Football Mogul 25 |
||
BUDGET STRATEGYA big part of your success in Football Mogul is the ability to balance your team's budget. Not only do you have to worry about your players' salaries, you also have to deal with the salaries of your medical staff and scouts, and setting ticket and concession prices at your stadium. All of these financial factors will affect your path toward the Mogul Hall of Fame. Perhaps the most important thing to remember in planning your budget is that, in the end, the players on the field determine your success. Your Mogul Rating is derived only from your regular season and playoff performance, and not from any financial performance. Furthermore, if your team wins, more fans will come to see them, and even slightly higher ticket prices won't dissuade them (to a point - more on that later). And of course, the more money your team brings in, the more you can afford to pay your players, which allows you to keep your higher priced free agent stars, which allows you to keep winning. That said, there are many things to consider in the early going when money is tight. Getting off to a good financial start will help you set off down the road to prosperity. ExpensesPlayer Salaries You should expect to have a bit of disparity between your players salaries. Some of your players will be making megabucks, while some will be working for the league minimum. So what happens when the player making the minimum has a stellar year and demands an enormous pay increase, while at the same time your megabucks player is under contract for 4 more years? Will you have the money to keep them both? A good rule of thumb is to avoid high salaries whenever possible. Obviously, some players are worth paying the money for, but ideally, you'd like to keep your team payroll down. The biggest gains in player performance usually come at the lower level of the salary scale. So, for example, replacing a $209,000 rookie tight end with a $500,000 journeyman might help your team more than spending $300,000 more for your star quarterback. Scan the free agent pool periodically - you can often find a bargain player who will perform well while you wait for a rookie superstar to develop. And don't be afraid to trade away your higher priced players for lower priced ones if you're strapped for cash. When dealing with free agents from the free agent pool, it sometimes pay to wait out a player. If he's demanding a high salary and remains unsigned for awhile, he may lower his salary demands. But be careful - if you wait for too long, another sharp general manager may sign that player out from under your nose! The rule here is don't be cheap, be smart. Spend your salary money wisely and you'll have a winning, money making team for many years. Other Team Expenses Other team expenses that you control are divided among three categories: Medical Staff, Farm System, and Scouting Team: a. Medical Staff The amount you spend on your medical staff determines how serious the injuries your players receive are and how long it takes them to recover. If you have a lot of higher priced players with long contracts, it's important to pay your medical staff well. If you are in a rebuilding phase and have players you feel are not worth protecting, then lowering the pay of your medical staff for a season or two might free up some cash to help with the rebuilding effort. In general, though, it's a good policy to keep your medical staff happy. b. Scouting Team The amount you spend on your scouting team determines the accuracy of the scouting reports you receive. If you feel that you are capable of scouting players on your own by studying their skills and statistics, then you can probably skimp a bit on the scouting team. But if you consider the word of the scouts to be law, you'll want to put more money into the scouting team to get the most accurate reports possible. Note that if you underpay your scouting staff, they won't out and out lie to you, but they may miss the call on a potential superstar or super flop! RevenueStadium Revenue Stadium revenue is the money you make from ticket sales and concession sales. a. Ticket Sales Finding just the right price to charge for tickets is one of the keys to financial success. Charge too much, and fans will stay away. Charge too little, and people will flock to your stadium while your team stays poor. The "Other Team" button is useful here because it lets you compare your prices to successful teams with a similar fan base. You can compare Fan Loyalty and your city's Per Capita Income to that of other teams to find the ones most similar to your situation. Then, take a look at their ticket prices and see how their ticket income compares with yours. This information can give you ideas about how to adjust the ticket prices at your own stadium. b. Concession Sales You also control the prices of the concessions at your concession stand. Each team's concession stand sells beer, food and souvenirs. You can adjust these prices up and down, a nickel at a time. Just like tickets, raising prices too much will steer people away from your concessions, while lowering them too much will not do much for profits. Hint: Football fans love cheap beer. And after having enough of it, they may not mind higher food prices. It takes patience and skill to balance your income against your expenses. Finding the right mix of prices, salaries and staff expenses will take much experimentation, but it's crucial to your ascent to the level of Football Mogul. Making Some Quick Cash Sometimes you need to boost your cash to sign a quality free agent or keep from going bankrupt during bad times. Here are some tricks of the trade: 1) Sell talent (use the Trading Block to get the best price for a player). 3) Trade high salary players. |
||
© 1995-2024 Sports Mogul Inc.