Forty years ago, athletes were considered amateurs. For the most part, they eschewed endorsement contracts from major shoe manufacturers and other sporting companies. The Amateur Athletic Union in the United States, the Amateur Athletic Association in Great Britain and similar organizations in other countries watched every penny that changed hands in a hawkish manner that would put the NCAA’s auditors to shame. Many a talented and capable athlete went without making any reasonable amount of money in sport for the dream of competing in events that required retention of one’s amateur status, such as the Olympic Games, the World Cup and Grand Slam Tennis Championships.

Now, more and more leagues and sports have made the move toward professionalism. Sports management emerged as a profession in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and major amateur championships began to admit more and more professionals to compete. As might be anticipated, a greater number of sportsmen and women began to leave the amateur ranks in an attempt to keep up with focused, single-minded professionals. With the exception of student-athletes in the collegiate leagues such as the NCAA and NAIA, most serious athletes are of the professional nature (receiving remuneration for their efforts).

With the possible exception of these university leagues where, at least officially, academics are the first priority, money drives professional sports and is consistently the motivating force behind most of its changes. Teams like the New York Yankees in the MLB, Manchester United and Chelsea in the English Premier League, the Washington Redskins of the NFL and the New York Rangers of the NHL spend hundreds of millions of dollars recruiting and paying players. Last year, the Redskins spent over $126 million in salaries alone to resurrect their slumping franchise.

In many cases these GMs may even risk the franchise’s longevity or the loyalty of its fans for moves they feel may better their own financial standing. One need look no further than Brett Favre’s exit from Green Bay in March of 2008 after long-standing disagreements with GM Ted Thompson. Perhaps Thompson was trying to unload a flickering star in danger of extinguishing, maybe he was trying to lighten the payroll or maybe he just did not like Favre, but one thing is very clear: the management has no sympathy for those who mistake sport for a friendly business.

GMs, club owners, endorsement agents and club presidents are not in it for enjoyment (at least not entirely — they are not in it to make all the people in Packers jerseys at Lambeau look up to Brett Favre, they are not interested in English soccer fans feeling patriotic when watching Englishmen take center stage at Old Trafford or Highbury; they are in it to make money.

This is how the rest of the world works, and why should it not be extended to sport? Franchises that make decisions based on what is best for the fans and the players are doomed to failure. Remember the Quebec Nordiques? Well, now they are the Colorado Avalanche, but before that they may have been one of the most revered teams in sports, and certainly had the NHL’s most loyal fan base. Everyone know Canadians love hockey, and among Canadians, French-Canadians are consistently the most fanatic. Sadly though, despite the players loving the atmosphere in Quebec City and the people proud to have them there, the franchise packed up and moved across the border.

Why? Money. There simply were not enough people coming to games for the franchise to stay afloat. The entire population of Quebec could have come to every single game and it still might not have made a difference. Now, those hockey fans might be the most loyal fans any team could ask for and the team undoubtedly did a lot of good things for the community, but in the end, the GM had to make the choice to move the team.

Without money, professional sports will fall apart, because since the end of amateurism, sport has become a business, and businesses revolve around money. To see it any other way is just naive. Athletes must continue to look to their balance books and bank accounts, or regardless of how much they love their sport, they will be retiring early.