2007 Financials - Potential Problem

[Andrew]

I'd like to hear from all the teams that will go into the red because of this.

Carolina, Hartford, Hyundai, Los Lunas, Wilmington, Windy City...

[Clay]

Screw them!

[Pat]

Screw them!

x2

[rubisco43]

honestly, i'll only be a little over 6 mil in the red, so it's not life or death with my payroll. having said that, i let my payroll go a little bit because i was working under the assumption that i had a 100mil payroll. so getting a little bit back would be nice. unless there's another proposal, i'm ok with the 20% option.

[Squint]

I'd like to hear from all the teams that will go into the red because of this.

Carolina, Hartford, Hyundai, Los Lunas, Wilmington, Windy City...

Let's see here:

Playoff teams, former championship teams.....

Yep, screw 'em.

In all seriousness though, a couple of years of "financial assistance" and we should start seeing a little more parity because of this and hopefully teams having to make choices of what big name FA's they want to sign or or players they want to retain.

[Andrew]

honestly, i'll only be a little over 6 mil in the red, so it's not life or death with my payroll. having said that, i let my payroll go a little bit because i was working under the assumption that i had a 100mil payroll. so getting a little bit back would be nice. unless there's another proposal, i'm ok with the 20% option.

Yah I hear that. I spent right up to what I thought my payroll would be next year. I don't have as much cash to dig myself out of it either. I'm wishing I didn't re-sign Dante Geake right now.

[liquidcrash]

I'd like to hear from all the teams that will go into the red because of this.

Carolina, Hartford, Hyundai, Los Lunas, Wilmington, Windy City...

Let's see here:

Playoff teams, former championship teams.....

My team is neither of those. :(

Like rubisco, I was working under the assumption my budget would go up next season.

It's not really a big deal to me since I won't be far into the red and should have the cash to cover it. I've got some big salaries expiring after next season I'm not planning to renew, such as Reyes and Cirlos, so at worst this should be a one year problem for my team. Latham's contract is also much smaller next year.

Whatever you do works for me Andrew. It's just part of the deal being a small market team.

[rubisco43]

I guess the good thing with this drop in budget is that no more $24 mil/year contract offers during free agency. Every team has to be a little more fiscially responsible... that includes myself.

[Clay]

Here's the real question... when you simmed through.... who won the Championship????

[Andrew]

Here's the real question... when you simmed through.... who won the Championship????

California. :D

[Sully]

Have you tested this over multiple seasons? Is there a chance that a team like Davenport could see his budget drastically increase by 10-15 million, while a team like Baltimore might see his budget drift back into the mid 80 million range? Personally, I could live with it because, like rubisco said, it makes teams a little more responsible with their money, but if the small budget teams are always going to be small, and the big money teams are always going to be big....what's the point?

[Andrew]

Have you tested this over multiple seasons? Is there a chance that a team like Davenport could see his budget drastically increase by 10-15 million, while a team like Baltimore might see his budget drift back into the mid 80 million range? Personally, I could live with it because, like rubisco said, it makes teams a little more responsible with their money, but if the small budget teams are always going to be small, and the big money teams are always going to be big....what's the point?

I haven't personally tested it, but budgets do change over time and I've seen a lot of numbers that support this. It is mostly dependent on Market Size and Fan Loyalty. So as those drift over time the budgets will change with them. Prolonged success for a team like Davenport or Hartford will make their budget grow. However, the game maintains an "average" across the league so if one of those teams has an increasing market, chances are somebody else will be in decline.

[Sully]

Sounds good. I'm not too concerned about my budget since I'll likely be trading away two players that will take about 18 million off of my payroll.

[Sully]

So, what's the word on this?

[Andrew]

So, what's the word on this?

Based on the responses I've seen, I'd say my original proposal is the best option. Allow teams to convert money from their stadium fund into cash for this year only. After that, they'll need to plan accordingly by using their cash to cover the deficit, making trades or raising ticket prices.

Keep in mind that any bonuses (including articles) go into your cash as long as you're under the $20 mil cash max. Owners can potentially make $3 million in a year just by writing articles.

I should say "we" since I'm one of the teams most affected by this. There's a very good chance Dante Geake will be on the trading block this offseason. :(