Current Events > Couldn't billionaires just rig sports games by buying all the best players

(+) Yeah! (+)

And putting them on one team? Like make team competition completely uneven? I'm surprised no billionaire tries to game the system or throw money at it to overbalance it

Allow me to introduce you to European soccer.

Is this a serious question?

It's really funny when they do do this, and the team still sux.

In the NBA, NFL and NHL they have forms of salary caps to prevent this and keep the playing field somewhat balanced.

So the Yankees most years.

Intro2Logic posted...

Allow me to introduce you to European soccer.

And yet it took Man City 15 years to win the Champions League, PSG can't get near it.

Man U, Arsenal, and Spurs have all got a higher net spend in the last 5 years than City, and have very little to show for it.

Real Madrid's Galactico eras are probably the closest thing to 'buy all the best players, win all the trophies'

Wedge_Antilles posted...

So the Yankees most years.

Yankees haven't won a World Series since 2009

Nunyobidness posted...

In the NBA, NFL and NHL they have forms of salary caps to prevent this and keep the playing field somewhat balanced.

Adam Silver just this week said the NBA was looking into "strategies" if someone "like the Saudis" tried a LIV Golf move. He felt the salary cap would deter a hostile takeover (my words) somewhat.

We'll see.

Some owners have tried that. Just because they could, doesn't mean the players are capable of working together on a championship caliber.
Also, Frank Robison tried that when he bought the Cleveland Spiders prior to the 1899 season to go with the team he already owned, the St Louis Perfectos. It....didn't go well. After trading all the good players from the Spiders to the Perfectos, the Spiders set a still-standing record for most losses in a season, with a 20-134 record.

Wedge_Antilles posted...

So the Yankees most years.

The Yankees are a dysfunctional organization falling apart at the seams but they're too full of themselves to see the writing on the wall. They won't be doing anything for at least another decade or two.

Mets are the most expensive team in the history of the MLB this year. How are they doing?

Holy_Cloud105 posted...

The Yankees are a dysfunctional organization falling apart at the seams but they're too full of themselves to see the writing on the wall. They won't be doing anything for at least another decade or two.

But those Yankees of the Jeter years did get all the best championships that money could buy.

Xenogears15 posted...

But those Yankees of the Jeter years did get all the best championships that money could buy.

The core of the 90s Yankees dynasty was built through player development and smart trading. The 00s Yankees were buying all the best FAs they could and only won one championship in 2009.

Yeah, the last Yankees dynasty was a mix of homegrown talent (Jeter, Rivera, Pettite, Williams, Posada, etc) and players acquired to bolster them. They weren't exactly out there bringing in Barry Bonds and Greg Maddux, while their biggest such acquisition (Roger Clemens) came via a trade that saw them give up one of the key players (David Wells) to their World Series win the season prior.

Nunyobidness posted...

In the NBA, NFL and NHL they have forms of salary caps to prevent this and keep the playing field somewhat balanced.

And MLB has a luxury tax threshold. Even the team with the highest payroll (the Mets) have severely underperformed this year and are likely not going to make the playoffs. Money does matter a lot, but generally that alone isn't going to win you the World Series. The Mets' at least have a brighter future because their owner is not only willing to spend a lot of money, but he actually genuinely wants to win and will make sure the organization as a whole is on the right path to achieving that. On the other hand, the Yankees are an utterly rotten organization, and as someone else said, they likely won't be good again for some time.

Nunyobidness posted...

In the NBA, NFL and NHL they have forms of salary caps to prevent this and keep the playing field somewhat balanced.

That's so strange this would exist

Wonder if it's gambling related / gig economy

saspa posted...

That's so strange this would exist

Wonder if it's gambling related / gig economy

Are you just using finance-adjacent words that you heard of without knowing what they mean?