League headed for disaster

When will the league crack down on over budget teams like Edmonton. 4 qb's, a WR and DB = almost a million in salary. Come on now. Let's be real. There are at least four teams who will be forced to fold. If you can't get headliners on your team you will not get fans out. That spells disaster. Can Sask even afford one QB at 460.000. I doubt it.

Well the NHL Rangers had a lot of money tied up in it's players and they still never made the playoffs consistenlty because of less than adequate coaching and goalie. Maybe the Eskies will be the like the Rangers with the inadequate coaching and not making the playoffs.

I don't agree about the disaster yet. I'd like to see some proof on lower paid teams consistently doing poorly. If so, I agree that this would suck. I stopped watching baseball over a decade ago because the 13 lowest paid teams all had records below .500 and I was an Expos fan so there was no hope. Why watch if there is no hope? Even with this strong correlation between salaries and winning %, baseball is thriving. So what is the basis of your prediction of disaster?

Do you think Sask has no hope because no overpaid QB?

........I think the league has never been healthier.......just 'cause a few teams HAVE and a few teams HAVE NOT doesn't spell impending doom.....on a broader scale look at our country.....some provinces HAVE, some HAVE NOT......been that way for awhile......don't think the country is on the brink of disaster so what makes you think the CFL is too......

......what the teams that have decided to respect the cap need to do is find alternate ways of winning.....like DEDICATION......HEART.......DESIRE......TEAMWORK.....
.......all these things breed winners and you don't need a stupendous payroll to accomplish your wildest dreams.........

.......in other words, quit whining and roll up your sleeves and get to work.......

Ti-cats, Renagades are two for sure. Winnipeg was in big trouble until they found a few saviors in Juran Boldon, Jones and of course Charlie Roberts. That brought in some fans and helped the clubs bottom line. However Bolden bolted. Jones played golf with shoulder problems and Roberts is still "Blink". The fan support only goes as far as the tallent on the field. Bottom line. The ticket buyers are the CFL, with the exception of sponsership. Sask is another team fighting to keep tallent. Calgary has new owners and new bucks being spent. I have seen that before. How much will they loose over the season? Another owner maybe. open your eyes people. We need to spread the tallent around the league. We are not a 20 team league here. Are there enough Edm fans out there to keep the league afloat. I also agree that anything can happen on any given game day. Maybe the Renagades will go undefeated. ( Maybe Not ) I still think we are headed for trouble.
My two cents

Anybody stop to think for a minute that the majority of players in this league are UNDERpaid? And that players like RR deserve that kind of dough? Forget your silly jealousy of professional sports athletes making more than the common working man, for a minute.
This stupid salary cap is completely outdated...how long's it been in? Ten years? I'd bet at least...
They need to reestablish the cap at something like four or $4.5 million and make it a hard one. That would solve many of the problems...not to mention the whining.

We are talking the CFL (Canadian Football League) Not NHL not NFL. Come on the New York Rangers make more revenue then half the teams in the CFL put together. They pool from tallent around the globe. The NFL get the stars, the CFL get the Second stringers. Do i think some guys deserve the money. Sure. Do I think the fans should pay for it. No. I mean tax payers saved the Argo’s and then forgave the debt. Now what is the Argo’s pay role at? it is not sound buisness for such a small league. Show me some major TV deals that help all teams. How much does Edm loose a season. We are little Canada. I would bet that if salarys continue to rise in this league then BC and Edm could be the only two teams left.

I said $4-$4.5 million...not $40-$45 million. Besides, many would argue that currently the CFL is a healthier league than the NHL. "Second stringers"? You're probably one of those guys who argue that our league is "better" and "different". So, wouldn't they be "first" stringers?

And what do you mean "fans shouldn't pay for it"? Don't fans always pay a portion of salaries and/or operating costs? Ever heard of merchandise, tickets, concessions, parking, etc...?

of course the fans are paying. That is why teams are loosing money in this league. because fans have stoped coming to games to watch crap tallent on the field. Parking, tickets, merchandise will collect dust if fans are not coming.wake up. Who sells out every game in the CFL? I see more canadians wearing NY Yankee hats then CFL club teams. in Winnipeg we pay $8 to park. Your point. $460.000 for three years. $8 to park. $40 a ticket. $12 for a hotdog. It is nuts. i don’t see guys like Moss, T.O, Brady or Manning. we need to wake up. Sure It pisses me off to see Edm on there way to dominating the CFL. Thet will most likley choke in the playoffs. maybe Winnipeg will win it all. Bottom line is the league needs to make big changes if it wants to live on.

Also, A lot of the import players only get small salaries. ( I've heard some Import DB's, special teams, D.I's only get $35,000 - $45,000) It all balances out with the star players who command the higher $$$'s. Do some teams go over the Cap? Probably. I agree with the previous posters, the salary cap probably needs to go up. The fans also need to step up and support. The Calgary fans supported "F-troop" through thick and thin. The BC fans finally woke up and are supporting their team. Even Toronto is stepping up to the plate. I don't know enough about the Ottawa situation, but first glance tells me we have crazy owners with inflated ticket prices.

