[REV-OKe]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...eref=si_soccer


this explains the MLS philosphy we face and live with from this team and this league.

a whole bunch of teams fighting the last day for the last playoff spot, the mid table more interesting than anything else, and spending a ton to bring in x y & z has almost no impact.

[GOREVS3000]

Originally Posted by REV-OKe

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...eref=si_soccer


this explains the MLS philosphy we face and live with from this team and this league.

a whole bunch of teams fighting the last day for the last playoff spot, the mid table more interesting than anything else, and spending a ton to bring in x y & z has almost no impact.

What's your complaint here?

[Chowda]

He agrees with the love parity part.

Can't spell parity without PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR - TY!

Aye-aight!

[Straps]

Well this explains a lot to me. We have always wondered why we have not brought in a designated player and why we keep stuffing our team with rookies and Kraft has clearly stated it here.... he does not want to pay the big money because he feels they will not have the passion if they are paid big bucks....

[Argyle]

Originally Posted by REV-OKe

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...eref=si_soccer


this explains the MLS philosphy we face and live with from this team and this league.

a whole bunch of teams fighting the last day for the last playoff spot, the mid table more interesting than anything else, and spending a ton to bring in x y & z has almost no impact.

Yes, I suppose the "four teams have all the money and win all the championships" model is much better.

[Revs in 2010]

Originally Posted by Straps

Well this explains a lot to me. We have always wondered why we have not brought in a designated player and why we keep stuffing our team with rookies and Kraft has clearly stated it here.... he does not want to pay the big money because he feels they will not have the passion if they are paid big bucks....

I'd buy this argument if it was true about the other team he owns. The Pats aren't notorious for underspending the cap or for building with rookies. In fact a lot of their "bargains" necessary to compete under a cap have been veteran players they could sign at a relatively fair price (Moss, Morris, Taylor, Seau, etc.).

[Soccer Doc]

Originally Posted by REV-OKe

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...eref=si_soccer
.

I don't disagree with anything Mr kraft is reported to have said about owning a soccer team. I don't see anything written there that says other than having a salary cap is essential to keep owning a team in any sports league rational.

[wolfp10]

"I don't blame a player for wanting to get paid as much as they can, but in the end the greatest rewards in team sports come when great players subjugate their egos to the team."

What a communist

[DCU1996]

Mediocrity + Parity = Disaster.

Did anybody ask him to buy a football club?

[rkane1226]

Originally Posted by Soccer Doc

I don't disagree with anything Mr kraft is reported to have said about owning a soccer team. I don't see anything written there that says other than having a salary cap is essential to keep owning a team in any sports league rational.

I don't mind a salary cap but I think you can't just leave it at that.

First and foremost, MLS' cap is so low that the quality of play suffers significantly.

Second, salary caps in American sports work pretty well but I think their monopoly position plays a role. NFL, MLB and NBA have near total access to the player pool. There is little to no competition from other leagues for the top players. Although other baseball and basketball leagues exist, I think that the payrolls in MLB and NBA make those the league to be in to make money as a player.

If PL set their cap to $2.5M they could probably have the level playing field but they'd lose all the top players to Spain, Italy, Germany, France and on down the line (and wind up with MLS quality). If they set the cap to $250M in the PL but not the other top Euro leagues, you'll probably see high quality football in PL but still see a shift of top talent to leagues that are willing to pay more. After the shift PL teams will not be advancing in the Champions League or Europa as far which hits the income statement.

Certainly PL can just bite the bullet and set their own cap (I assume that is legal under British law?) but there will be secondary issues that a monopoly probably doesn't deal with, at least not to the same magnitude.

Billy-ball (or analytic competition) may be working for Kraft in the NFL but I wonder how well it would work if players had other leagues offering big contracts.