CFL ratifies stiffer salary cap
The CFL committed Tuesday to a much stricter salary cap this season.
The league's board of governors ratified a new cap during the first of two meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Details were not divulged, but numerous reports suggested that CFL commissioner Tom Wright pitched a cap of $3.8 million that stabilizes competitive balance, annual salary expenditure maximums, roster management, compliance monitoring and enforcement.
"This is an extraordinary day for this league," Wright said in a statement.
Wright proposed a tighter "salary-management system" for 2006 because most teams reportedly failed to honour the $2.6-million limit imposed by the CFL last year.
Whereas last year's loose cap was poorly enforced, the new cap supposedly contains stiffer penalties for exceeding the limit.
"We have collectively agreed on a system that will provide our fans with the assurance that each and every team can compete on a level playing field, year in and year out," Wright said. "The new salary management system provides all member clubs with greater financial stability through the mechanism of cost certainty."
Apparently, all that is required for the salary cap to become official is an endorsement from the CFL Players' Association.
The NHL's players union accepted a salary cap last year after losing an entire hockey season because of a labour dispute.
The NHL, which lost nearly $224 million US during the 2002-03 season, is projecting a $2-billion profit in 2005-06.
The NBA and the NFL, considered the most efficient and profitable league in the United States, have capped salaries for years.
Major League Baseball is the only major professional sports league in North America currently operating without a cap.
Speculation was that Tuesday's vote on a salary cap was tantamount to a vote on Wright's continued tenure as commissioner.
It's no secret that David Braley, owner of the British Columbia Lions, Montreal Alouettes owner Robert Wetenhall and Hamilton Tiger-Cats owner Bob Young aren't Wright fans, having tried to remove him last year.
Wright survived the ouster and signed a one-year contract extension as commissioner that expires following the 2006 Grey Cup.
with files from CP Online