Since the early ’90s, prices of hockey sticks have skyrocketed. In the initial days, a hockey player could purchase wood hockey sticks for $24-$30 for every stick. But nowadays, the best hockey sticks cost up to $300 and above per piece. Here are five reasons why hockey sticks are so expensive:
1) Manufacturing material
It is a known fact that carbon fiber is more expensive than wood or aluminum. Producing carbon fiber requires a lot of energy and resources, and therefore, its use is limited to industries whose top priority is performance, such as aerospace, motorsports, and defense. The Total Hockey company use brittle and heavy carbon fiber. Sometimes they even mix carbon fiber with other less-expensive materials, which results in heavy hockey sticks that lack durability.
The most expensive and top-quality hockey sticks use premium carbon fiber which is lighter and stronger. Manufacturing a hockey stick from 100% carbon fiber provides durability, strength, lightweight, and high-performing hockey sticks but are more expensive than the cheaper options.
2) Labor
Manufacturing carbon fiber hockey sticks requires a lot of labor. It requires skill as well as a great number of workers. The production of carbon fiber hockey sticks consists of three main stages, including design, manufacturing, and decoration.
The design stage consists of brainstorming, designing, testing, and finalizing the physical aspects of the hockey stick, such as its shape, kick point, hosel, taper, patterns, and blade core.
After this, skilled carbon fiber workers bring the idea of the hockey stick to life during the manufacturing stage; they mold, layer, wrap and fuse the carbon fiber to produce one single piece of a hockey stick. And lastly. The hockey sticks are packed and shipped. The hockey sticks are decorated with a wrap, a clear coat, and the grip.
3) Endorsements
Hockey players are paid six-figure endorsement deals to promote a brand of hockey sticks. And it is no secret that the endorsements come from the consumer’s end, which means consumers pay for the endorsement deals. Player endorsements do not increase the durability or performance of a hockey stick; instead, all the added costs are used to convince consumers the product is worth the money.
4) Retail markup
Retailers take a lot of expenses such as providing utilities, rent, wages, and much more to offer customers the product right now with only a profit margin on their product that will be enough to pay the bills. But if it is not urgent and you do not need the hockey stick right now, is it worth paying the middleman a premium of 50%?
5) Company profits
Hockey, like all other major sports, is a big business with many big companies involved. Business investors love growing profits, and the easiest way to increase profits is to raise the prices at the consumer’s end. A single high-performance and quality hockey stick costs around $300, which makes hockey limited to affluent families. So the ideal targets are wealthy people.
In a nutshell
In the old days, hockey sticks were made out of wood and were not that expensive. But in today’s world, hockey has become a big business around the world, and there are many factors that come to play and affect the cost of a hockey stick. Nowadays, if a player wants to buy a high-quality, high-performance hockey stick, they must have at least $280 in their wallet.
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