Regardless of what the final numbers are, the World Cup of Hockey "was not quite the cash cow that was originally predicted," as the total profit of less than $40M is "significantly lower than was projected when the event was first conceived, perhaps as much" as 50% lower, according to Ken Campbell of THE HOCKEY NEWS. Sources said that the players who played in the World Cup have agreed to be paid 70% of their share of the profits from the tournament, while the other 30% will "go to the players in the NHL who didn’t play." Each of the 184 players who were on a World Cup roster "projected to be paid between $75,000 and $80,000, while players who spent all 186 days on an NHL roster last season will be paid about $10,000 each." Players who were not on an NHL roster for the entire season will be "paid a pro-rated amount." Players who were named to World Cup rosters and were injured before the World Cup will "get less than those who played, but more than those who were not named to a roster." On top of that, players on Team Canada will "split another $500,000 in prize money for winning the tournament, with an additional $500,000 going to Hockey Canada." The players on Team Europe will "split $250,000 for finishing second, with another $250,000 being split among each of the European federations that made up the team, with the amount being pro-rated based on the number of players from each federation who were members of Team Europe." Based on these figures, the players will be "getting a total somewhere in the neighborhood" of $18.7M total, with the "same amount going to the NHL" (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 11/22).
