NHL Organization Under Fire For Manipulating Youth Hockey Families For Profit
Photo credit: NHL.com
Members of an NHL organization have been accused of using their authority with the team to exploit and profit from youth hockey families, an investigation confirmed that three executives booked hotel stays, while profiting from a company, ran by them, that took a large pay cut.
Damon Boettcher, Lucas Reid and Brad Buckland of the NHL's Dallas Stars organization allegedly ran a company called 'Stay2Play LLC', which required youth hockey families to book hotel stays for tournament through, and stole a cut of revenue from Hilton Hotels.
"The employees separately ran a company, Stay2Play LIC, that acted as a middleman between the Stars and the hotels, taking a cut of the revenue," Kenny Jacoby of USA Today wrote
It reportedly started in 2020 and lasted until December of 2024, manipulating youth hockey families for over four years. Over this span, families were unable to use different hotels that were cheaper, or even book Airbnb's to cut costs for them. If so, they were threatened with removal from the tournament without the refund, which was a whopping $1,000 to $2,000 per team.
Reid and Buckland, the Dallas Stars' executives, were leaders in the Texas Amateur Hockey Association, which covers hockey in Texas and Oklahoma for both adults and youth.
In January, the three NHL executives seemingly had their ties cut with the Dallas Stars. However, Reid and Buckland are somehow still on the Texas Amateur Hockey Associations board.
Stay2Play LLC was created by Boettcher, Reid and Buckland, alongside Boettcher's wife as well. While another company owned by the wife and husband owned a whopping 50% stake in 'Stay2Play'.
The Dallas Stars had a contract agreement with Hilton to provide hotel stays for tournaments, which three team members used to their advantage and exploiting of youth hockey families.
The Stars have confirmed that they've cut ties with 'Stay2Play'.
| POLL | ||
MARS 25 | 543 ANSWERS NHL Organization Under Fire For Manipulating Youth Hockey Families For Profit Do you think this NHL organization should be responsible in paying back the fees taken from these youth hockey families? | ||
| Yes | 474 | 87.3 % |
| No | 69 | 12.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
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