Why are the players' salaries in the NHL so much lower than the MBA, NFL and NBA?

Because their tv contract is barely existent compared to the other sports...with that being true, they haven't nearly the same amount of advertising revenues. Besides the NBA, they can't compare in ticket revenues, a baseball team plays twice as many games and probably can sell 50,000 tickets per home game - the NFL probably what 70-80,000 tickets per home game while a hockey team gets at best 16-19,000 at lesser prices per seat.

So much less tv revenue, much less advertising revenue and less ticket revenue = lesser salaries.

Plus hockey has a salary cap for each team that equals 2 good baseball or basketball players salaries.

Why are the players' salaries in the NHL so much lower than the MBA, NFL and NBA?nba statistics

Hockey is not as popular as professional basketball, football and baseball. Overall, NHL probably make the least out of the 4 major sports in America. Therefore, we can conclude the players wont be making as much when the whole league is not generating as much profits.

Why are the players' salaries in the NHL so much lower than the MBA, NFL and NBA?nba store ,nba teams

They dont need as much the other three need drug money, lawyer fees, bail and bond money.
hockey is an unappreciated sport. :(
You've got to love the painful truth in Jens answer, but it ALL comes down to the TV contracts. The revenue generated by the TV contracts to air games is a significant part of the money that the NBA, NFL %26amp; MLB use to pay player salaries.
Well their lovely strike resulting in a complete break-up of the league probably didn't hurt, and now that it's back in full swing they have an even steeper uphill battle if they ever want to compete for the spotlight with other major sporting leagues in the U.S. Truth be told, the NHL is #4 in America.. it's not a sport most people have played in their lifetimes (unlike Basketball, Football, and Baseball... all of which many kids grow up playing and watching throughout their adulthood). Because it's fan base is smaller, they'll never get paid what the other players make and rightfully so. Gretzky and lemieux are the only two household NHL names... I can name at least 20 from any of the other three sports, and I'm not even a big sports fan. That's the difference in pay... it's fame and fortune, and get get fortune you need the fame.
Well ok the first person does have something of the idea. With little revenue into the sport, and now a salary cap that is tied into how much is coming into the sport, you aren't going to see large salaries. Baseball has no hard cap(some would say they have a soft one with the luxury tax idea) and so with teams like the Yankees that make like millions or billions and the owner with deep pockets they can spend as much as they want. There is no rule to how much they spend, just you spend a certain amount then you are out of revenue sharing and have to pay more into it. The NFL make BILLIONS a year, they have great TV contracts and that is why even with their salary cap they can still make a lot. Not sure how the NBA does salaries, but they also make more money then the NHL.
You can spin this as you like but after suffering from years of out of control salaries hockey has found a way to keep costs under control. Too bad it doesn't translate into lower ticket prices.

For the NFL, players have a short career span with high risk pf injury so they pay them well.

Baseball is just out to lunch and I expect will suffer one day from their totally out of control spending. It's not possible for small markets to win which will eventually erode the fan base.
Because no one watches hockey pretty much south of Michigan! I'm in Texas and love hockey, but maybe only 1% of the population here cares about it...
it all depends on the ratings. NHL ratings are not as high as those of other sports, i mean i have not watched one NHL playoff game so far and im not sure if any of them have even been on TV. you have to have high ratings to actually get paid high. The salary cap might also be an issue. most teams have a very low cap and cannot sign players for 100 million dollars as in baseball or basketball. Anyway, why would you pay a player all that money when nobody is watching them play? I wouldnt do that and im sure you wouldnt either. The Stanley Cup does not mean as much as it used to, it is just a trophy that you win at the finals now. It was once the biggest trophy you can have but now, even the NCAA Championship means more than the Stanley Cup does.
It's the least popular sport of the four major sports (it is also the most entertaining and is played with the most emotion). Thank God for Canada.
First, as mentioned, the NHL doesn't make as much money as the big 3. The NHL's primary money maker is the gate. Advertising dollars for television broadcasts make a huge difference. NHL barely has a national television deal and since ratings are so poor, the prospect of getting a better one next time around aren't looking good.

Second, MLB doesn't have a salary cap. They can pay their players as much as they want and they have more to dip from.

Third, NBA has a soft "cap" and luxary tax. They can do all kinds of crap that the NHL can't, including paying a tax on all monies over the cap limit. If the NHL had this, Toronto, New York, etc would be able to jack salaries because they can afford to pay the tax.

Fourth, I don't think the NFL salaries are so much higher. They have a hard cap, too, and despite making a lot more money than the NHL their rosters are what? three times as big? More money, but a lot more pockets to put it in.
a lot less attention is payed to hockey
You think the NHL is Bad ? ... Go and Take a Look at the Salaries of MLS (Major League Soccer) players. It's a Joke.
Does it really matter? They all get paid a tonne either way.
It is relative to revenue. How much an organization brings in is a huge factor on how much you can spend on players salaries. Also in the case of the NBA, it is easier to pay 12 players as oppose to they 20 plus players on the NHL rosters.
I'm assuming by MBA, you mean MLB.

The NHL team salary cap ($44M for 06-07) aside, player salaries reflect league revenue and the NHL has the smallest revenue of the 4 'major' sports. The biggest reason for the revenue disparity is the NHL's televion package (both national and cable) revenue, which is downright anemic compared to the NFL, NBA and MLB.
Because its hockey and the only people who watch hockey are from Minnesota and Canada.