MMC
Global Moderator
how would you rank the MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL in terms of favoring the players over teams in terms of CBA, etc?
What I mean is where the players have more leverage, less restrictions, etc.Could @mymerlincat please restate the question in a more clear manner? I'm not really sure what's being asked so I don't know how to answer it.
For the very top players, I'd say the NHL might be the worst of all the major sports. NFL Quarterbacks get paid, but the top NHL players like Crosby, McDavid and Ovechkin probably don't get what they are really worth and have to leave money on the table so that their team can build a competitive squad around them. For the average player though, NHL is definitely better than the NFL.
Ah. In that case,What I mean is where the players have more leverage, less restrictions, etc.
Ah. In that case,
4. NFL - I'm not sure who's a bigger piece of meat: NFL players or soccer players in Europe.
You know who has this power, right? The major star players, because no club is dropping 9 digits on a transfer fee for the player to not show up or to show up unhappy. You know who doesn't have this power? The Dave Smiths who aren't even end-of-the-bench guys for the backup teams on the top tier squads in Europe and would be ecstatic to have a chance to play for a season in the top league somewhere. Those guys? They get bought and sold regularly, and no one gives a f*** about their feelings; they don't want to show up, whatever - the team will find someone else to fill that role for the same price, because those rights were fairly cheap to begin with.1. Trading basically doesn't exist in soccer. A player is within their right to refuse a club's willingness to move him on. The trades you see in the major where players are shunted to another city on a whim doesn't exist in soccer. In soccer, they can refuse and keep collecting their paycheck until their contract runs out.
Let's differentiate between "transfer" and "trade request."2. If a player expresses a desire to move in soccer, they almost always do. Especially when they hand in transfer requests. Show me an example of that in the NFL, or indeed the other leagues.
Well, except when the player gets transferred. Then, the existing contract gets torn up and the player has to negotiate a new contract. So, it's guaranteed* contracts.3. Oh yeah, that paycheck is guaranteed for the life of the contract. None of the nonsense you see in the NFL with guaranteed money and guys getting cut. You can't get cut in soccer. If they terminate your contract, they have to pay you out for amount remained on it.
So, players can in fact get bought - it's just not called buying the player. It's called compensating the selling club. And the transfer fee paid has far more to do with "whatever length remained on the contract." That might be a factor in it, but it's a drop in the bucket. It has much more to do with bidding against other teams to get the services of the guy you want.Honestly, your claim just shows you know nothing about the sport, and probably only feel that way because you heard somewhere that players in soccer can be 'bought'. Anytime a player is bought by another club, it's because that club has to compensate the selling club for the whatever length remained on the contract. They're buying the rights to give him a contract. And even then, they can only do so as long as the player agrees to it. If they don't want to go, they tell them to f*** off. If they do want to go, they tell their current club to f*** off. If that's not player power, I don't know what is.
This might be the best point you make; that players make up an inordinate amount of revenue generated. And, it's why FIFA's Fair Play standards came into being - because some teams were intentionally spending themselves into oblivion. But again, just like other sports the vast majority of money spent on football players gets spent on the superstars; the lesser guys are crap and have virtually no leverage because they're easily replaceable.It defies belief that you would say they are treated like meat. Soccer players and their agents basically run the sport. Without a salary cap, they take an inordinate amount of revenue generated (the most of any sport), and move about with the kind of freedom you will never see in NA sport.
For the very top players, I'd say the NHL might be the worst of all the major sports. NFL Quarterbacks get paid, but the top NHL players like Crosby, McDavid and Ovechkin probably don't get what they are really worth and have to leave money on the table so that their team can build a competitive squad around them. For the average player though, NHL is definitely better than the NFL.