Nicki P Says No To Paycut And Breaks The Contract With C'towa

[21st century heathen 220]

I can see both sides, but if it's a 50% pay-cut then I'm leaning towards Nicki's point of view. He will have a contract in place and will have planned his season around an estimated budget. To suddenly, on the eve of the season, be expected to take a 50% pay-cut is unbelievable. Losing £200k, for example, could blow his title hopes out of the water (just an example to show what it could mean to a rider like Nicki). Guys like Nicki may earn what most of us consider a huge sum, but they will be spending plenty on their set-up for the season and may already be committed to certain contracts for equipment themselves. Those that are on the side of the club should consider how they would cope with their financial commitments if they had to take a 50% pay cut tomorrow. The flip side being that 50% is better than nothing if the club folds.

[Ghostwalker 1,859]

Nickis orginal Swedish contract is for two seasons and is said to give him about 3,85 million Swedish kr per season which is about £320k

[lucifer sam 3,960]

I misread the title of this thread. I thought it said "Nicki says no to haircut". Scruffy git!

 

And 50% is a lot. If my employer wanted to cut my wages by 50%, my reply would involve one finger.

 

All the best

Rob

[AndyM 1]

I can see both sides, but if it's a 50% pay-cut then I'm leaning towards Nicki's point of view. He will have a contract in place and will have planned his season around an estimated budget. To suddenly, on the eve of the season, be expected to take a 50% pay-cut is unbelievable. Losing £200k, for example, could blow his title hopes out of the water (just an example to show what it could mean to a rider like Nicki). Guys like Nicki may earn what most of us consider a huge sum, but they will be spending plenty on their set-up for the season and may already be committed to certain contracts for equipment themselves. Those that are on the side of the club should consider how they would cope with their financial commitments if they had to take a 50% pay cut tomorrow. The flip side being that 50% is better than nothing if the club folds.

Nicki's income is unsustainable in the current environment, and he must know it. If it is a 50% cut (do we know that for sure?), it is because anticipated revenue has fallen and the club can't continue with existing contracts, not because of any desire to backtrack on contractual commitments - if that were the case, nobody would do business with them. The point is that every club will start to feel the same constraints and sooner or later he will have to lower his expectations or give up speedway and move to F1 or something else. In times of recession, you have to cut your cloth...

[rabbit 1]

Those that are on the side of the club should consider how they would cope with their financial commitments if they had to take a 50% pay cut tomorrow.

 

I can see where you're coming from, but we're not talking your average man on the street on £25k - 30k...this is nearly 10 times that, and that's just the reduced amount! And not just his sole income either when you take into account open meetings, GP winnings, sponsorship etc and other leagues he can ride in. Personally if my employer offered me a cut in my money but the chance to keep my current job in the current financial climate, I'd be there like a shot.

Edited April 8, 2009 by rabbit

[iris123 21,079]

Personally if my employer offered me a cut in my money but the chance to keep my current job in the current financial climate, I'd be there like a shot.

In all fairness though....and not knowing what you do....there are probably 5 or 10 people in Poole waiting that could do your job.....on the other hand there are only one or two that could do Nicki's....in the world.....if that(and they are signed up already).And we all know if the crunch comes and after a few meetings a team is struggling badly they can find that extra bit of money....usually

Edited April 8, 2009 by iris123

[21st century heathen 220]

The point I was really trying to make was that Nicki has a signed contract that states he will get 'x'. The club should have had the foresight to negociate a deal it could afford in the first place.

[AndyM 1]

The point I was really trying to make was that Nicki has a signed contract that states he will get 'x'. The club should have had the foresight to negociate a deal it could afford in the first place.

If everyone could foresee everything impacting on their deals life would be so easy, wouldn't it! In the real world, circumstances change and contracts get renegotiated in every line of business on a daily basis.

 

The only reason a club would negotiate a deal like that in the first place is because they had guarantees which somebody else welshed on. What choice have they got? Go out of business but stick to the letter of Nicki's contract?

