Spuzz It's very telling, imo.
It seems to be. I doubt that the players are lacking gratitude for the organization. The reality is that organizations change over time and sometimes quite drastically based upon who is chosen to lead. If some of the players approached the leadership about something they believed wasn't in their best interest and the leadership told them to go pound sand, which they are in a position to do as long as they control the most coveted playing field, then it's fairly easy to predict players leaving when an opportunity to thrive someplace else comes up.
The worst thing any manager ever said to me was "just be happy you have a job". That basically says "I have all the power and you have none". I've made it a point to move on to another job any time I've heard management at a company say that ever since.