What determines each teams salary cap? Is it always in effect?
The salary cap is the absolute maximum each club may spend on player salaries in a capped year. For 2005, that amounts to 65.5 percent of league-wide “Defined Gross Revenues” (divided by 32 teams from 2004) made up of preseason, regular-season and postseason gate receipts and radio and television rights. The cap is in effect 365 days a year. From February 24 to the day before the season begins, a club’s top 51 salaried players count towards the cap, plus pro-rated signing bonuses, incentives, etc., but not base salaries of other players on the roster up to 80. Thereafter, not all salaries on a club’s roster count toward the cap. The maximum salary cap for 2005 is expected to be near $85 million per club.
