A Premier League Salary Cap
As the announcement of a record-breaking TV rights deal for the Premier league all-but-confirmed it as the envy of the sporting world for at least another 4 years, it was accompanied by a familiar sense of foreboding.
A niggling doubt, which utters one incessant harrowing thought – that the Premier league bubble cannot continue to expand like this forever – Eventually, it is going to burst.
Last month, it was revealed that the league had sold the television rights to its games between 2016-19 for a staggering £5.136bn.
According to the BBC, Sky paid 83% more than it did at the previous auction, while BT also paid 18% more, in order to increase the number of live matches it will show, from 38 to 42, each year.
BT are committed to paying £320m per season, compared to the £246m it spends at present, and Sky have said it will pay £1.392bn, just over £11m per match, for the right to broadcast 126 games – 10 more than they already do.
A Million Pounds a Week!
And as these enormous sums of money trickle down to the 20 clubs who make up the most lucrative league in Europe, former Celtic, Arsenal and West Ham striker, John Hartson, is convinced that we will one day see a player who earns £1m per week!
A bold statement, perhaps, but when you consider that Hartson became the most expensive teenager in British football, in signing for the Gunners for a mere £2.5m exactly 20 years ago, perhaps we would be naïve to doubt him.
Hartson argued that player ‘salaries should be capped’, adding that ‘it’s frightening – when some people can’t afford bread and milk and there’s a recession going on’.
And while I imagine that many of us would applaud the Welshman’s sentiment, a salary cap, need not be viewed as some radical notion, cooked up by the footballing romanticists and socialists in a desperate attempt to bridge the gulf between the modern day football fan and the superstar athlete… Those bridges, I’m afraid, have long since been burned.
It might however, hold the key to the long-term future stability of the Premier league product altogether.
A Radical idea
Because, in actual fact, it’s not that radical an idea at all… indeed it’s not even a new one.
Three of the ‘Big Four’ leagues in North America including the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA) as well as the Major Soccer League (MLS) implement a salary cap on its teams, while its worth noting that the Aviva Premiership in Rugby Union and the Super League in Rugby league, also operate under similar rules.
The cap would essentially mean that a limit is placed on the amount of money that a team can spend on player salaries. Financial Fair Play Mark II, if you will, as not only will it limit clubs spending, relative to their income, but actually promote parity amongst all the teams in the division, as every clubs ability to attract players would be roughly even.
It would also aim to prevent richer clubs from certain destructive behaviours – such as signing the best available players, purely to prevent their rivals from having them – thus ensuring victory through superior economic muscle.
It could be argued that with the exception of a few teams this season (i.e. Southampton and QPR) where your team will finish in the league directly correlates to the size of their wage bill, in contrast to the rest of the division. And while very few games are a foregone conclusion in what is undoubtedly, the most competitive ‘elite’ league in Europe, the title-race would conceivably include far more than just a couple of thoroughbreds, just as the battle against relegation wouldn’t hinge on money spent in the January transfer window.
The onus would once again be on coaching, strategy and tactics, and even youth development, as clubs would be dependent on finding new ways to gain an advantage over the rest of the pack. Rather than scouring the globe, we may also be forced to look for ‘the next Lionel Messi’ right here at home, within our own academies and schools – something that very few England fans would object to I’m sure.
Larry Bird
Furthermore, and thanks to what is commonly known as the ‘Larry Bird’ exception (the Boston Celtics great was successfully retained by the club until his retirement under the provisions of this rule) clubs would be able to break a ‘soft cap’ limit in negotiations with their existing players, giving them a distinct advantage over teams who might be trying to lure their players away.
Naturally, it would have to be enforced right across Europe’s top leagues so as to ensure that the very thing which is driving so many of Football’s biggest stars towards our shores, doesn’t wind up sending them right back where they came from.
But, without being able to seduce players with pots of cash, we might yet see another Steven Gerrard or Ryan Giggs; one-club-men with a deep affinity for the side that gave them their big break…. At the very least, players would only leave to sign for clubs with great tradition or an illustrious history – both of which are excuses far easier to stomach.
And while the players themselves would be dealt the biggest blow, when their over-inflated salaries are cut down to size, no footballer yet to even make his Premier league debut should be on more money per week, than many of us will make in two years!
Ultimately, a salary cap would help clubs control costs and create a more balanced, competitive league, so there is no reason to assume the TV money will suddenly dry up. With the excess revenue then, Premier League clubs would be under increased pressure to lower ticket prices, plough money into ‘Grass Roots’ initiatives and facilities and even subsidize the training of young coaches and referees in UK.
Nothing lasts forever and all good things must come to an end. The Premier league will remain the most watched league in the world for a few more years, but eventually, inevitably, interest will subside. And introducing a salary cap sooner rather than later, will protect the enduring future of the beautiful game… long after the proverbial bubble has burst.
Follow Adonis on Twitter @adonis131. Adonis also runs a radio show, @IOTPshow, so be sure to check that out if you want to hear more from him.
