Liverpool FC has been bought.

[Ian Gentles]

The famouse Liverpool Football team, soccer, has been bought by owners of the boston Red Sox's, is this a good thing for Liverpool?

[Jeremy D. Scott]

John Henry was instrumental in bringing two World Series championships to Boston. I have no doubt about that. But it does seem to some in Boston that he has tightened the purse a bit in acquiring players of late. Which is why this purchase somewhat surprised some. Perhaps he's had this in mind for a while.

[Billie Goodson]

John Henry was instrumental in bringing two World Series championships to Boston. I have no doubt about that. But it does seem to some in Boston that he has tightened the purse a bit in acquiring players of late. Which is why this purchase somewhat surprised some. Perhaps he's had this in mind for a while.

It is kind of odd that Henry bought the troubled club. I found an interesting assessment of the reasons from the NewYorker. This section jumped out at me:


Major League Baseball is a collusive oligopoly in which the team’s owners, with the help of a salary cap, restricted entry, and an exemption from the anti-trust laws, conspire against the players and the fans to enrich themselves. English (and European) soccer is a competitive free-for-all, where Russian oligarchs, Middle Eastern sheikhs, and Spanish “socios” shower money around like madmen to buy success, players’ salaries can go to any level, and a couple of bad years on the field can lead to financial ruin.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2010/10/why-buy-liverpool-fc.html#ixzz11hVCNsGS

When did MLB institute salary caps?

Yeah, the writer tries to caveat it at the bottom in an addendum, I think he really should have just admitted he had no idea what he was talking about.

[Ryan Scott]

Baseball has an extremely soft cap. The teams that spend the most have to pay into a pool (or at least they used to) that goes to the lowest earning squads. There's no restriction on how much they can pay in salaries, but there is a threshold (or used to be) where they have to pay extra money.

By the way, Henry's buying it from two other US sports owners who have effectively run Liverpool into the ground.

[Billie Goodson]

Baseball has an extremely soft cap. The teams that spend the most have to pay into a pool (or at least they used to) that goes to the lowest earning squads. There's no restriction on how much they can pay in salaries, but there is a threshold (or used to be) where they have to pay extra money.

By the way, Henry's buying it from two other US sports owners who have effectively run Liverpool into the ground.

Yeah, the "luxury tax" is what the writer called out in the addendum. I really don't even think the term "soft cap" is applicable. If so, then the Yankees have a hat trick going...

[Ryan Scott]

Yeah, the "luxury tax" is what the writer called out in the addendum. I really don't even think the term "soft cap" is applicable. If so, then the Yankees have a hat trick going...

There is a similar system in the NBA, often called a "soft cap." The NBA just doesn't have any teams with the same profit margins to be able to abuse it the way some do in MLB.