Hopson sees benefits in salary cap
Salary cap on football operations won’t negatively affect the game, he says
Jim Hopson feels a new salary cap on football operations may be a good fit for the CFL.
“I don’t think the changes will significantly impact the quality of the game,” said Hopson, who was the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ president and CEO from 2005 to 2015. “The fans aren’t going to say ‘the quality of the game isn’t as good’ because of the changes.’
“At the end of the day, teams will be evenly balanced. You look at many of the teams that had not subscribed to the larger staffs and they are still doing quite well.”
The CFL recently announced a $2.58-million salary cap on football operations for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Football-operations employees are capped at 25 (11 coaches and co-ordinators, and 14 other football operations staff ).
Violations of the salary cap could result in a team fine, a personal fine and/or the loss of draft picks.
The new measures are designed to control expenditures in football operations. CFL players’ salaries have been capped since 2007, when the initial ceiling was $4.05 million. It has since increased to $5.2 million.
“(The football-operations cap) is a positive step as a league and the league is working together to do some things that make it better for everyone,” Hopson said.
“The salary cap on players had a big impact on providing a more level playing field. You look at the number of teams that have won the Grey Cup in the last number of years since we put the cap in and it has made a difference.”
The cap on football operations was installed as the league and CFL Players’ Association head into negotiations on a new collective-bargaining agreement.
The players are believed to be seeking a boost in the salary cap, improvements in workers’ compensation, and raising the league’s minimum salary (currently $54,000).
“This year we’re going to have a big challenge with the players and the CBA, and understandably so,” Hopson said.
Hopson offers a unique perspective on the CFL because he was a player and a member of the Riders’ executive before taking over as the president-ceo.
While serving in the latter capacity, Hopson helped the Roughriders set the foundation for one of the league’s most successful franchises, which posted record-level profits.
The Riders went to four Grey Cup games under Hopson’s guidance, winning it all in 2007 and 2013. He also appeared for Saskatchewan in the 1976 Grey Cup, which was his final game as a CFL offensive lineman.
“I still look at the game from a player’s point of view a lot of the time,” Hopson said. “I think about these young guys coming up here and playing for $54,000 and the kind of commitment it takes. We have to look at that.
“The players are the game and people go to watch the players play and they don’t go to watch the coaches coach.”
The current collective-bargaining agreement has been in place since 2014, when Hopson was part of the CFL’S bargaining committee.
A five-year agreement, with the assistance of a mediator, was finally reached to avoid a work stoppage. The current CBA expires May 15, just before training camps are to open.
“I hope with the people there that we get it done sooner than that,” Hopson said. “The most important part of the season is July and if we miss some time then, we can’t make it up. It’s a challenge and I know they are all trying to pull in the same direction.”
Hopson is concerned with the league’s list of 300-plus potential free agents.
The proliferation of one-year contracts — which were agreed to in the 2014 CBA to keep the window open to allow players to test the NFL waters — is a reason for the large number of free agents.
“The one-year contracts were something the players really wanted and we hoped that would be a plus,” Hopson said. “It means that you’re almost building a team from scratch every year.
“We’ve been lucky here that we’ve been able to keep the Willie Jeffersons and some continuity with the offensive line. It’s hard if your starters are leaving all the time.”
The players are the game and people go to watch the players play and they don’t go to watch the coaches coach.