silly idea

[tvooz]

with no cba, could the owners decide to change the rules of the game?

could they re-align each division based upon team salaries? for example, the top 4 highest payroll would be in one division and the next 4 highest would be in another division and so on. teams in each division would play each other twice like they do now.

this would be a de-facto salary cap. teams would jockey to reduce their payrolls so as to get into an easier division. no salary cap, no draft, everyone becomes a free agent after contract expiration.

each new year, teams could possibly go to a different division. the courts and the players could not claim anti-trust violations and the owners have incentive to reduce their payroll.

 

[Hostile]

They already have a schedule and no reason to re-align.

 

[tvooz]

schedules can be altered.

can the owners implement a new set of rules that could possibly lower their expenses, and these new rules would not violate labor laws, anti-trust, and the free market.

 

[AdamJT13]

If the league did anything to encourage teams to reduce their payrolls or reward them for reducing their payrolls, it undoubtedly would be challenged by the players as collusion.

 

[Beast_from_East]

with no cba, could the owners decide to change the rules of the game?

could they re-align each division based upon team salaries? for example, the top 4 highest payroll would be in one division and the next 4 highest would be in another division and so on. teams in each division would play each other twice like they do now.

this would be a de-facto salary cap. teams would jockey to reduce their payrolls so as to get into an easier division. no salary cap, no draft, everyone becomes a free agent after contract expiration.

each new year, teams could possibly go to a different division. the courts and the players could not claim anti-trust violations and the owners have incentive to reduce their payroll.

Giving incentives to reduce payroll is defacto collusion.


Pretty sure a judge would see it the same way.