The Premiership Rugby salary cap "will be frozen" at £7M ($9.3M) between '18 and '20 following two seasons of "rapid inflation," according to Alex Lowe of the LONDON TIMES. The limit was increased for this season by £1M ($1.3M) to £6.5M ($8.6M), with the introduction of a second marquee player whose salary falls outside the cap, "on the back of a bumper television deal with BT Sport" that is worth approximately £40M ($53M) a year. Next season the cap will rise by a further £500,000 ($663,325) but Premiership Rugby has to "strike the right balance between being competitive with the rich French clubs while encouraging financial prudence and ensuring as close to a level playing field in England as possible." There are some clubs, such as Sale Sharks and Newcastle Falcons, that will "not be spending anywhere near the current salary cap and could not afford to live with the kind of annual increases that have been approved for the next two seasons." The Premiership Rugby board "voted to freeze the cap" for two years and the framework for the salary cap system will "also remain in place" (LONDON TIMES, 9/8).
