FOF 2k4 Salary Cap Question

[Cap Ologist]

Is is true that in the NFL the salary cap is based on the television revenue that is split between all the teams. This appears to be different in FOF 2k4. Television revenue never matches the salary cap, and it seems like you are dependent upon tickets, parking, etc to make up the difference. I was wondering if:

1. My original thought on how the television revenue pays for the salary cap is right or wrong?

and

2. If it is right why is it different in FOF2k4?

It does add an extra challenge to the game, especially if you take over a team like Arizona. Just curious if anybody else had ever noticed this before.

[primelord]

Based on your name shouldn't you already know this?

[Cap Ologist]

Originally Posted by primelord

Based on your name shouldn't you already know this?

umm, ok, so its actually more of a wishful thinking title than attained status title.

[Yossarian]

This is the case in the NFL.

Its a big part of the 'formula' that ensures no NFL team makes a loss.

In FOF it is also the case. Look for the messages like 'The league has signed a new TV contract, the salary cap will yada yada'.

But in the game you still need to watch the bottom line (for profit)

[Cap Ologist]

Originally Posted by Yossarian

This is the case in the NFL.

Its a big part of the 'formula' that ensures no NFL team makes a loss.

In FOF it is also the case. Look for the messages like 'The league has signed a new TV contract, the salary cap will yada yada'.

But in the game you still need to watch the bottom line (for profit)

Right, I understand that part. I guess I thought that the t.v. revenue should be higher than what it shows on my balance sheet, right now in my league it is about half of the value of the salary cap. I thought in real life the salary cap value is equal to the value of the television revenue.

I read an article on espn.com about the salary cap when teams found out that it was going to $80 million this year. I think in that article, espn reported that the salary cap was based on each teams share of t.v revenue.

It seems that if your salary cap is 75 million, then t.v revenue should be 75 million, and the receipts from tickets, suites, concessions, etc should go to having cash to pay signing bonuses, staff salaries, etc. Am I just missing something here that is really obvious?

[JHandley]

The salary cap is a formula based off total revenues of the league. Basically (very basically) it is set at like 75% of total revenues. The reason for the salary cap is to make sure that teams aren't spending more than they are making. If the average revenue of the league is $100 Million, then the salary cap is $75 Million. The TV contract plays such a huge role in the revenue of the league, that it is often thought to be synonymous with the salary cap.

[kcchief19]

So far most of this info is wrong.

Yes, television revenue is part of the formula for determining the salary cap, but it is not the sole revenue source. The salary cap is "defined gross revenues" of all 32 teams that include preseason, regular season and post-season ticket sales, merchandise sales and all brodcast rights. You take that total and divide by 32 teams, then you multiply by the salary cap percentage, which this year was 64.25 percent (goes up to 64.75 percent next year). Technically, that amount also includes benefits like insurance and such as well. That's your salary cap.

I haven't looked at the balance sheet numbers in FOF too see if that is how the game's cap is determined. My guess is that the game's cap is figured out backwards -- the percentage the cap will increase is determined first, then the cap number is generated. That is, I don't think that gross revenues and the cap number necessarily correlate.

To answer Cap's question directly, no, TV revenue does not equal the cap number. TV revenue will always be significantly less than the cap number.

Here's a link on cap info. It's rudimentary, but it has the percentages in it that re interesting.

http://www.vertgame.com/sal_cap.html

The money for bonuses and other expenses come from obviously the other 30-plus percent of NFL revenues that are not salary, other team revenues that are not shared (why do you think it costs $20 for parking and $8 for a beer?), or Dan Snyder's bank account.

[Cap Ologist]

Thanks kcchief19. Your explanation helped me out alot. I think FOF does something differently on the balance sheet. I think that every team is kind of on its own more as far as generating revenue to cover the total salary cap. It doesn't seem to have the same revenue sharing model that the NFL does. I might be wrong, but it seems like each team gets a share of the t.v. revenue, but all of the other revenues are more individually determined. I guess it's not that big of a deal, it just seems that for the total realistic effect, each team should have a guaranteed source of revenue that covers whatever the salary cap is. I just really enjoy the financial side of the game as well as the on-field performance. I noticed this because I started a new game with Arizona and for the first season all their ticket prices are set to 0. My first balance sheet was pretty ugly.

Oh well.

Thanks again.

[Darkiller]

Originally Posted by primelord

Based on your name shouldn't you already know this?

Exactly what I thought