Bang For Your Bucks: Comparing CF97 Salaries To SKC

The ultimate goal in sports is to win a championship. The Fire are struggling so far this year and we all know they aren't going far if they make the playoffs. Why? What is wrong with the team? One way to look at the team is how well their players are paid relative to the competitors.

Since the ultimate goal is a championship, let's compare the Fire to reigning champs Sporting Kansas City to see where the Fire are lacking in building a squad in relation to the salary cap. Kansas City also makes a good match up because they have no high paid DPs; comparing to a team with them, such as Seattle and Toronto, would introduce more variables. For this analysis, I'll be using the most recent Sporting lineup from their game versus New England and the Fire's also against New England

The Fire's starting lineup has a salary of $2,210,200 and Kansas City's is $2,180,732. The Fire have a higher paid lineup than the reigning champions. Both teams have players on the bench that highly paid too.

This shows two things. First, it shows that the Fire are in a messy cap situation. We are fielding a well-paid lineup but yet the results are not coming. The second thing that it proves is that some of the players on the Fire are not playing up to their salary. In a league with a small cap and with an owner who doesn't break the bank for DPs, it is a necessity for the team to play up to its highest potential. Right now the Fire aren't doing that.

With the team right against the cap and not performing, there might be more roster moves to come to create more financial flexibility. In the end, the players are either overpaid or underperforming. Only time will tell.

What do you think? Think the Fire are in trouble? Are the players overpaid or underperforming?