This is another debate which happens quite frequently in NRL and its whether our players are paid too. This is another issue that I am quite passionate about - so thought it would be timely to write a blog on it, particularly in the wake of some of the behaviour we have seen in the NRL over the last few weeks.
There are various opinions on this topic and I would be
really interested to hear all your thoughts.
On the one hand there is the argument that players are paid
too much money.
People who support this view often use players that are
extraordinary to justify their argument. When fans say that players are paid
too much, they often mention names like Cameron Smith, Jonathan Thurston,
Jarryd Hayne and Benji Marshall. What fans fail to understand is that these
players are the most elite players in our game and are compensated accordingly.
The vast majority of players are not paid an amount even close to what these
men earn. The example I always like to use is one of my favourite unsung
heroes, Jeff Robson - who would not nearly be on as much coin as players like
Jarryd Hayne.
The existence of the NRL salary cap will always mean that
players must be compensated differently in order to fit the required number of
players to field a team under the cap. The salary cap aims to spread playing talent so the wealthier clubs cannot oubid the poorer ones to acquire all the best players and to prevent clubs needing to overspend dramatically to attract quality talent. It basically seeks to even the playing field.
This
means that for every Greg Inglis type salary, there are a series of other
players on vastly different amounts. In a
2011 article, Ben Ikin wrote that the average player salary in the NRL is
$120,000 with the average number of games played in a career is 52. Let me
emphasise that last point again, the
average number of games played in a career is 52 - for the average amount
players are paid and the average length of a career, without another job to
supplement the income received from playing NRL, the wage earned from playing
NRL will not get the average player very far.
When you also consider the risk of injury
players face every time they take the field - a career can end in an instant,
meaning the earning capacity of players is dramatically reduced or ended.
Players need to maximise their earning potential for as long as possible.
People that argue that the players are not
paid enough, often point to the salaries of other sportsmen, particularly in
the United States. At the end of 2012 it was reported that the average baseball
salary had increased to $3.2 million with the minimum salary being $480,000.
However, this argument doesn't really take
into account the dramatic differences between sport in Australia and the United
States. The Major League Baseball does not have a salary cap - allowing owners
to spend as much on their squads as they wish. To operate in a similar manner,
the first step for the NRL would be to remove the salary cap.
I argue that the NRL salary cap, while not
perfect, still has an extremely important role in our game as it is there to
protect the continuing financial viability of the clubs. In 2011 it was
reported that fourteen out of the sixteen NRL clubs were operating at a
financial loss. Out of those clubs operating at a loss, those clubs privately
owned are the only ones with the capacity to underwrite losses. We can use the
Melbourne Storm as an example and their breach of the salary cap from 2005-09. Whilst Melbourne was able to exceed the salary cap by
approximately $3.8 million over five years, this would have been impossible
without the support of News Ltd who provided the Storm with approximately $8
million each year to meet its financial obligations. As a club Melbourne’s
situation is not unique; like others it is unable to generate the income to pay
players an amount significantly more than under the salary cap. As a code, NRL
is not generating enough revenue - this restricts the NRL's ability to pay players
much more than they currently are.
Perhaps the debate we need to be having is how we
can even up the gap between the game's superstars and those currently being
paid minimum wage.
Your thoughts?
Love,
@LadiesWhoLeague
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