Salary Disclosure, NDAs and NCAs

[Sir Blue and Gold]

The CFL should list salaries like virtually every other sports league. It helps create off-season discussion which is badly needed. It would give fans insights into the different team building strategies in the SMS world. Everyone knows the player salary cap and knows the minimum contracts anyway. Plenty of careers have salary disclosures in annual reports or as common knowledge based on seniority: government officials, non-profits, public sector jobs and most professional athletes, to name a few. I also argue that the modern sports fan expects this information. Why make it hard for fans to be fanatical?

[Blue In BC]

But all players are unionized employees of the CFL. And all teams, irrespective of ownership structure, have to operate within the framework of the SMS, which is publicly disclosed. It seems incongruent to share the SMS limit (or budget) while keeping player salaries (which are in effect budget figures) secret.

We see other professional leagues operate with transparency regarding its team budgets and player salaries. I'm simply at a loss to understand why the CFL is an exception; it seems like nothing more than status quo.

This doesn't justify keeping something in place, though. Status quo or "that's just the way it is and has always been" isn't a sturdy defense, IMO.

Agree, status quo is not a sturdy defence. The CFL is the only team with a ratio. That means Canadian players come at a premium in cost.

Want to get rid of the ratio and agree to keep the best players rather than a forced mandate?

Our marketplace is a different supply / demand problem.

[blue_or_die]

?did I just agree with everything TBurg said?

[blue_gold_84]

If you don't understand how the CFL is different from other professional sports leagues, that's not my fault.

As to making a comment a week later? So what. It's the off season and we'll see comments on several threads that will be on going.

Why did you respond then with a valueless comment?  I made a point. You don't have to agree.

And just to clarify since you didn't get it the 1st time. Letting a small pool of specifically Canadian players know what they all make will re-set demands upwards. That's the impact of the ratio in a supply / demand scenario.

Mental gymnastics and grouchiness. Oof.

[Blue In BC]

Mental gymnastics and grouchiness. Oof.

Not at all. Just giving one of many reasons for not having transparency. Some posters have said they don't see any downside.

Here are others:

Does / should an equal player in Vancouver or another city ( Regina ) have the same value in all instances? A player in Vancouver earning $80K has a much higher cost of living ( rent etc ) than the same player in Regina. If the player in Vancouver perceives he has the same skill value as the other player, does that influence his salary demand?

Put it another way. If your company transferred you to Vancouver, would you expect an increase in salary? Simple question and I'd think most would say yes.

Did the 2021 salary of Mike Reilly influence those of other QB's and in particular Zack Collaros in 2022. Does his new contract influence all the potential free agent QB's going into 2023? Simple answer will be yes.

[blue_gold_84]

Not at all. Just giving one of many reasons for not having transparency. Some posters have said they don't see any downside.

Here are others:

Does / should an equal player in Vancouver or another city ( Regina ) have the same value in all instances? A player in Vancouver earning $80K has a much higher cost of living ( rent etc ) than the same player in Regina. If the player in Vancouver perceives he has the same skill value as the other player, does that influence his salary demand?

Put it another way. If your company transferred you to Vancouver, would you expect an increase in salary? Simple question and I'd think most would say yes.

Did the 2021 salary of Mike Reilly influence those of other QB's and in particular Zack Collaros in 2022. Does his new contract influence all the potential free agent QB's going into 2023? Simple answer will be yes.

This same reasoning could be applied to other professional leagues just the same (and any other myriad of unionized jobs in the world). But they all make their salary figures and contract particulars available to the public without hinderance. A market like Winnipeg is considerably more affordable than Toronto but the NHL (or the NHLPA) takes no umbrage with contract details being publicly disclosed.

The ratio in the CFL helps preserve domestic talent in a sport that is dominated by US players at every position. However, I fail to see how that plays into the CFL choosing to keep salary figures of literally all of its players private or mostly inaccessible, save to a few "insiders" who get to tweet the occasional contract details of high profile players, NAT and non-NAT alike - albeit speculatively.
And while certain high profile NAT players (Demski, for example) will command a premium salary compared to other "low profile" ones, the same applies to non-NAT players (Bighill, for example). But that's not exclusive to the CFL; star and superstar players will always command more money in professional sports of every kind.
So, it seems like a moot point which has little to nothing to do with the league's lack of transparency in regard to financial figures of player salaries.

My point is the league seems to pick and choose what to share with the public (term, money, bonuses, etc.), which comes across as arbitrary. That's essentially why my argument focuses on a glaring lack of transparency relative to other professional sports leagues.

[TBURGESS]

Not at all. Just giving one of many reasons for not having transparency. Some posters have said they don't see any downside.

Here are others:

Does / should an equal player in Vancouver or another city ( Regina ) have the same value in all instances? A player in Vancouver earning $80K has a much higher cost of living ( rent etc ) than the same player in Regina. If the player in Vancouver perceives he has the same skill value as the other player, does that influence his salary demand?

Put it another way. If your company transferred you to Vancouver, would you expect an increase in salary? Simple question and I'd think most would say yes.

Did the 2021 salary of Mike Reilly influence those of other QB's and in particular Zack Collaros in 2022. Does his new contract influence all the potential free agent QB's going into 2023? Simple answer will be yes.

My company did transfer me to Vancouver from Winnipeg and NO, they didn't give me a raise. I'd already paid my mortgage off on my brand new house in River Heights and I ended up with a mortgage in Vancouver that was more than the value of my Winnipeg house. I made all that back and way more when I sold the Vancouver house.

