In Sask or Winnipeg maybe even Hamilton the cap would benefit the teams. Here you have a good loyal following that supports the team win or lose.
Now if you level the playing feild so every team can compete year after year what happens when a team that is used to winning loses?
Take edmonton, i team that has been very successful and putting together winning teams year after year. But there is no doubt that some (not all) of these teams have been bought. So what happens when they cant buy the upgrades they need and they end up having a horrible season or two in a row 3-15 or something like that.
....then the fan base begins to demand changes, either directly through the use of their wallet or more appropriately through the media.....yes the team will see diminished crowds but in a city like Edmonton even diminshed crowds would equal what Saskatchewan and Hamilton are getting for normal games....Calgary went through some bad seasons from 2002 to 2004 and there were still 25,000 or so fans coming out to the games even though the team was a circus......
i wish people would stop saying saskatchewan can't afford good players when they admitted they had one of the highest payrolls in the league just this year. them being brutal has very little to do with money and a lot to do with who is running the show. i support a salary manangement system completely but lets not keep spewing the 'we community owned teams can't get good players' line. the reason it is needed is because of stupid private owners who spend more than they can afford and go bankrupt every few years requiring the well managed teams to continuously search for new owners and prop up bankrupt teams for the duration. notice i say well managed and not community owned teams. regardless of management systems in place if teams spend more than they can afford and go belly up it hurts every other team in the league. this has been happening as long as i remember and is what must stop. people buying and selling teams is alright if done properly and not as a last minute 'how are we going to save this ship from sinking' situation.
That’s a horrible reason for not implementing a salary management system. Teams should not be able to buy there way to a winning season ala the New York Yankees. Teams should have to be a well-runned organization (like the New England Patriots) to continually achieve success year after year. Yes teams will have their ups and downs but it’s something fans will have to get use to. In sports winning seasons and losing season often go hand in hand.
As far as Saskatchewan not affording players goes, currently (from what I’ve heard) they are over the set salary limit for next year and would have to restructure a bit to get down to that limit.
If Edmonton were to stay under the salary cap, they would be like the rest of us. It's no accident that they have made the playoffs for 34 years. So what if they go 5-13? Others have done it and did not fold. Not that I wish them any bad luck but if the league does not implement a cap the danger is that the teams who have attempted to live within their means will loose fan support because their team will always be at the bottom.