NBA Contracts vs NFL Contracts

[JO_75]

So with NBA Free Agency upon us and the NBA teams tossing around a bunch of money to players, it's time for the yearly debate. In the NBA, contracts are fully guaranteed opposed to the NFL where you are cut the second your cap is too high if you don't restructure. Seeing this discussion on Pro Football Talk and they have articles discussing how guaranteed contracts in the NFL would lead to shorter deals, and mentioning how the players must strike and miss a season in order to get "better deals".

NFL Players have tweeted out about some of the contracts NBA players have received so far and my only thought is, why are millionaires or soon to be millionaires if they are closing on a big money contract, complaining about wanting more money when they make enough as it is?

Thoughts?

 

[allblackraven]

The first thought I have is that in my heart I would love to be NFL player but man, what would I give to be a talented point guard right about now.

NBA money is pretty ridiculous, considering not only $200M (or close to it) guaranteed deals but also unproven European players who are getting 2y/$12M and 3y/$24M guaranteed even though everybody, including the said players, knows they can't play defense in NBA to save their lives - yes, Bogdanovic and Teodosic.

On the other hand, good football players are earning huge sums as it is and I wouldn't support any action to get better deals, mostly because they work 3, at most 4 months a year. Even the 53rd guy on the roster makes half a million for warming a bench for 3 months.

 

[rossihunter2]

i think at some point either close to the next CBA or after it we will see a fully guaranteed contract and it will set the trend - one of the top young qbs is going to be able to strike gold on that front and open the floodgates - maybe mariota or winston might get that chance... and i dont know how you could argue that football players are earning enough given the revenue of the nfl vs other major us sports - you cant tell me that james harden is more important to a team than tom brady or derek carr and they play in a league with higher revenue and a larger media industry built around them too

with no salary cap a high end qb would likely be getting paid at least double what the top franchise starters are getting at the moment

 

[Willbacker]

i think at some point either close to the next CBA or after it we will see a fully guaranteed contract and it will set the trend - one of the top young qbs is going to be able to strike gold on that front and open the floodgates - maybe mariota or winston might get that chance... and i dont know how you could argue that football players are earning enough given the revenue of the nfl vs other major us sports - you cant tell me that james harden is more important to a team than tom brady or derek carr and they play in a league with higher revenue and a larger media industry built around them too

with no salary cap a high end qb would likely be getting paid at least double what the top franchise starters are getting at the moment

If anybody starts getting a guaranteed contract it wont be a star QB setting the trend but maybe a serviceable olineman might get a fully guaranteed 3 yr 12 mil contract. The players I know can opt out of the CBA 2 yrs before the CBA is up just like the owners used their lockout option 2 yrs before the previus CBA was up and trust me with the bad deal the players received there will be a strike. I'm thinking this is before the 2019 season but I'm not positive. Its going to be ugly cuz no way are the owners gonna be conceding higher pay for draft picks and the 5th yr option on 1st rd draft picks but I do believe the owners are gonna have to concede a higher revenue share with the players especially if theres like a new TV contract coming up. I just wished the players had better representation than the guy they got now (cant remember his name) but hell they elected him to keep serving in the same position again even tho they got the crappy end of the deal. Go figger.

As to the NBA compared to NFL. The NBA has less players on a team. If anybody has any revenue charts please share. What I'd like to know on NBA is what their cap is and how much they bring in compared to NFL plus what are their expenses. I really have no idea.

 

[rossihunter2]

If anybody starts getting a guaranteed contract it wont be a star QB setting the trend but maybe a serviceable olineman might get a fully guaranteed 3 yr 12 mil contract. The players I know can opt out of the CBA 2 yrs before the CBA is up just like the owners used their lockout option 2 yrs before the previus CBA was up and trust me with the bad deal the players received there will be a strike. I'm thinking this is before the 2019 season but I'm not positive. Its going to be ugly cuz no way are the owners gonna be conceding higher pay for draft picks and the 5th yr option on 1st rd draft picks but I do believe the owners are gonna have to concede a higher revenue share with the players especially if theres like a new TV contract coming up. I just wished the players had better representation than the guy they got now (cant remember his name) but hell they elected him to keep serving in the same position again even tho they got the crappy end of the deal. Go figger.

As to the NBA compared to NFL. The NBA has less players on a team. If anybody has any revenue charts please share. What I'd like to know on NBA is what their cap is and how much they bring in compared to NFL plus what are their expenses. I really have no idea.

part of the problem with the next cba is going to be that the NFL likely will not just be shown on tv given the experiments already happening with companies like twitter and amazon - so we might either see a really short deal or some wacky ideas written into the language in terms of revenue share

i also think coaches are going to be petitioning owners to argue for better access to 1st and 2nd year guys in the offseason but the nflpa will want more concessions if that's the case and may even want less practice time than even now

there was a good interview on the albert breer podcast on mmqb with one of the top nflpa guys - and if you listen it does feel like the nflpa are going to be quite aggressive in the new deal and are conceding that there has been any softening of tensions with owners or the commissioner since the last deal

 

[Inqui]

If anybody starts getting a guaranteed contract it wont be a star QB setting the trend but maybe a serviceable olineman might get a fully guaranteed 3 yr 12 mil contract. The players I know can opt out of the CBA 2 yrs before the CBA is up just like the owners used their lockout option 2 yrs before the previus CBA was up and trust me with the bad deal the players received there will be a strike. I'm thinking this is before the 2019 season but I'm not positive. Its going to be ugly cuz no way are the owners gonna be conceding higher pay for draft picks and the 5th yr option on 1st rd draft picks but I do believe the owners are gonna have to concede a higher revenue share with the players especially if theres like a new TV contract coming up. I just wished the players had better representation than the guy they got now (cant remember his name) but hell they elected him to keep serving in the same position again even tho they got the crappy end of the deal. Go figger.

