Salary Caps
By: Hunter Hankins
Should there be Salary Caps in Professional Sports
Yes, there should be salary caps because they level the playing field, increase the competition, and create higher attendance.
What is the Salary Cap
A salary cap is an agreement or set of rules that limits the amount of money athletes can get payed. Some people think that athletes get payed way too much, when other don't think owners and mangers should get all the money.
Leveling the Playing Field
The salary cap allows all teams to have an equal opportunity to get players since each team has the same amount of money. The article "How Salary Caps Changed Sports" said this: "The salary caps allow teams with less talent to have the opportunity to entice players away from better teams because all teams (theoretically) have the same amount of money to work with. So if every team has an equal opportunity to get all stars, the playing field would be more equal.
Increasing Competition
In the quote above from "How Salary Caps Changed Sports" it said that the salary cap allows teams with less talent to be able to afford better players, which is what levels the playing field. Since the playing field is leveled, and the level of talent between teams is more equal, the competition between teams will increase. Therefore, one team won't dominate, the league will be more competitive.
Higher Attendence
The increase in competition, that is caused by the salary cap, will cause stadium attendance to rise. The article "The Advantages of Salary Caps" said this: "This increased competitive balance... ultimately increase overall league competition... cause arena and stadium attendance to rise." The article "How Salary Caps Changed Sports" gave the example that every game a team won, the attendance of the next home game increased. So, if the competition increases, players will be more motivated to try harder to win, so the more they win the higher the attendance will grow.
Citation
Neiger, Chris. "How Salary Caps Changed Sports." Investopedia. Investopidia US, 28 Sept. 2010. Web. 09 Feb. 2014.
"Salary Cap." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Feb. 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Staff, Proquest. At Issue: Athletes' Pay. N.p.: ProQuest LLC, 2014. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. <http://sks.sirs.com>.
Wallace, Maxwell. "The Advantages of Salary Caps." Small Business. Hearst Newspaper, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.