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I'm worried about BB's long term economy outlook. As a paying investor (If the joy, satisfaction and entertainment it can give you is worth more than the price you pay, I'd say it is a good investment), I generally worry about the direction my investments are heading in.

Currently, there are a number of issues being highlighted by the community which are of long term concern.

One, the evolution of the competition and the economy in general. As some users have posted from time to time, BB has certain similarities with that online football management game. The economy is showing similar signs of what is happening in that game and it is worrying. I have lost interest in that game awhile ago, but still maintain my team. I'm wallowing somewhere near the bottom, but because I've managed to scrooge up so much cash, I can basically go on a shopping spree and literally guarantee myself at least Cup success for that season. Not really a competitive environment is it?

Currently in BB, the majority of teams at the top still maintain their account books in the black. As competition heats up in their respective countries and the B3, they are going to require better players to have a shot at winning something. Which means higher pay, and it means the positive account balance is going to head into the negative. Then, winning the Division or the Cup will require teams to operate at a negative balance. Here is when teams will spend a few seasons saving up money in the lower divisions, and then spulrging on players and operating on a negative deficit for a season or two to try and win something.

After the money is spent, sell and repeat cycle. Here, the games becomes nothing more than a money saving exercise, requiring several seasons of boring savings just to have a shot at a title. We are playing a sports sim, not an economy sim.


Two, daytrading and moneyhoarding. Nothing illegal, but against the spirit of the game as some might argue. Instead of staying competitive, these teams focus instead of increasing their revenue and cash hoard. In turn, this massive warchest enables them to afford monster players which will break most managers even on Base Offense and Man to Man.


Three, players from smaller countries point to the big guns of larger countries and saying they will never be as good as them the way the game is structured. The players from larger countries instead point out that these smaller countries will continue to thrive as they don't have to stay competitive, hence can afford to win even with weaker players while saving up more cash to spend. This increased monetary capability will then result in them becoming insanely strong, see point Two for elaboration.


Of course, I'm not here to rant as I believe it has all been done before. Instead, I think I may have cooked up a one step solution to all this. The problems if we simplify things are money and competition.

Create a Team Salary Cap

One of the causes of worry is money. What can be achieved purely with finanacial capabilities and no tactical acumen. I say create a soft limit on the effect of which money has on the game. You can still expand your arena to a million seats. You can still buy that 1M per week monster of a player. But you cannot exceed your Team Salary Cap. This way, money hoarders cannot buy themselves to the top of the pile. The most they can do is put themselves on even ground with the most competitive managers in the game, that's it. To beat them, you need skill. You need tactics. You need experience.

How do we determine the salary cap? Simple. Season Ticket Holders. Success brings success, and a successful team is more likely to draw the stars than a fifth division team losing every game. Use the Season Ticket Holders and multiply it with the max attendance multiplier you use to determine attendance in games together with max ticket prices. That's your salary cap. You still can live on a negative budget, but it won't be much which mirrors real life. Most teams will be gently pushed to keeping a positive budget, while the most insanely competitive of teams will be minorly in the negatives. Teams which succeed will be rewarded with a higher STH. As we know, STH doesn't fluctuate much so it will be a minor advantage at most. Lower ranked teams will have to make up the ground given by this advantage with tactical genius and not dollar signs.

Conmpetitiveness? Eventually, everyone equals out at the financial break even line instead of plunging into the negatives. To beat the other team, they will have to rely on their own tactical awareness. Which brings the game back to it's sporting roots and making economy less of a factor on the court. It also adds an additional tactical dimension to the game. Do I spend more of my salaries on the inside, or do I invest in Guards? Maybe I should balance them both up? Do I keep 5 insane starters or level things out with the subs? You decide what you work with, and what you do with it. You might see entire teams with their own special setups instead of the current player specialization.

This move will also promote the training and development of multiskilled players. With the team salary cap, managers will want the most bang for buck and that means maximum performance for their salary. Multiskill players which carry a lower salary than their counterparts are the answer.

Problems? I realize that teams that started prior to Season 3 might have an advantage in STH. A fix to that has been long outstanding, and this gives the BB's something to prioritize that fix so everyone is on even ground.


If this works out, money hoarding will no longer work. Instead, having a stable long term economy plan, buying the right players and playing the right tactics are the things necessary to win trophies. Tell me what you think.

no, because this will stock in first division team who are rarely to get out of their seats. Inside strategies would be weaker then outside orientated because of the high salarys of inside guys ...

Would'nt the game be clone vs clone and outcome is only determined by luck (with tactics) + HCA? How do you plan saving a lot of money in the lower league and then come up and win it all? Lower divisions will not give you enough money + you lose out on the competition part (not knowing your 1 league opponents). If you want to try to hoard cash and then go for a league win and high negative economy then by all means try it. You might succeed you might not. I think most of managers here are trying to sustain a certain level and keep improving.

Three, players from smaller countries point to the big guns of larger countries and saying they will never be as good as them the way the game is structured. The players from larger countries instead point out that these smaller countries will continue to thrive as they don't have to stay competitive, hence can afford to win even with weaker players while saving up more cash to spend. This increased monetary capability will then result in them becoming insanely strong, see point Two for elaboration.

sorry if i focus on a little phrase of your long thread, but just look at the current BBB for evidence of the fact this is alreay becoming reality
of the 16 teams remaining, only 3 come from 500+ user countries

Dear CrazyEye,

Inside strategies being weaker because of their higher wage doesn't hold true because the same wages for inside players also apply to the defender. To counteract an inside strategy, you need to invest in inside players of your own. It swings both ways, and should be a non-issue.


Dear Kukoc,

It also adds an additional tactical dimension to the game. Do I spend more of my salaries on the inside, or do I invest in Guards? Maybe I should balance them both up? Do I keep 5 insane starters or level things out with the subs? You decide what you work with, and what you do with it. You might see entire teams with their own special setups instead of the current player specialization.

This is an excerp from my lengthy post. It will hardly be clone vs clone as it will be much more dynamic than what is available now. You come up and win it all not through the division, but through the national tournament which is a level field for all teams. To fully grasp the effect of cash hoarding on the game, I'll recommend looking up Hattrick. Some players here might be familiar with it.


Dear mark_lenders,

Yes it is. One season hardly constitutes hard proof, but the trend is beginning to show.

Could just create a seasonal profit tax..

This works well in FML... you have to invest in stadium or on a player or pay taxes.... competitiion tax as well (not that the money is high enough to tax yet!)

Both these would ensure that the hoarding of money would be much slower and encourage a constant flow of money circulating around the game.

Ah, but you could still work wonders with a hoard of money. What it would be slowing is the process. So I've gone over the possible taxes and it doesn't seem to have the desired effect.

But by implementing a team salary cap, you limit the amount of 'instant success' money can buy while still giving teams leeway to play the money hoarding game if they really want to.

Point taken. But then again this is a subjective matter which is relative to interpretation. I do agree on your expansion on it being a managerial game, the initial direction I wanted to point out was that BB is based on a sport, and not an economic simulator like a real time Wallstreet simulation. Any thoughts on the idea though?