Players values are based on how well they play, not on where they play.

[Blue In BC]

This same reasoning could be applied to other professional leagues just the same (and any other myriad of unionized jobs in the world). But they all make their salary figures and contract particulars available to the public without hinderance. A market like Winnipeg is considerably more affordable than Toronto but the NHL (or the NHLPA) takes no umbrage with contract details being publicly disclosed.

The ratio in the CFL helps preserve domestic talent in a sport that is dominated by US players at every position. However, I fail to see how that plays into the CFL choosing to keep salary figures of literally all of its players private or mostly inaccessible, save to a few "insiders" who get to tweet the occasional contract details of high profile players, NAT and non-NAT alike - albeit speculatively.
And while certain high profile NAT players (Demski, for example) will command a premium salary compared to other "low profile" ones, the same applies to non-NAT players (Bighill, for example). But that's not exclusive to the CFL; star and superstar players will always command more money in professional sports of every kind.
So, it seems like a moot point which has little to nothing to do with the league's lack of transparency in regard to financial figures of player salaries.

My point is the league seems to pick and choose what to share with the public (term, money, bonuses, etc.), which comes across as arbitrary. That's essentially why my argument focuses on a glaring lack of transparency relative to other professional sports leagues.

Other leagues have significantly higher minimum contracts. I don't think you can compare an entry level contract in the NFL or NHL to the CFL.

It this is as obvious as you think then why has the CFL not adopted your concept? That answer seems more obvious.

[Blue In BC]

My company did transfer me to Vancouver from Winnipeg and NO, they didn't give me a raise. I'd already paid my mortgage off on my brand new house in River Heights and I ended up with a mortgage in Vancouver that was more than the value of my Winnipeg house. I made all that back and way more when I sold the Vancouver house.

Players values are based on how well they play, not on where they play.

That's not entirely true. Players take into account " home town " values / savings.


Player values are also dictated by ratio.

[Jesse]

Not at all. Just giving one of many reasons for not having transparency. Some posters have said they don't see any downside.

Here are others:

Does / should an equal player in Vancouver or another city ( Regina ) have the same value in all instances? A player in Vancouver earning $80K has a much higher cost of living ( rent etc ) than the same player in Regina. If the player in Vancouver perceives he has the same skill value as the other player, does that influence his salary demand?

Put it another way. If your company transferred you to Vancouver, would you expect an increase in salary? Simple question and I'd think most would say yes.

Did the 2021 salary of Mike Reilly influence those of other QB's and in particular Zack Collaros in 2022. Does his new contract influence all the potential free agent QB's going into 2023? Simple answer will be yes.

These are questions a player should ask themselves in FA.

Has nothing to do with league transparency.

[Blue In BC]

These are questions a player should ask themselves in FA.

Has nothing to do with league transparency.

Collaros salary was transparent. It will impact the salaries of other potential free agent QB's.

So it has everything to do with the downside of transparency. I don't know how you can say otherwise.

[blue_gold_84]

Other leagues have significantly higher minimum contracts. I don't think you can compare an entry level contract in the NFL or NHL to the CFL.

And? What's the point of stating that as it relates to a professional sporting entity being transparent?

Just because the CFL can't afford to pay its players (employees) more than other leagues doesn't negate the fact its lack of transparency seems capricious and illogical. The CFL shares its SMS cap willfully, despite the fact it's much, much lower compared to those in other leagues.

Collaros salary was transparent. It will impact the salaries of other potential free agent QB's.

As it should. He's been the best QB in the league the last two seasons.

And it wasn't made public by the league, so there was no transparency. An insider shared the salary figures after the fact.

[Blue In BC]

And? What's the point of stating that as it relates to a professional sporting entity being transparent?

Just because the CFL can't afford to pay its players (employees) more than other leagues doesn't negate the fact its lack of transparency seems capricious and illogical. The CFL shares its SMS cap willfully, despite the fact it's much, much lower compared to those in other leagues.

As it should. He's been the best QB in the league the last two seasons.

And it wasn't made public by the league, so there was no transparency. An insider shared the salary figures after the fact.

Point 1: Because we're not in the same financial realm of those leagues. Many teams are not profitable and attendance is declining. Transparency would likely increase more from the bottom up than top down. I don't see that as a good thing.

Point 2: QB's salaries seemed to have been public for a long time. It's irrelevant that the disclosure is made by insider or league sources. The point is that it has a negative impact of other salaries.

Nobody will dispute that Collaros should be the highest paid QB but every salary impacts across the rest of the roster. Hearing it publicly one way or the other creates upward spiral at the top.

It's not entirely unusual to hear what top players earn outside of league sources.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Do enough fans (or potential fans) want this information? If they do, would it help them follow the league or become bigger fans? Would it create interest or buzz in the months when the league is not playing? Do fans expect this information because it is usually offered?

I say the answer is yes to all.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

And? What's the point of stating that as it relates to a professional sporting entity being transparent?

Just because the CFL can't afford to pay its players (employees) more than other leagues doesn't negate the fact its lack of transparency seems capricious and illogical. The CFL shares its SMS cap willfully, despite the fact it's much, much lower compared to those in other leagues.

As it should. He's been the best QB in the league the last two seasons.

And it wasn't made public by the league, so there was no transparency. An insider shared the salary figures after the fact.

Have to agree, more transparency would be good, the CFL has to shed it's stodginess and get with the program.  Fantasy leagues and betting are integral to sports marketing now and they're driven by information and numbers, the more variables the better.