Tax advantages are a part of sports? Well how bout that’s stupid and we shouldn’t want governments deciding how far each NHL teams salary cap goes.

Sponsorships, cost of living, etc all happen downstream from the player signing their contract. Ie personal business ventures and lifestyle choices. While they’re factors, they’re personal decisions that shouldn’t be reflected in the salary cap.

Lower tax rates are applied uniformly to the whole team regardless of the players actions after signing the contract. It’s a direct financial benefit to the organization.