Bidding Wars

[Kjarvs]

I usually run smaller companies so I'm used to my top talents being poached and changing my booking plans to accommodate a sudden departure of a top star.

 

However, I'm currently really enjoying a save with the CWA and I've reached a point where one of my top workers' contract is up soon and the big American companies are coming in with offers for him. I do have the financial muscle to match the top offer, but I'm not used to being in the position to keep my top guys when USPW come a-knocking!

 

So my question is, how do you gauge what is an appropriate price to pay to retain/sign a talent in a bidding war? How do you use "add-ons" like signing bonuses, or creative control/hiring veto and how much to they sweeten the deal? 

 

I'm sure the answer is "it depends" but I'm interested to hear other people's thoughts and processes when they get dragged into a bidding war for a top talent.

 

 

[SomeDude03]

Whether I'm in a bidding war for my guy or trying to sign someone, I don't really look at popularity as a factor if it's over 70. They're over, if the star quality is high enough you can get their popularity up to match the contract quickly enough.

I base it off whether or not I think I have plans for the wrestler/think I can make plans quick enough. Like if I'm TCW I'm not putting up much of a fight for guys like Sammy Bach or Mighty Mo, but if you try and take Jay Chord, T-Bone, or Wolf I'm doing whatever I can to bring them back. As long as the deal won't bankrupt the company I'm willing to go as high as possible to keep them.

My red lines are creative control and hiring veto for negative personalities. I don't want to become late-era WCW so unless you are a professional who's putting people over if I ask you aren't getting CC. For hiring veto, I wouldn't give it to a guy like Jay Chord cause I don't want him to stop me from signing a guy cause he got into a social media argument. They do sweeten the deal though, and could potentially save you tens of thousands of dollars on a contract. 

And honestly for some of my favorites I throw the rules out the window. Kozue Kawashima's contract is up? Thank you for your service here's a 5 year deal that quadruples your asking price even though you'll probably be in decline by the end and have loyalty so you won't leave anyway. It's suboptimal but sometimes that's okay if you're doing it for the rp value. 

[alpha2117]

In general I just base on age, condition and SQ.  One of the great things with being a human is you can actually think creatively.  With older guys coming to the end USPW will often overpay, it actually saves you making the tough choice to cut a person loose.  I much prefer to go for people when they are on the upswing.  So let USPW or one of the others give your vets retirement funds and only fight to keep who you want long term.  

[Shooltra]

My first step is to look at my roster. Where does the new salary puts them and how likely it is that by the end of the contract, they will still be worth that price.

To use CWA as an example ( although, I've never played with them ), I wouldn't give Christian Price a top contract for 5 years because by the end of it, he won't be worth the money so I will offer a shorter deal and if it doesn't work, write him off. However, for someone like Pryce, I could overpay because when the 5 years are up, he likely will be much higher in the card and far from being limited physically.

 

[BuddyGarner2]

Creative control is pretty easy to book around in a larger fed but for smaller feds you may want to job them out fast so you don’t want to give creative control.

[smmccallum]

it all depends for me. I'm planning to start a SWF save I will not overbid for Rocky Golden and others that close to 40 or above but I will do everything to keep Remo no matter what.

[Cards1125]

On 9/13/2024 at 3:13 AM, SomeDude03 said:

Whether I'm in a bidding war for my guy or trying to sign someone, I don't really look at popularity as a factor if it's over 70. They're over, if the star quality is high enough you can get their popularity up to match the contract quickly enough.

I base it off whether or not I think I have plans for the wrestler/think I can make plans quick enough. Like if I'm TCW I'm not putting up much of a fight for guys like Sammy Bach or Mighty Mo, but if you try and take Jay Chord, T-Bone, or Wolf I'm doing whatever I can to bring them back. As long as the deal won't bankrupt the company I'm willing to go as high as possible to keep them.

My red lines are creative control and hiring veto for negative personalities. I don't want to become late-era WCW so unless you are a professional who's putting people over if I ask you aren't getting CC. For hiring veto, I wouldn't give it to a guy like Jay Chord cause I don't want him to stop me from signing a guy cause he got into a social media argument. They do sweeten the deal though, and could potentially save you tens of thousands of dollars on a contract. 

And honestly for some of my favorites I throw the rules out the window. Kozue Kawashima's contract is up? Thank you for your service here's a 5 year deal that quadruples your asking price even though you'll probably be in decline by the end and have loyalty so you won't leave anyway. It's suboptimal but sometimes that's okay if you're doing it for the rp value. 

Exactly!  USPW can try and pry Jay Chord from my cold dead fingers.  I'd pay him 1M a month if I had to.  If I've got a guy over 90 SQ that I can put on a 3-5 year contract and feel comfortable he's not going to be in time decline, you cannot outbid me.  I make up for it by completely avoiding bidding wars for guys that aren't stars.  USPW wants Greg Gauge?  Well, that's unfortunate, but I can put KC Glenn and his 100 SQ in that spot within a month or two.  There's just too many guys that can go in the ring to get stuck on anyone who isn't exceptional.  I wouldn't go to war for guys like Mo or Aaron Andrews when  Quentin Queen or Chris Flynn can do the same job.  

Now, if you're just asking about strategy when I do decide to engage in a bidding war, it's all about that signing bonus.  I'm more than happy to give a star 400k+ as a signing bonus if needed.  As long as you match their merch % and bonus numbers, you can usually just match or even slightly underbid the salary as long as you pair it with a nice fat signing bonus.