Economy
Ledger Financial Rating Losing your Franchise
Economic Philosophy
Forces in the league economy are designed to create competitive balance between teams. However, it can be quite a challenge to keep your club fiscally sound. Not only must you be a good player manager in order to win, you must also be a competent financial manager. It is difficult to pay for a whole roster of superstars. Your goal, of course, is to field a competitive team that has a chance at winning championships, not amass a large bank account. However, you will likely have trouble fielding a top-quality team if you poorly manage your team's finances since the best players always come at a premium cost. You risk losing your team if you go too far into debt or field perpetually mediocre teams.
Units
"Units" are the base value of the league's economy; each owner has a financial account in which these are held. This account is maintained for each owner by the league commissioner, but you always know your financial status through your software program.
Base Season Unit
The Base Season Unit (BSU) is a calibration tool used by the commissioner to control the league economy. This number is subject to constant revision at the discretion of the commissioner to keep various aspects of the economy under control.
Average Revenues
A typical owner who plays .500 ball can expect to earn around 2100 units per season. If his/her team or players perform certain feats, s/he can expect a few more. The prudent owner will keep this figure in mind. Playoff caliber teams often have higher payrolls because they've accumulated a number of higher priced players, but a team that finishes below .400 with a payroll of 2300 units can get into a financial bind very quickly.
Player Salaries
Just as in non-computer baseball, NBL players aren't free. Units are used to pay the salary of your players. Each player has a salary figure pre-assigned and published in the research area of the software program. This salary figure is determined ahead of time using advanced sabermetric formulas to assess his player value (PV) adjusted to league norms. The formulas also increase or decrease salaries exponentially based on a player's performance. Since players usually appear in their pools more than one season, a salary is calculated based on the Mean Player Value (MPV). Except in the case of waivers, an owner pays a percentage of a player's MPV. If the player is under a multi-year contract, his salary is adjusted downward according to the schedule of discounted contracts.
Revenue Sources for Owners
Before the draft season begins, the commissioner determines the owner's salary for the upcoming season makes a deposit in each owner's account. This constitutes the owner's main revenue source. Owners can expect this amount to fluctuate slightly from one season to the next in the interest of a stable league economy, but 1650 -1700 units is a common range for owner's salaries. Owners of expansion franchises can expect about 2200-2400 units in order to compensate them for the greater costs of starting a new team. For information on additional revenues, see Revenues and Debts .