[21st century heathen 220]

If you read my posts properly you'll see that I don't entirely disagree. I just said that if it's a 50% cut I would lean towards falling on Nicki's side of the argument.

[Sandie 53]

Not going to use quotes from previous people but wanted to add:

 

Tex and Mat - A 50% pay cut is a lot but what I woud like to know -what is the 2nd highest placed rider in his team being paid?

Was Nicki being overpaid compared to the rest of the team.

If so the deal should never have been made in the first place

 

Rabbit - He may be on a high salary but you do still need to factor in - travel, although probably a seperate deal in the contract, mechanics, equipment and a pro-rata'ed salary over the twelve months. Stating the obvious I know but I thought it needed adding.

But - if someone could answer the question about the next averaged riders then I would be able to offer a more considered opinion on whether he is over-paid or not!!!!

Edited April 8, 2009 by Sandie

[rabbit 1]

Perhaps my attitude appears rather harsh to some. I suppose I just don't feel much sympathy towards someone still being offered £200k in one country (and we're probably talking close to £500k overall when other countries/meeting/sponsorship deals etc are taken into account) for the amount of meetings he'd actually do. I hear all the arguments about costs etc, but we're not exactly talking about someone being forced to walk the poverty line even after all of that. I guess I'm just looking at the bigger picture rather than just focussing on speedway.

Edited April 8, 2009 by rabbit

[Sandie 53]

Perhaps my attitude appears rather harsh to some. I suppose I just don't feel much sympathy towards someone still being offered £200k in one country (and we're probably talking close to £500k overall when other countries/meeting/sponsorship deals etc are taken into account) for the amount of meetings he'd actually do. I hear all the arguments about costs etc, but we're not exactly talking about someone being forced to walk the poverty line even after all of that. I guess I'm just looking at the bigger picture rather than just focussing on speedway.

I certainly dont disagree with that arguement Rabs

[Mateusz 0]

A very unofficial pay list from one of Polish newspapers. Published in January, only 1 mln zl and above...

 

Later on, shortly before the season, Gollob (and other Gorzow riders) agreed to some pay cut (about 25%, I reckon).

 

The second highest paid one in Czestochowa was Greg Hancock.

 

1. Tomasz Gollob - 2,1 mln

2. Nicki Pedersen - 1,95

3. Jason Crump - 1,8

4. Leigh Adams 1,6

5. Rune Holta 1,45

6. Hans Andersen 1,4

7. Greg Hancock 1,35

8. Andreas Jonsson 1,3

9. Kenneth Bjerre 1,25

10.Jarosław Hampel 1,2

11.Scott Nicholls 1,15

12.Grzegorz Walasek 1,15

13.Krzysztof Kasprzak 1,1

14.Chris Harris 1,05

15.Emil Sajfutdinow 1

16.Bjarne Pedersen 1

17.Ryan Sullivan 1

 

PS. I don't really care about NP but if I had been offered a contract with the amount about 2 mln zl, so more less the money Gollob and Crump get, and then had been told about the pay cut to the level of Bjarne or Sullivan, I would have not agreed either and left the club.

Edited April 8, 2009 by Mateusz

[Ghostwalker 1,859]

according to a danish news article Nicki is Prepared to accept a 20-30% pay cut in Poland:

 

"Den fynske verdensmester er i konkrete forhandlinger med to klubber i Polen efter krakket i Czestochowa.

Men Nicki Pedersen må indstille sig på en lønnedgang på 20-30 procent"

 

it says that the World champion from Fyn (The Danish Island Nicki is from) is negotiating with teams in Poland after he broke the contract with c'towa.

[21st century heathen 220]

If others accepted a pay cut of around 25% and Nicki is prepared to accept a cut of around 20%-30% I think few could argue that's fair enough. It also adds weight to the suggestion that he had been expected to take a much bigger, and arguably unfair, cut by Czestochowa.