, and has highlighted this in the last few weeks. 

Rantanen and Marner, two of the biggest and most valuable players, have both stated they are both prepared to join non-playoff teams, and sacrifice their chances at Stanley Cup glory, just so they get paid what they think they deserve. But this shouldn't be the case. Differently with Marner, he hasn't won a cup, and still has the biggest goal of them all, and shouldn't be putting his salary desires ahead of his desire to win the cup, and it's sad to see the best players in the game choose money over loyalty and legacy.

Due to the smaller market the league has compared to the rest of the sports in the country, money, and salary has never been an issue in the NHL, and it is sad to see that the modern day greed of bigger salaries, has intercepted players true love and passion for their game.

The main issue around salary in sports today is often about comparisons, and players believing they should be paid as much as their ‘compared’ player. But each player should have a different salary based on the value they have not to the league, the media and the fans, but to the team. For example, The Tee Higgins situation in Cincinnati is a tough one because of what kind of value he brings to the team, and why he should be paid more than others. With Higgins threatening to leave the team, it's almost as if salary demands are an easy way out for sportsmen in today's game, and is a big issue that isn't good for the game.

With the NFL market being as big as it is, players will always demand more. Another situation around the Bengals is the Trey Hendrickson situation. Hendrickson, who is a vital part of the Bengals success, has asked for a contract re-negotiation or a trade, purely because of the attention on Myles Garrett at the moment. It's completely out of order and unfair for players to get up and decide they want more money because others have been given more, and the greed players have in the modern day, isn't good for the loyalty of the teams, and shows the clear commitment issues people have in the sport.

But how can teams clamp down on the issue?

It's arguably one of the toughest times in sports for general managers, with salary caps carrying on increasing. And player demands being higher than ever, it's tough for general managers and teams as a whole to get players to commit and be loyal to teams. With the whole Rantanen situation in Colorado, it showed that teams are still willing to stand up, and deny requests. Unfortunately for Colorado, they lost a player who was a true leader, and a star on the team, but a greedy player always has their minds on other things than the game itself. Sports in the US, and across the world, have slowly turned even more into a business over the last two or three years, and it's hard to say whether true loyalty to sports will ever come back.