4 ms·

Surely a salary cap would only benefit the big club owners? Unless you count non-consequence for financial mismanagement of the biggest clubs as a win.

toyg 6y ago
If the cap is per-team, it would stop top clubs from building “galactico” teams packed with superstars: if you spend a ton on Ronaldo you then have to pay peanuts for other team members. This is basically the NBA model, where any franchise can typically afford a superstar only in one or two roles. Hence why very few NBA franchises have historically managed to win back-to-back titles for several years: every season you have to cut corners somewhere.
- estomagordo 6y ago
  Not that I'm a big advocate of the players' economy or anything, but effectively a salary cap is a financial transfer from the players to the ownership, no? Plus, I assume a salary cap wouldn't be EU compliant.
  - toyg 6y ago
    On a per-player basis no, it wouldn't be legal. But IMHO it must be doable in other ways; Formula1 for example has just introduced one, and I've not heard any noise about getting challenged from drivers or engineers. Financial Fair Play was initially conceived as a way to basically create such caps informally (since clubs would not be supposed to spend beyond their means) but it was then implemented to effectively be a moat for currently-rich clubs; in that form, it was eventually destroyed by the sheikh owner of Manchester City. If UEFA were to try again to build a sincere level-playing field for rich and poor clubs alike, I reckon governments and judges wouldn't stand in the way ("sport law" is a bit of a grey area in practice). Whether a cap is a "financial transfer from players to ownership", really depends on how the surplus is then channelled. If it goes towards actual development of the club and the sport (better long-term financial investments to keep clubs solvent, higher solidarity payments down the pyramids, more money for academies, etc), I wouldn't see it as objectionable.
    - theluketaylor 6y ago
      The F1 spending cap excludes driver and executive pay, so it's not surprising the drivers are not squawking. Any salary cap needs to include revenue sharing agreements between the players and ownership to remotely work, and even then it's pretty touch and go. The NHL and NBA both have strong salary caps and have faced multiple lockouts in the past few decades.
  - Leherenn 6y ago
    There's a salary cap in rugby in the English and French leagues.

toyg 6y ago

If the cap is per-team, it would stop top clubs from building “galactico” teams packed with superstars: if you spend a ton on Ronaldo you then have to pay peanuts for other team members. This is basically the NBA model, where any franchise can typically afford a superstar only in one or two roles. Hence why very few NBA franchises have historically managed to win back-to-back titles for several years: every season you have to cut corners somewhere.

estomagordo 6y ago
Not that I'm a big advocate of the players' economy or anything, but effectively a salary cap is a financial transfer from the players to the ownership, no? Plus, I assume a salary cap wouldn't be EU compliant.
- toyg 6y ago
  On a per-player basis no, it wouldn't be legal. But IMHO it must be doable in other ways; Formula1 for example has just introduced one, and I've not heard any noise about getting challenged from drivers or engineers. Financial Fair Play was initially conceived as a way to basically create such caps informally (since clubs would not be supposed to spend beyond their means) but it was then implemented to effectively be a moat for currently-rich clubs; in that form, it was eventually destroyed by the sheikh owner of Manchester City. If UEFA were to try again to build a sincere level-playing field for rich and poor clubs alike, I reckon governments and judges wouldn't stand in the way ("sport law" is a bit of a grey area in practice). Whether a cap is a "financial transfer from players to ownership", really depends on how the surplus is then channelled. If it goes towards actual development of the club and the sport (better long-term financial investments to keep clubs solvent, higher solidarity payments down the pyramids, more money for academies, etc), I wouldn't see it as objectionable.
  - theluketaylor 6y ago
    The F1 spending cap excludes driver and executive pay, so it's not surprising the drivers are not squawking. Any salary cap needs to include revenue sharing agreements between the players and ownership to remotely work, and even then it's pretty touch and go. The NHL and NBA both have strong salary caps and have faced multiple lockouts in the past few decades.
- Leherenn 6y ago
  There's a salary cap in rugby in the English and French leagues.