Changes to rugby league's salary cap approved for 2024 season

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josie andrews
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Changes to rugby league's salary cap approved for 2024 season

Post by josie andrews »

THE RFL Board have approved a number of changes to the Salary Cap Regulations for 2024.

The changes were agreed after consultation with the RL Commercial Board in Newcastle on Friday, and while the regulations cover Betfred Super League, Championship and League One, the changes mostly affect the Super League clubs.

The finite cap for the Betfred Super League will stay at £2.1m for a fifth consecutive season, reflecting a recognition from the Boards and the clubs of the importance of financial sustainability, especially given the additional consideration of repaying the Sport Survival Fund loans.

However, the Board have listened to stakeholders including the RL Commercial Board and supported IMG, the sport’s long-term strategic partner, in their view that clubs should be permitted to invest when affordable.

Therefore, there will be a significant extension of the Marquee Player regulations which were introduced in 2015 – with a fresh emphasis on clubs being rewarded for developing outstanding British players, and on giving clubs additional spending power to keep those players in the Super League.

Clubs will now be permitted up to three Marquee Players (up from two), but only if at least one of them is Federation Trained.

Whereas previously all Marquee Players were counted as £150,000 on a club’s salary cap, with the exception of Club-Trained players who counted as £75,000, now Club-Trained Marquee Players will count as £50,000; Federation-Trained Marquee Players will count as £100,000; and Non-Federation Trained Marquee Players will remain valued at £150,000 in salary cap calculations.

Other changes see a substantial increase in the Player Welfare Allowance from £15,000 to £50,000 per annum reflecting the sport’s commitment to ensuring clubs are placing player welfare at the heart of decision making; and the value up to which Under-21 Players will be exempt from a club’s cap will rise from £25,000 to £30,000.

The final change will see each club in all three competitions set a Financial Sustainability Cap for 2024, set against the Financial Sustainability Regulations – with a working group to be set up to review the Regulations for 2025.

The working group will include three representatives of Super League clubs, two from Championship/League One Clubs, one from RL Commercial, one from IMG and two from the RFL - the Director of Finance, Facilities & Central Services, and Robert Hicks, the Director of Operations and Legal, who will chair the group.

It will be tasked with reviewing the finite cap, implementing the IMG recommendations around a Salary Cap Floor and looking at all ways of ensuring sustainable investment and protecting the overall financial sustainability of the professional game.

Robert Hicks said: “In making these recommendations, which have now been approved by the RFL Board and reviewed by the RL Commercial Board, we had to balance a number of differing considerations, and also differing views among Super League clubs.

“Financial sustainability remains imperative, for the credibility of the Super League competition and of Rugby League as a sport – and also now to ensure our clubs meet their obligations to Government under the Sport Survival Fund, as we continue to rebuild after the pandemic.

“We must also recognise the need for Super League to remain an elite and attractive competition, nationally and internationally. That is challenging, as while we welcome the growing strength of the NRL – and the NRLW – as good news for the sport of Rugby League, it can only increase the lure of a move to the southern hemisphere for our leading players.‘

We therefore agreed with IMG, our strategic partners, that we should amend the cap regulations to allow clubs to spend more on keeping our outstanding homegrown players in the Super League competition – and also to increase the salary cap rewards for those clubs who develop those players.

“We have also increased the reward for clubs who invest significantly in player welfare, taking account of the strong views of clubs that we needed to reward investment in the Player Pathway and Welfare provisions.

“The introduction of a Financial Sustainability Cap for each club is also significant, allowing closer real-time monitoring of the off-field health of our clubs – and the new working group will allow a range of views, including from clubs and IMG, to contribute to our discussions about further amends to the cap from 2025.”

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fozzieskem
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Re: Changes to rugby league's salary cap approved for 2024 season

Post by fozzieskem »

To me given the way inflation has skyrocketed this freezing of the cap is a real term reduction no?

As for another marquee player if used wisely then yes but it's not going to bring top drawer players over from down under u less there's some reason for them to get the chop from their NRL gig.
Raging Penguin
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Re: Changes to rugby league's salary cap approved for 2024 season

Post by Raging Penguin »

Yea, it is a reduction. Even more so as it has remained at that level for 5 years if i am correct
Barney841
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Re: Changes to rugby league's salary cap approved for 2024 season

Post by Barney841 »

I think a raise of the SC to 2.5m would have been sensible.
Likes it’s been side because of inflation
Raging Penguin
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Re: Changes to rugby league's salary cap approved for 2024 season

Post by Raging Penguin »

i also think it is difficult, somehow the sport needs to attract higher value sponsors, and the salary cap to be at least £3-£4million and over standards to be increased including officiating. this seems like a huge undertaking that i am unsure how it could be addressed
Caboosegg
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Re: Changes to rugby league's salary cap approved for 2024 season

Post by Caboosegg »

With the cap staying at 2.1 million for 5 years in a row its no wonder the quality is getting worse as the wage will cover less and less of the various wages required in a team set up.