As to the NBA compared to NFL. The NBA has less players on a team. If anybody has any revenue charts please share. What I'd like to know on NBA is what their cap is and how much they bring in compared to NFL plus what are their expenses. I really have no idea.

I looked at this on Spotrac last night, and the NBA cap is about $99.1 million to go between 15 players (about $6.6m per player) while the NFL cap is about $161.1m for 51 players (about $3.2m per player) so you're right about it being a numbers game (as well as how the rookie scale drops pretty quickly after the top five or so). I'm really not a cap expert, but the NBA uses a system of exceptions and waivers, as well as making it easier to trade turrible contracts by not making teams eat as much dead cap. There's also a luxury tax system if the owners aren't cheap-asses so there's even more money to be had for the players. Between that and all the concussions (and ton of other health issues NFL players seem to end up with after their careers), if I had a kid who could take his pick between both leagues I'd be buying him a basketball for Christmas every year until he got the hint.

I think you're right in that if an NFL FO ever does fully guarantee a contract it'll be as a way they can make a cap hit lower while still maintaining a competitive advantage over the other FOs.

It's depressing watching the players steadily lose their comparative advantages and that'll probably continue with the next CBA. Part of the problem is that the owners all have alternative revenue streams (usually several) and just treat the NFL as an expensive hobby - I remember Dick Cass saying buying an NFL team was like buying an expensive painting, in that you put a lot of money into it because it looks nice and hopefully it appreciates in value but that's more of a bonus - while for the players it's all they have (many have literally never had money before, so surprise surprise they aren't the best at managing it long-term when they come into a lot of it all of a sudden). It's not difficult to see who caves first every time something has to give.

 

[Inqui]

part of the problem with the next cba is going to be that the NFL likely will not just be shown on tv given the experiments already happening with companies like twitter and amazon - so we might either see a really short deal or some wacky ideas written into the language in terms of revenue share

i also think coaches are going to be petitioning owners to argue for better access to 1st and 2nd year guys in the offseason but the nflpa will want more concessions if that's the case and may even want less practice time than even now

there was a good interview on the albert breer podcast on mmqb with one of the top nflpa guys - and if you listen it does feel like the nflpa are going to be quite aggressive in the new deal and are conceding that there has been any softening of tensions with owners or the commissioner since the last deal

Dunno if you're a cricket fan (being in the UK and all) but an interesting case study is playing out in Australia atm. The CBA between Cricket Australia and the players union expired a couple of weeks ago and CA tried to use the negotiations as a power-grab like every governing body seems to do (in this case they wanted to abandon the revenue-sharing model altogether). So the players rightly told CA where to shove their offer and they've been in a lockout ever since - including the players boycotting a development tour to South Africa. The Ashes (the most watched international series in the world) starts in October and the Big Bash League (one of CA's big cash cows these days) starts in November iirc, and there's a chance there won't be any registered players available for either.

But the very interesting thing is that the deal between CA and the TV providers expires next year, and the TV revenue has been falling like it has with most sports leagues around the world. They're all realising they overpaid for the previous deal (and one channel's since gone broke) and they were hoping to use the ratings during this summer of cricket as a gauge for their next offer. So what happens to both the CBA and the broadcast deal will be really interesting to see, because I don't think it'll just be CA facing that problem. Maximising revenue these days pretty much can't happen without incorporating the internet (and perhaps some kind of Netflix-like model) and I get the feeling the days of TV stations overpaying for broadcast deals are more or less over.

 

[rossihunter2]

Dunno if you're a cricket fan (being in the UK and all) but an interesting case study is playing out in Australia atm. The CBA between Cricket Australia and the players union expired a couple of weeks ago and CA tried to use the negotiations as a power-grab like every governing body seems to do (in this case they wanted to abandon the revenue-sharing model altogether). So the players rightly told CA where to shove their offer and they've been in a lockout ever since - including the players boycotting a development tour to South Africa. The Ashes (the most watched international series in the world) starts in October and the Big Bash League (one of CA's big cash cows these days) starts in November iirc, and there's a chance there won't be any registered players available for either.

But the very interesting thing is that the deal between CA and the TV providers expires next year, and the TV revenue has been falling like it has with most sports leagues around the world. They're all realising they overpaid for the previous deal (and one channel's since gone broke) and they were hoping to use the ratings during this summer of cricket as a gauge for their next offer. So what happens to both the CBA and the broadcast deal will be really interesting to see, because I don't think it'll just be CA facing that problem. Maximising revenue these days pretty much can't happen without incorporating the internet (and perhaps some kind of Netflix-like model) and I get the feeling the days of TV stations overpaying for broadcast deals are more or less over.

and yet premier league football just signed its biggest ever tv deal which makes no sense - i have been loosely following the CA problem and i think an important factor is that a lot of the top dog aussie cricketers play in the IPL and other big tournaments so arent hurting for money so much and can therefore afford to force the hands of CA

 

[BloodRaven]

As mentioned theres far more mouth to feed in football and far fewer games, as long as players get a 50 percent revenue split then thats fair.