The Salary Cap: The European Capital Cup

Finance is something which has come to play a significant role, if not the most significant role in professional sport in the modern era. Without sufficient financial backing it is impossible to compete on a level where trophies are a possibility or longevity is guaranteed. The proof of this can be seen clearly in the Aviva Premiership and Top 14, as the financially weaker teams battle against relegation and the richest contest for play-off places.

To curb the impact of gaps in financial power the Salary Cap was created, coming into the English Premiership in 1999. As professionalism became a reality in Rugby Union, it was seen as a necessary restriction in order to increase competition and ensure financial stability of all clubs.

Ever since the salary cap has been on the rise and now, in England, the salary cap is £5.5 Million per year, with two ‘marquee’ players wages being exempt from inclusion. Domestically, this has been a system which has worked reasonably well for the last decade or so. The Aviva Premiership using the example of three different teams becoming champions in as many years as proof of this.

This does say a lot for the evenness of competition the cap has created but, the winners always come out of those that push the cap to its limit and those fighting relegation are consistently the teams which cannot afford the full wages they are allowed to pay. As the salary cap continues to rise, this gap will only increase and the point of it, to maintain even competition, will serve to be irrelevant and it will act only as a minor financial restriction to the biggest teams. This is being shown by teams such as Bath and Saracens, who have both been recently accused of going over the imposed Salary cap.
The Salary cap will inevitably rise, calls for it to do so come on a weekly basis, the most vocal club being Saracens, Aviva Premiership and Heineken Cup finalists in 2013-14. Their argument is fair on a European scale, there is a £3 Million pound gap in the salary gaps of England and France and as a result, the best teams in France can attract better players than the best teams in England. This is due to the salary gap as many teams cannot compete with their French counterparts financial, demonstrated by Toulon’s recent European domination.

The big issue is whether to prioritise domestic or European competition? Maintain the cap as it is and allow all teams to compete equally within their domestic league or expand it and allow teams with the financial power to compete more internationally? Neither is a perfect solution and both have sizable impacts on the competitiveness of teams in one way or another. The ideal way for Rugby Union to move forward is by introducing a worldwide Salary cap, an idea that is far too impractical as international teams pay significant contributions towards players wages also. A salary cap for each competition is more workable and will allow English and French clubs to compete on the same financial level in Europe.

There is much Rugby Union can learn from the example of professional football, specifically in finance, it is something that needs to be controlled and if this is not acted on soon, money will dictate, even more so, where the best players play and where the most prestigious trophies go.

Originally published by The Trinity Bull 30/01/2015