Low Cost, Same Quality

If the claims by Arena Football 1 League are correct, this is a leaner, meaner version of the old AFL.

Officials are saying the former league was wasteful. According to Utah Blaze G.M. Steve Videtich, player salaries in the new league will be one-third lower than in the former incarnation. What interested me was the quote in Wade Jewkes’ story, this morning, wherein Videtich said players from the old league “have been coming back in droves.”

I have written before that if the NBA is really worried about soaring costs, owners should just stop over bidding for players. In other words, they should lower salaries. (Dependent, of course, on what the collective bargaining agreement would allow.) I doubt two percent of the league personnel would leave if the maximum salary was $1 million and the average salary was $300,000.

If Videtich is accurate, he helps prove my point. AFL players are coming back – for less money.

As salaries soar in big league sports, smaller leagues are proving that the chance to play games for a living is a powerful incentive. Most people don’t make $1 million – heck, even $100,000 – a year. Nor do they work just eight months out of the year.

Some might make $1 million if they want to go into business ventures, but that involves risk. Or they can become heart doctors, but that takes more schooling than most are willing to complete.

And there’s always the chance of getting a high paying gig on TNT like Charles Barkley.

But fact is, in most cases athletes would play for much less. And the look of the leagues wouldn’t be different.