Re: Why do NBA players make so much more than NFL?
The negotiation factor was probably the closest, really.
Sure, there are more games, but despite the fact that the NBA has 82 games vs. 16 for the NFL, the NFL games see a larger amount of revenue. NFL games are usually sold out, sell for higher prices, and also have an incredibly deep revenue sharing system that allows all teams to be as balanced as possible financially. The NBA does not share the same characteristics.
The relationship between the owners and Players Association is what keeps the salaries lower in the NFL. The NFL has a strict salary cap system that limits the amount of resources available to teams to hand out to a large number of players. The NBA has a soft cap that allows teams to bid against themselves to a smaller number of players on a roster.
Remember that the NFL went to a salary cap system because larger market teams were creeping past the smaller teams that were unable to offer large contracts to desirable free agents. Even the NBA was close to becoming obscene (see: Garnett) before it enforced a system that limited the amount of money a player could make in a contract.
Major League Baseball has the highest contracts because there is no cap. It's really that simple. Until the owners and MLBPA can work together to form a system that limits the amount of spending, teams will continue to outbid themselves to acquire the best talent.
All this being said, there is no way to say which system is better. Each of these organizations is worth billions and billions of dollars. All of these teams (NBA, MLB, NFL) are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The money is there. The rules within the financial system are what limits or does not limit the spending.
The negotiation factor was probably the closest, really.
Sure, there are more games, but despite the fact that the NBA has 82 games vs. 16 for the NFL, the NFL games see a larger amount of revenue. NFL games are usually sold out, sell for higher prices, and also have an incredibly deep revenue sharing system that allows all teams to be as balanced as possible financially. The NBA does not share the same characteristics.
The relationship between the owners and Players Association is what keeps the salaries lower in the NFL. The NFL has a strict salary cap system that limits the amount of resources available to teams to hand out to a large number of players. The NBA has a soft cap that allows teams to bid against themselves to a smaller number of players on a roster.
Remember that the NFL went to a salary cap system because larger market teams were creeping past the smaller teams that were unable to offer large contracts to desirable free agents. Even the NBA was close to becoming obscene (see: Garnett) before it enforced a system that limited the amount of money a player could make in a contract.
Major League Baseball has the highest contracts because there is no cap. It's really that simple. Until the owners and MLBPA can work together to form a system that limits the amount of spending, teams will continue to outbid themselves to acquire the best talent.
All this being said, there is no way to say which system is better. Each of these organizations is worth billions and billions of dollars. All of these teams (NBA, MLB, NFL) are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The money is there. The rules within the financial system are what limits or does not limit the spending.
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