The rfl yet again showing its just not fit for purpose. I imagine however that the rlf board will get a pay rise due to inflation.
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morley pie eater
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Re: Changes to rugby league's salary cap approved for 2024 season

Post by morley pie eater »

I'm fully aware that there's a balancing act between clubs' financial viability and keeping players, but the old adage comes to mind: "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys".

We've seen doctors, nurses and teachers going on strike recently, after years of wage freezes and 1% increases. But the less noticed effect has been the numbers leaving those professions either to work abroad (US, Canada, Aus, NZ being favourites).

So this latest proposal accepts that RL is withering on the vine. In order to save clubs like Wakefield, Cas etc from going under, we accept that young players will leave for the NRL where they'll earn more than all but a few marquee players here.

If you didn't already know that we're a 2nd rate comp, this is your confirmation.

I'm not saying there are easy solutions, but a step in the right direction would be a 10 team SL. Spread the available cash less thinly, and have a slightly better chance of paying people like Faz, Wonderboy Welby and others closer to what they deserve.
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Caboosegg
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Re: Changes to rugby league's salary cap approved for 2024 season

Post by Caboosegg »

morley pie eater wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2023 7:52 pm I'm fully aware that there's a balancing act between clubs' financial viability and keeping players, but the old adage comes to mind: "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys".

We've seen doctors, nurses and teachers going on strike recently, after years of wage freezes and 1% increases. But the less noticed effect has been the numbers leaving those professions either to work abroad (US, Canada, Aus, NZ being favourites).

So this latest proposal accepts that RL is withering on the vine. In order to save clubs like Wakefield, Cas etc from going under, we accept that young players will leave for the NRL where they'll earn more than all but a few marquee players here.

If you didn't already know that we're a 2nd rate comp, this is your confirmation.

I'm not saying there are easy solutions, but a step in the right direction would be a 10 team SL. Spread the available cash less thinly, and have a slightly better chance of paying people like Faz, Wonderboy Welby and others closer to what they deserve.
The stupid thing is increasing the cap won't sink teams like Cas and Wakefield as no team would have to pay it and no one in the lower leagues that I'm aware of could afford to replace them.

What it would do is allow teams that can afford it to pay players and bring more through. More players getting a chance means more players in the pool.
These are two reasons not to trust people.
1. We don't know them.
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fozzieskem
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Re: Changes to rugby league's salary cap approved for 2024 season

Post by fozzieskem »

Caboosegg wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2023 9:19 pm
morley pie eater wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2023 7:52 pm I'm fully aware that there's a balancing act between clubs' financial viability and keeping players, but the old adage comes to mind: "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys".

We've seen doctors, nurses and teachers going on strike recently, after years of wage freezes and 1% increases. But the less noticed effect has been the numbers leaving those professions either to work abroad (US, Canada, Aus, NZ being favourites).

So this latest proposal accepts that RL is withering on the vine. In order to save clubs like Wakefield, Cas etc from going under, we accept that young players will leave for the NRL where they'll earn more than all but a few marquee players here.

If you didn't already know that we're a 2nd rate comp, this is your confirmation.

I'm not saying there are easy solutions, but a step in the right direction would be a 10 team SL. Spread the available cash less thinly, and have a slightly better chance of paying people like Faz, Wonderboy Welby and others closer to what they deserve.
The stupid thing is increasing the cap won't sink teams like Cas and Wakefield as no team would have to pay it and no one in the lower leagues that I'm aware of could afford to replace them.

What it would do is allow teams that can afford it to pay players and bring more through. More players getting a chance means more players in the pool.
And that’s the big one isn’t it..clubs aren’t forced to go to the limit of the cap but let’s forget that because the lunatics that run the game feel a farthing and a frigging satsuma is enough pay when heating bills are enough to make mick jagger think twice about heating the pool..

I’ve never been a fan of the cap there’s no real reason for it other than to hold,the sport back in the olden times..I’m all,for making sure clubs can afford players contracts but let the game free of these shackles.
DaveO
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Re: Changes to rugby league's salary cap approved for 2024 season

Post by DaveO »

The shackles the game has is there is no money. If you raised the cap to £4m tomorrow I don’t think there is a club included Warrington who can afford such a wage bill. NRL clubs can only afford it because they get so much money as a hand out from sponsorship and TV money SL can only dream of.

I don’t even think most clubs will have three marquee players and one reason will be those financial sustainability rules which no doubt impose a limit related to revenue on what a club can spend on wages. How that works if a club is in effect run at a loss if it relies on money from the owners either as direct subsidies or loans, who knows.

By that i mean we all think Warrington are subsidised by their owner. Does that make them financially sustainable? Similar with Wigan and Saints who have their owners/directors as creditors having given the clubs loans. Is that classed as financially sustainable?
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