Salary cap

In sports, a salary cap is a limit on the amount of money a team can spend on player salaries, either as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster (or both). Several sports leagues have made salary caps mandatory, both as a method of keeping overall costs down, and in order to balance the league so a wealthy team cannot become dominant simply by buying all the top players. Salary caps are often the major issue in negotiations between management and players' unions.

Salary cap in the NHL

The negotiations for the new National Hockey League collective bargaining agreement revolved around players' salaries. Some pundits expected this dispute to set the precedent for the MLB and NBA. The league contended that its clubs spend about 75% of revenues on salaries, a percentage far higher than exists in other North American sports. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman demanded "cost certainty" and presented the National Hockey League Players Association with several concepts the league says will achieve this goal. The NHLPA, for its part, contended that "cost certainty" was nothing more than a euphemism for a salary cap, which the union vowed it would never accept.

Related Topics:
The negotiations - National Hockey League - Collective bargaining agreement - NHL Commissioner - Gary Bettman - National Hockey League Players Association - Euphemism

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The previous CBA expired on September 15, 2004 (the day after the World Cup of Hockey final). A lockout ensued, leading to the cancellation of the 2004-05 NHL season - the first time a major sports league in North America has lost an entire season to a trade dispute. It was resolved with the NHLPA agreeing to a hard salary cap, although the NHL reciprocated by implementing revenue sharing which enabled the NHL to have a higher cap figure.

Related Topics:
September 15 - 2004 - World Cup of Hockey - Lockout - 2004-05 NHL season

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The lockout devastated millions of fans and thousands of sports bars, and the long winter of 2004-2005 seemed to crawl by with no major sports entertainment on television. Millions of others became disgruntled and vowed to never return. But after all the pain, the end result of the salary cap may please everyone - with the increased possibility of NHL teams returning to Canadian cities such as Winnipeg and Quebec City, as they can now compete with bigger markets in the US for the top players.

Related Topics:
Winnipeg - Quebec City

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