With transfer business well underway ahead of the 2023 Super League season, we’ve taken a look at the most up to date salary cap rules to give the best insight into the boxes clubs have to tick as they strive to strengthen their squad for the 2023 Super League season.
Looking at the rules the first thing that stands out are the reasons behind the cap.
According to the RFL the cap exists to keep things competitive and maintain a “balanced spread of players among clubs.”
Furthermore, it is said to “protect the welfare and interest of all players,”
Another striking rule is that though the finite salary cap limit is £2.1 million but a club can only spend up to this amount should the club be deemed to afford it under the Financial Sustainability Regulations meaning that not every club in Super League would necessarily be able to spend that full amount.
An interesting change going into 2022 was the decision to measure it “in real time” which means that the club’s spend cannot exceed the cap at any time. This is different in the lower leagues where it is about overall spend.
Speaking of spend there are eight reasons for dispensation when it comes to the cap. The first is of course the Marquee Players whose value on the cap is limited to £150,000 but if club trained its even less and stands at £75,000.
Each club is also given up to £100,000 of dispensation for production of Super League standard players whilst more dispensation is given for meeting the player welfare target.
The new and returning talent is interesting and limits the value of new and returning players to the sport.
The cap also excludes payments out of prize money and educational fees.
In terms of assessing the cap, in Super League, all new and revised Player contracts, loans and squad declarations are reviewed by the Professional Delivery Team and a revised Spend position agreed with the club and they must submit half and full year returns.
The RFL also audits clubs.
Here is the full list of rules and regulations pertaining to the Salary Cap made available by the RFL:
RATIONALE FOR REGULATION
The core objectives of the Salary Cap are:
SALARY CAP RULES
The amount each Club can spend on its first team players is (subject to certain exemptions and dispensations) limited to the lower of:
The Super League Salary Cap is measured in ‘real time’: this means that each Club’s spend (or deemed spend) must remain below the Salary Cap at all times. The Championship and League 1 Salary Caps are measured retrospectively where appropriate: this means that each Club must demonstrate at the end of each Season that its actual spend over the course of the Season was below the Salary Cap.
DISPENSATIONS
The key dispensations are:
MONITORING AND AUDIT
The Salary Cap is monitored in the following ways: