4 replies to this topic

[Jennifer1515]

Guess there is a way for players to make a bit of money during the lockout that doesnt involve playing the game...

Just a few minutes after one o'clock, Ed Belfour settled into his seat, flexed his fingers and went to work.

Sixty-two minutes and 400 signatures later, his job was done. At $50 per signature, Belfour's celebrity grossed about $20,000 for the Sportcard and Memorabilia Expo at the International Centre.
...
From that, you can infer that Belfour's appearance fee was about $20,000, which is a considerable discount on his usual hourly-rate of pay, given he's on the first year of a three-year contract to guard the Maple Leaf net that could pay him as much as $20 million, $16 million of it guaranteed

To some, it probably grates that a millionaire hockey player is cashing in like this even while he's part of a labour dispute that is depriving millions of people the game they love. Get over it. Sure it's dopey, both for hockey to be shut down and for a guy's autograph to be worth $50.

But nobody held a gun to the heads of those autograph hounds, any more than they held a gun to the NHL owners' heads to sign all those loopy contracts that got them in this sorry state. It's business. Not good business, just business.

Eagle signs for $20K on autographs

[Barmy Army]

Pathetic

[Just Duckie]

Some athletes may figure 'if someone is going to make money off of my autograph, I might as well too.' I sort of understand that attitude because I know there are professional autograph seekers (go on Ebay and see all of the signed sports memorabilia for sale). It really gets bad when athletes won't even sign for kids. Sadly, this is a sign of the times. I'm just glad that most hockey players don't do this.

I like TS's attitude about autographs. He signed anything for anyone. I remember at a Fan Fair event some men were standing behind me waiting to get PK's autograph and they made the comment that TS's autograph was worthless because he signs too many things. Whether or not TS deliberately signs everything because he doesn't want others to profit off of his signature or because he genuinely appreciates his fans (after meeting him, I personally think this is more the case), then great, I'm glad those parasites don't get to profit off of TS's name.

The only way I would pay for an athlete autograph is if it were for a charitable fund raiser (like Fan Fair, Casino Night---although fans aren't supposed to ask for autographs at Casino Night, etc.).

[Veca]

It's just too darn bad that all the ticket takers, parking attendants , security folks etc, etc. are not in a position to sell THEIR autographs during the lock out to help put some food on the table....eh???

[MrsBevo]

I'm stunned that people paid $50 for Belfour's signature!