The Economist and The Athletic are two digital publications I try to read daily. Each week, I'll share two articles that caught my attention; one from each publication.
This week: Individual awards, team success and attracting talent.
Competitive balance and unpredictability keep leagues interesting and drive the attractiveness of the commercial product for broadcasters and sponsors. But two very different stories involving Harry Kane and the NWSL got me thinking about whether competitive balance can create unintended consequences.
Did Harry Kane have to leave England to win the Ballon d’Or?
Apart from the awkward moment that Kane, Yamal and Mbappe were all prematurely congratulated on the Ballon D’Or website for winning the trophy, matters mainly went to plan. Kane and Putellas took home the top awards.
The Economist’s headline asked whether Kane had to leave England to win the trophy. But it was the line beneath the headline that sparked my interest: “[t]he Premier League’s greatest strength is also a weakness”. The Economist’s view is that because of the uber competitive nature of the Premier League, its famed competitive balance can work against its players when it comes to individual honours.
Rarely do Premier League players win the award.
Since 1992, only Premier League players Owen, Ronaldo and Rodri (before his recent move to Barca) managed to claim the top male prize.
“the league’s competitiveness makes it difficult to rack up the accolades, and the goals, expected of a Ballon d’Or winner.”
The importance of team success appears to be another important factor. Since his move to Bayern, Kane is a domestic championship winner (and was agonisingly close to a World Cup final). A major team trophy appears to be close to a prerequisite for male and female Ballon d’Or winners.
The pattern is striking: over the past decade (and since the inaugural female award in 2018):
· every male and female winner had won at least one major club trophy; and
· 44% of male player winners and 50% of female player winners had won a senior national team trophy.
The Ballon d’Or may be an individual award but team success appears to be the qualification gateway.
NWSL gets rid of ‘Rodman Rule’ criteria in settlement with players’ union: What you need to know
The NWSL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) operates a prescriptive salary-cap system which, in some respects, mirrors other US franchise sports. Whilst salary caps are designed to protect competitive balance, thus restricting how much clubs spend on their biggest stars, the NWSL operates within a global labour market. As European clubs increasingly compete for elite talent, overly restrictive cost controls risk encouraging a talent drain.
That tension led to the recently implemented High Impact Player (HIP) rule. It allowed clubs access to an additional $1m above the salary cap, but only for players who met specified sporting or commercial criteria. It quickly became known as the “Rodman Rule” when Washington Spirit pushed (and received some leeway) for spending beyond the cap to keep their MVP.
The NWSL player’s association (NWSLPA) raised grievances against the HIP and other issues arguing that the NWSL had not followed the provisions laid out in the CBA. Following resolution of the grievances, HIP restrictions end at the beginning of 2027 with the extra $1m (with conditions) available for additional squad building .
Which goes to show that it’s all a bit of a balancing act; the mechanisms used to preserve such structures can also constrain the individuals who help drive that appeal.