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Better hockey, fewer miracles

Matthew Yglesias · Slow Boring · ·10 min read
Commentary by Hex Index staff

The Olympics Sold Out — And Hockey Got Left Behind

Matthew Yglesias traces the quiet transformation of the Winter Olympics from amateur spectacle to professional entertainment industry. The shift happened so fast that most viewers never noticed the rules changed — only the athletes did.

Amateurism Was Always a Lie

The old system pretended athletes weren't workers while entire governments funded their training. Matthew Yglesias writes, "The rules created a system where countries with state sports programs — particularly the Soviet Union and East Germany — had a massive advantage because their athletes received support that was not technically payment."

Better hockey, fewer miracles

The International Olympic Committee abandoned amateurism in the early 1990s, claiming to level the playing field. If Eastern bloc athletes were effectively professionals funded by their governments, why handicap other athletes who needed private sponsorship to train full-time?

As Matthew Yglesias puts it, "The professionalization of the Olympics happened quickly and with remarkably little public debate." No town halls. No voter input. Just commissioners deciding that Nike and Red Bill should replace state ministries.

"The romantic notion of the Olympics as separate from commerce was always somewhat false, but it's now completely abandoned."

Hockey's Strange Position

The National Hockey League participated in the Winter Games from 1998 through 2014. Then it skipped 2018 due to disputes over travel, insurance, and accommodations. Matthew Yglesias writes, "The league planned to return for 2022, but Covid threw a wrench in that."

The problem is structural. Olympic hockey happens in February, right in the middle of the National Hockey League season. Taking a two-week break disrupts the league schedule, risks player injuries, and doesn't generate direct revenue for team owners.

Matthew Yglesias notes, "Hockey has achieved professionalization's logical endpoint: The Olympics need professional athletes, but professional leagues don't necessarily need the Olympics."

The Underdog Died

Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards, the British ski jumper who finished last at Calgary but became a folk hero, would not qualify today. Following his performance in 1988, the International Olympic Committee instituted what became known as the Eddie the Eagle Rule, requiring Olympic hopefuls to compete in international events and be placed in the top 30 percent or the top 50 competitors.

Matthew Yglesias writes, "The Olympics are now more competitive — an actual display of the many of the best athletes in the world — but they are also more predictable."

Most Athletes Still Don't Make Much Money

Yes, Mikaela Shiffrin and Shaun White have made millions. But most Olympic athletes earn modest incomes from a patchwork of national federation support, small sponsorships, and prize money. American women's rugby player Ilona Maher started posting videos documenting her time in Tokyo and quickly found it to be a way to get sponsorships and make more money.

Matthew Yglesias quotes Maher: "I don't think it was really the way that I wanted, to be a content creator, but I just saw the value in it and I put my time and effort into it because I want to be able to play the sport, but I also want to have a comfortable life and be able to live well."

Critics might note that professionalization simply replaced one inequity with another. Under amateurism, countries with state programs dominated. Under professionalism, wealthy countries with well-developed pro-sports leagues and sponsorship markets dominate. Norway still wins the most medals, and the United States, Russia, and China remain top competitors.

Critics might also argue that turning athletes into content creators degrades the competition itself. When Ilona Maher says she became a content creator because she "want[s] to have a comfortable life," she's describing a system where athletic excellence alone doesn't pay rent.

Matthew Yglesias writes, "Professionalization made the Olympics accessible to more athletes, but it didn't make most winter sports lucrative."

Bottom Line

The Olympics became fairer for athletes and more entertaining for viewers, but the transformation came at a cost: underdog stories vanished, athletes became brand workers, and the Games lost their mythic separation from commerce. Hockey's semi-reversal — where the National Hockey League now skips Olympics because it doesn't need them — reveals the endgame: professional leagues hold all the leverage, and the Olympics must negotiate for access to the best players. The miracle isn't on ice anymore. It's in the sponsorship deals.

Sources

Better hockey, fewer miracles

by Matthew Yglesias · Slow Boring · Read full article

The 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics will feature athletes who are millionaires, Instagram influencers, and employees of multinational corporations. None of this would have been possible 40 years ago because, in addition to the comparably recent advent of social media, until the 1980s the Olympic Games were reserved for amateur athletes.

In 1984, if you accepted free ski equipment from a manufacturer, you could lose your Olympic eligibility. By 2026, the athletes who do not have equipment sponsors are the oddities. Those who are predicted to be top competitors at the Olympic level have almost certainly already been identified and sponsored by some company like Nike or Red Bull or Toyota. There are plenty of exceptions, though, including Stephen Nedoroscik, a.k.a. the “pommel horse guy,” who emerged in 2024 as a dark horse and won a bronze medal with very little prior public notice.

The professionalization of the Olympics happened quickly and with remarkably little public debate. But the shift from amateurism went beyond just allowing athletes to make money. It fundamentally changed what the Olympics are, who competes, and what we’re watching.

Amateurism’s last stand.

The 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics marked the end of the era of amateurism.

Tennis had already gone professional at the Summer Games in Seoul that same year, with German Steffi Graf achieving the first-ever “Golden Slam” when she won a gold medal in addition to all four major tournaments. Winter sports had held out longer, though. The reasons were partly ideological and partly practical, in that many winter sports had smaller audiences and more limited commercial appeal, so there wasn’t as much money to professionalize anyway.

But the old amateur rules were byzantine and increasingly absurd. Figure skaters could perform in ice shows but could not be paid, instead receiving reimbursements for “expenses.” Some athletes developed workarounds where equipment manufacturers would pay money into trust funds managed by national federations. The rules created a system where countries with state sports programs — particularly the Soviet Union and East Germany — had a massive advantage because their athletes received support that was not technically payment.

When the International Olympic Committee finally abandoned amateurism in the early 1990s, the stated rationale was leveling the playing field. If Eastern bloc athletes were effectively professionals funded by their governments, why handicap other athletes who needed private sponsorship to train full-time?

The period of transformation.

The transformation of the games ...