Show Me The Money

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They won't be champions this season with a 35 point handicap.

The English Rugby Premiership has had a salary cap in place for teams since it first went professional. This is fair for all teams as one wealthy owner could come in and buy the league by how deep his pockets are. The clubs are run as a business to some extent but also more like a Millionaires playground to keep them busy. Very few clubs make profit and it isn't really a sporting business like football that you are going to see a return on investment.

In the 2016 /2017 out of the 11 clubs vetted they had a total loss of just under 30 Million pounds. The premiership is not as lucrative as the football as it can be seen in the prize money for winning the league. 500 000 is shared so I imagine the winners must get around half of that and the other 12 get the scraps.

The reason why I am giving the background of all the figures is Saracens have been fined 5.3 Million pounds for breaching the salary cap for the last 3 years. I don't think you have to be overly intellegent to realise how much some of the players cost per season and having quite a few England players and some internationals from other countries the 7 Million doesn't go very far.
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It is an extensive sized squad of players with various internationals dotted around in most positions.

Maro Itoje, Jamie George, Billy Vunipola, Mako Vunipola and Owen Farrell are all England stars playing for Saracens and will be expected to be paid accordingly. Itoje is rumored to be on 1 Million per season and Farrell on 750 000 and who knows what the others are getting leaving the cupboard fairly empty for the rest of the squad. If they stick to the cap surely their salaries need to come into line as it is not fair on the other players in the squad.

If a team has roughly 40 players in the squad without backroom staff and coaches that is 175 000 each and if I was playing I wouldn't be happy getting 30 000 knowing the guy next to me is getting 25 or 30 times more than me. It isn't surprising why England walk around like they owned the World Cup and expected the trophy as they have been living the high life for way too long.

South African World Cup winners are signing contracts to play in Europe and are only getting 40-50 000 Euros for the season. There is something wrong with what the English players expect to earn as they honestly don't deserve it and the clubs are pampering to their needs.

According to the records known they have over spent by a good 2 million every year by hiding payments. Players were given investment opportunities buying property and shares etc which were not included as part of the salary wage bill. I am sure there will be other loop holes found with selective roles in Nigel Wray's businesses for the players that would be deemed legal.

The club will be punished ,but I don't think harshly enough as it is cheating and should be made an example of by throwing the book at them. Saracens have been deducted 35 points so whatever they have at the end of the season they need to subtract the 35 to see where they will come. The pressure is on to stay in the top league as they still have a chance. Every victory is crucial as any slip ups and they are history.

On top of the 35 points they received a 5.3 Million pound fine which is nothing really for the multi millionaire owner Nigel Wray. The trickiest part he has now is the top players being offered extra bonuses via investments will no longer happen and can he hold onto them. They are going to have to take a "pay cut' from what they were used to getting. This must have been a bad week for the England "stars" returning from the World Cup as a few of them were the ones who refused to wear the medals. What comes around goes around and I have no pity for this spoiled bunch of overpaid players.

The fine and point deduction wasn't enough in my opinion and should have been harsher guaranteeing relegation to send a clear message out to others who are surely doing something similar. Saracens are not the only ones and there has to be others meddling in the grey area of the salary cap.



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It is crazy to think about how underpaid these athletes are when you consider most of the professional athletes in the US and how much money they make. It is hard for me to wrap my head around.

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There is definitely something wrong as only a few can get top Dollars in this sport. What got me was the prize money for the league was less than what some players earn and that is a problem. Whoever is negotiation these deals needs to be shot.

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