HFNHL Commish
Registered User
- Feb 28, 2002
- 1,355
- 8
Gents,
As has been alluded to on the boards recently, new rules for teams in financial trouble were enacted during the regular season, but were never formally publicized due to my own oversight. Mea culpa.
Starting now, GMs that have cash balances (real or projected per the Finance page) below $3M are required to assess the cash effect of every trade submitted. This is as simple as submitting the salaries of the players traded, the salaries of the players acquired, and calculating the difference. The DoPP's office will then have full authority to use this information in determining whether or not to approve a trade. For anything that truly raises a red flag in the DoPP's office, those trades may be forwarded to me at the DoPP's discretion.
This should stop a lot of teams from ever coming REALLY close to insolvency. However, should a team become insolvent, we are now adopting our own version of Chapter 11 reorganization...
For any team entering insolvency during the season, barring exceptional circumstances (read: if the Commissioner's Office really, really feels the need to swing the axe), penalties will be forestalled until the end of the season. GMs in insolvency will have to report to a "parole board" to discuss plans to get out of insolvency by the end of the playoffs. Refunds of endorsement fees can be discussed as part of these plans, as can payouts of endorsements already achieved. In addition, so long as immediate steps are taken to improve a team's cash situation, the parole board may hear a GM's argument to keep endorsements in place that can be "projectably achieved". The point is that the league is willing to work with the GM, but the onus is on the GM to develop and execute a plan of action.
I will freely admit that this is a change in policy for the league. However, with finances continuing to be a hot-button issue, and teams increasingly reliant on endorsement money, I think it makes for better policy for the league to work with teams during the season to avert problems at the end of the season.
Respectfully submitted,
Matt Gledhill
HFNHL Commissioner
As has been alluded to on the boards recently, new rules for teams in financial trouble were enacted during the regular season, but were never formally publicized due to my own oversight. Mea culpa.
Starting now, GMs that have cash balances (real or projected per the Finance page) below $3M are required to assess the cash effect of every trade submitted. This is as simple as submitting the salaries of the players traded, the salaries of the players acquired, and calculating the difference. The DoPP's office will then have full authority to use this information in determining whether or not to approve a trade. For anything that truly raises a red flag in the DoPP's office, those trades may be forwarded to me at the DoPP's discretion.
This should stop a lot of teams from ever coming REALLY close to insolvency. However, should a team become insolvent, we are now adopting our own version of Chapter 11 reorganization...
For any team entering insolvency during the season, barring exceptional circumstances (read: if the Commissioner's Office really, really feels the need to swing the axe), penalties will be forestalled until the end of the season. GMs in insolvency will have to report to a "parole board" to discuss plans to get out of insolvency by the end of the playoffs. Refunds of endorsement fees can be discussed as part of these plans, as can payouts of endorsements already achieved. In addition, so long as immediate steps are taken to improve a team's cash situation, the parole board may hear a GM's argument to keep endorsements in place that can be "projectably achieved". The point is that the league is willing to work with the GM, but the onus is on the GM to develop and execute a plan of action.
I will freely admit that this is a change in policy for the league. However, with finances continuing to be a hot-button issue, and teams increasingly reliant on endorsement money, I think it makes for better policy for the league to work with teams during the season to avert problems at the end of the season.
Respectfully submitted,
Matt Gledhill
HFNHL Commissioner