Yup. WinnerPegger, every time you buy yourself a beer, you help pay for your players' salaries. So go get drunk right away you lazy fan if you want to field a good team the year you'll host the Grey Cup! Take one for the team. Drink!

:lol:

Casey Printers made somewhere in the neighborhood of $38,000 last year. Should ALL CFL mvp's make that? I think what hurts this league most is people with your attitude continually referring to the CFL's talent as "NFL bench warmers". Football fans in cities look at that and "think" they are going to be supporting second rate athletes...which we all know(well, most of us anyway) is not the case.
And I have no idea what you're talking about with your NY Yankees reference...no idea. :?
If you're a CFL fan lose this loser mentality you have about "small time" and start thinking like a winner for a change.

.....and eat hot dogs, pleanty of them......have you got your new BB jersey yet?.......if not, skedaddle over to the mall........if you want your bombers to compete with the eskimos you better get lemming-like right away.........

I'll drink to that...hic!

Turd, are you promoting unruly fan behaviour again? This isn't Percival Coors Stadium you know, mon ami. And c'mon, be realistic. Every fan would have to consume at least 12 beers to support the kind of salaries you suggest. I can only do around ten... :wink:

The two beers you don't drink are the reason the Eskimos have no runner this year. Your first 10 helped you land Sanchez, Wiltshire, Ray, Hervey & Co. But ya better hurry with the final two because there's still a need in your backfield. Back to the twelve-pack.

How many millions of beers would one have to drink in order for the Riders to win the cup :twisted: It's kinda like that saying with the fugly girls - theres not enough beer in the world!

Actually, my "beer count" so far has only slightly benefitted the Argos. At $1 mil rent, there hasn't been much left over. And truth be known, at $10 a hit, I can't very well pay a mortgage AND have 10 beers at SkyDome...so I drink nine and have half of the girlfriend's. :wink:
What? SHE doesn't need it... 8)

You Edmonton fans are so hypocritical. You are on two different scales in two different sports. Let us compare hockey and football in Edmonton, or are you scared of what you'll see.

In the NHL you complain that the Oilers cannot complete because they cannot operate in the current economical climate. That environment was created by the run-away spending of owners of teams with deep pockets. This created a flow of players from "have-nots" like the Oilers to these $$ teams. Prior to this trend, development of talent seperated the good and bad. The Oilers of he 80's were all recruited home town type talent. When the nature of the NHL changed these players fled Edmonton to the $$. Can't blame them, who would.

In the CFL you are a $$ team. You turn around and do exactly the same thing that the Rangers, Wings and Leafs do in the NHL. Your were lucky to go 9-9 last year. You have an unproven rookie coach and your management has panicked. You might not make the playoffs this year with the improvements in the Western Division. You need to fill those holes before the season. Developing talent takes time, so lets just go buy what we need. It must be nice.

You are creating the same flow of players from poorer teams, regardless of the impact on them. This is only going to hurt the CFL in the long run. Your radio media on 1260 and 630 even promote this spending without a thought to the rest of the CFL.

All this cannot be heaped on the Esks. The league is to blame as well. The Esks are taking advantage of the pathetic CFL head office.

The league needs to come up with something that will actually penalize teams for impacting the league in such a selfish manner. I don't know the solution. Losing Canadian draft choices has little impact if you can go out and get a proven Canadian vet instead. You want to impact a team, limit the number of imports they can use. You go over by a million you lose 2 import spots on your roster. Is Rickey Ray worth two import spots on the roster? You go over by 2 mil you lose 4 import spots. That might keep teams in check more that losing Canadian draft choices. There is Canadian talent out there it just needs to be developed.

the cap need to be put at around 3.5 to 4.5 mill a year
if you look at a team like the esks who average around 30 to 40 a game and consistently get a home playoff game.

at 20 a ticket and 35 000 a game thats 5.6 mil for the regular season 7 mil including the pre season and playoffs ant this does not take in to include TV and all other revenues

now take a look at the current structure off 2.6 mil seems a little low to me and it also did to the rest of the league because reports show that all 8 teams spent over 3 million last year

so don't complain about the cap or teams spending over. under any league with a cap i have herd of their is still teams that cant make the max pay roll as they shouldn't because well run teams should be able to bring in star players to reward their fans with

as a fan of the esks i would be pissed off to see the majority of the $ the fans spend go back to the owners because they where not allowed to spend it on talented players. to entertain us with.

A salary cap helps, but I am all for revenue sharing - as long as every team makes an honest effort to be fiscally responsible.

After all, even if we assume the Eskimos are the richest team in the league, it's not like in the business world where the Esks are trying to put other teams out of business. The more financially healthy teams we have, the better off the league will be. Period.

Also, I think it would be great if the CFL could pay the players more. Maybe we'd keep more talent from the lure of the big $$$ the NFL offers?