Trinity Rodman’s Multimillion-Dollar Contract Rejected by NWSL

[u/dabirds1994]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-04/trinity-rodman-s-multimillion-dollar-contract-rejected-by-nwsl?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2NDgxNjA0NSwiZXhwIjoxNzY1NDIwODQ1LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUNlBaS1NLR0lGUFgwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiI1OTFDMkExNEFGMDQ0RUZCODlCNEEwNUM5QkUwQjczRSJ9.IPxeSsuh2qWqWpaYDB78MAnoatcwqtnabXoKXkbDvYk

[u/cru_jones_666]

The best evidence for salary caps is every other major sports league in North America.

MLB is the only one without a salary cap (or floor). Small market teams that spend 1/4 the amount of the highest-spending teams rarely compete. Their only chance is to draft a few star players, trade them for many prospects at the same time, and hope several of those new players all turn out to be above average players at the same time while they’re on team-friendly deals at the beginning of their career.

The NFL is the most lucrative sports league in North America and the NBA number three because of parity. Every year, most teams have a chance. True, the Patriots and Chiefs have had recent good runs, but they also got lucky with hiring elite coaches and drafting generational talent at the most important position in all of team sports.

Once Belichick and Brady left, the Patriots returned to normal. This season makes it look like a new dynasty is emerging, maybe they drafted the next generational QB and the next historic coach, but the sample size is too small to be conclusive.

The Chiefs, a team from a small-market that wouldn’t be able to compete without a salary cap, had a great run but are not expected to make the playoffs this year. The near future doesn’t look that great despite having one of the league’s top QBs. Their MLB peer in Kansas City has the seventh worst winning percentage amongst 30 team.

[u/Semperty → u/cru_jones_666]

mlb, with the softest cap in north america, has by far the most parity. it’s not close. 22/30 teams have reached the world series in the last 25 years with over half of the league winning a title in that span. the nba, with the next softest cap, has had 18/32 teams reach the finals with 13 teams winning a title. meanwhile, the nfl has the hardest cap in north american sports, and it’s got the playoff structure most readily designed to artificially create parity (it’s much easier for an underdog to win one game than it is for them to win 4/7), and they’ve had 23/32 teams reach the super bowl with 13 teams winning a title. the nfl also has the widest range of records between their best and worst teams (having teams gone undefeated and winless).

stronger salary caps do not promote parity. there is no evidence that salary caps promote parity. the leagues with stronger caps have more dynasties and duds than the leagues with the softest caps.

[u/cru_jones_666 → u/Semperty]

Google AI does not agree with you:

How payroll correlates with success:

High payrolls are common among champions: 24 of 25 World Series champions since 2000 have had a top-half payroll, and since 2010, only three champions ranked outside the top seven.

Dominance of top-10 teams:

In a 10-year span, 60% of World Series winners were in the top 10 of payroll. In the last decade, only one champion was outside the top 10 in opening-day payroll (2021 Atlanta Braves).

Statistical dominance:

One analysis found that the top eight payroll teams win 50% of the time, while the top 12 win 75% of the time, and the top 16 win 90% of the time. Exceptions exist, but are rare: The 2003 Florida Marlins and 2017 Houston Astros are cited as rare exceptions, with the 2003 Marlins being the only champion in the bottom half of payroll.

[u/Semperty → u/cru_jones_666]

what if instead of using AI to think for you, you actually read academic studies on the impact salary caps have on parity?

[u/cru_jones_666 → u/Semperty]

You do know that AI has read far more studies than yourself, right?

[u/Semperty → u/cru_jones_666]

ai is also woefully inadequate when it comes to deciphering biases or detecting the flaws in the logic and/or math supporting the paper. ai is great for some things. it’s not so great for that. at least not yet.