Lalit Modi

And we don't clarify anything. I love it. Amazing. OK, so back to the auction. Of course, this is going to be controversial. Like I said earlier, you know, the media is writing about this. The world's best cricketers auctioned off like cattle and sheep.

And we don't clarify anything. I love it. Amazing. OK, so back to the auction. Of course, this is going to be controversial. Like I said earlier, you know, the media is writing about this. The world's best cricketers auctioned off like cattle and sheep.

But this ends up being the perfect economic system for all the parties involved because it gets around a key problem with salary caps, even hard salary caps with hard limits. They're always susceptible to dealings outside of the structure. So the NFL is really good about policing this. But that's not to say that this doesn't happen, either explicitly or implicitly. Let's say you're a player.

But this ends up being the perfect economic system for all the parties involved because it gets around a key problem with salary caps, even hard salary caps with hard limits. They're always susceptible to dealings outside of the structure. So the NFL is really good about policing this. But that's not to say that this doesn't happen, either explicitly or implicitly. Let's say you're a player.

Right. Now you're setting up something that in practice, I think the cap probably would do its job. And there's enough policing to ensure that the low trust environment thing you would do would say, oh, great. Sign both players for half and then go to them on the side and say like, oh, hey, by the way, these other companies that I control, they're going to do a sponsorship deal with you.

Right. Now you're setting up something that in practice, I think the cap probably would do its job. And there's enough policing to ensure that the low trust environment thing you would do would say, oh, great. Sign both players for half and then go to them on the side and say like, oh, hey, by the way, these other companies that I control, they're going to do a sponsorship deal with you.

Like you're going to become a celebrity endorser for them. And that's going to be another $3 million contract that you're going to get on the side.

Like you're going to become a celebrity endorser for them. And that's going to be another $3 million contract that you're going to get on the side.

Point being, you can't police what happens outside of the sort of artificial construct of like a direct salary contract negotiation. And the way I think this plays out in practice in the NFL is, let's say you're a player, mid to late career. Travis Kelsey is a great example here.

Point being, you can't police what happens outside of the sort of artificial construct of like a direct salary contract negotiation. And the way I think this plays out in practice in the NFL is, let's say you're a player, mid to late career. Travis Kelsey is a great example here.

Travis Kelsey probably at some point in recent years, I don't remember when he was up for free agency, but could have gone somewhere else and arguably could have signed for more money than the Chiefs were willing to pay him. However, he has other business interests, especially now that he's got his podcast, you know, etc.

Travis Kelsey probably at some point in recent years, I don't remember when he was up for free agency, but could have gone somewhere else and arguably could have signed for more money than the Chiefs were willing to pay him. However, he has other business interests, especially now that he's got his podcast, you know, etc.

Does he really want to be seen as the heel who's turning his back on the Chiefs?

Does he really want to be seen as the heel who's turning his back on the Chiefs?

Exactly. Yeah, right, right, right. Hey, this is all a soap opera. It's all entertainment at the end of the day. Okay, point being, there's all sorts of considerations about why a player might be willing to accept more or less money for a given team to play in that city or not to have his storyline affected in a certain way, etc., Auctions eliminate all of that.

Exactly. Yeah, right, right, right. Hey, this is all a soap opera. It's all entertainment at the end of the day. Okay, point being, there's all sorts of considerations about why a player might be willing to accept more or less money for a given team to play in that city or not to have his storyline affected in a certain way, etc., Auctions eliminate all of that.

Exactly. Then you get into all sorts of gaming of... You're signing multi-year deals, right? And so you can set the number of years of that deal that's negotiated, and you can set the dollar amount in each year and the cap impact in each year. This happens all the time.

Exactly. Then you get into all sorts of gaming of... You're signing multi-year deals, right? And so you can set the number of years of that deal that's negotiated, and you can set the dollar amount in each year and the cap impact in each year. This happens all the time.

Quarterback deals, the biggest deals in the NFL. So obviously they're going to want to make a lot of money and that's going to have the biggest impact on your cap because they're by far the highest paid player on your team. At the same time, they also want to win a Super Bowl.

Quarterback deals, the biggest deals in the NFL. So obviously they're going to want to make a lot of money and that's going to have the biggest impact on your cap because they're by far the highest paid player on your team. At the same time, they also want to win a Super Bowl.