Salary Cap
As a salary cap or salary cap is called a common in some professions maximum wage (also called maximum salary ). Salary caps are usual especially in North American professional sports. Due to the growing financial imbalances and salary caps for European sports leagues will be discussed now, however.
Purpose of Salary Caps
The purpose of this restriction, it is on the one hand to control salary costs, and secondly, to enable financial balance between the clubs. To remain competitive financially poorly stocked clubs despite a lower level of spending in the league.
Salary Caps in U.S. sports
In the sports of American football, basketball, ice hockey and soccer, there are financial limits on player salaries per team. The salary cap of the National Football League ( NFL) for 2011 is about 120 million U.S. dollars ( 2006: 102 million U.S. dollars), for the National Basketball Association ( NBA), it amounted in the season 2010 /11 58.04 million U.S. dollars ( 2006: 53.135 million U.S. dollars), the National Hockey League ( NHL), the amount of 2010/11 amounted to 59.4 million U.S. dollars (05 / 06: 39 million U.S. dollars, 06 /07: 44 million U.S. dollars, 07 /08: 50.3 million U.S. dollars, 09 /10: 56.8 million U.S. dollars) and in Major League Soccer ( MLS) in 2009 to 2.3 million U.S. dollars.
The salary caps are determined in negotiations between players and league officials as so-called Collective Bargaining Agreement ( CBA). This has led in recent years increasingly to the so-called lockout.
Salary Caps in European sport
As a result of the increasingly growing salaries of soccer players are also considering various European leagues and the G -14 the introduction of a salary cap. A proposal of FC Bayern Munich, according to the EU Commission Europe a scheme shall be adopted, according to which a maximum of 50 percent of the total income of a club may be invested in players' salaries.
However, seems questionable whether the European Union may adopt arrangements for this purpose as it has in the area of sport policy has no special powers.