I know a lot of guys are having a hard time making money in Madden this year. I, myself, posted an article in this very forum trying to figure out the puzzle that is the Madden 15 financials. Finally, though, I gained some traction and started getting positive funds. Both of my Madden league teams are now making money. So, I wanted to share what I've learned and hopefully help some of you guys that are struggling turn things around as well.
Here is the video version of How to Make Money in Madden 15:
Trim the Fat
The first, and most important, step in turning a profit in Madden 15 is to trim the fat from your roster. That means cutting guys with big salaries who you do not necessarily need. Its also important to pay attention to cap penalties as you do not want to reduce your cap space when you finally do have money to sign free agents.
Above is an example of a place where you can save a lot of money: cutting overpriced backups. The Jaguars have Blake Bortles who is a 77 OVR rookie. Chad Henne is a decent guy to back Bortles up, but he's a luxury we really can't afford, especially at $4M. I cut Henne, Toby Gerhart (because we had 3 other halfbacks rated 70 OVR or better), Jason Babin (we had four 77 OVR or better defensive ends) and Ziggy Hood (three DTs over 70) and saved over $14M before we played our first game. That's a HUGE savings right out of the gate, especially when its not really making your team a whole lot worse.
Listen to the Fans
The next place that you want to focus your attention is in the "FINANCES" section of the "OWNER" tab in your CFM. As you can see in the screenshot below, the fans will give you a good indication of what you are doing right or wrong with your ticket prices, concessions and merchandise. Listen to them. They are there for a reason.
Generally, if I was starting off new in a Connected Franchise and was using a team that's not so great and/or in a poor stadium, I would lower all of my prices to one notch below where they are by default. For instance, if the default mezzanine ticket price is $70, I would lower it to $65. If the default price for a burger is $5, I would lower it to $4. That is a good way to start off and make sure that you are maximizing your revenue early on by not overcharging. Then, after a week or two, you can go back in and see what the fans are saying. If you need to lower some things even more you can.
NOTE: I do not recommend raising ticket, concession or merchandise prices until you are winning consistently and selling out every home game.
Practice Makes Perfect
There is not an exact number that you should set your ticket or merchandise prices to. That is all going to depend on your on-field success, stadium, market size and fan support. Your best bet is to follow the guidelines I've laid out in here and tweak them to fit your situation.
NOTE: Ticket prices comprise the majority of your revenue. Focus on them the most. Merchandise is next. Concessions play a much smaller role so don't get lost trying to set those just right and neglect the more important pieces of the financial puzzle.
I took the Jaguars, who started 0-4 in the preseason and then lost their final eight games of the regular season (I simmed every games), and turned an $18M profit with them in my first season. It seems difficult to make money in Madden this year but, once you figure out how it works, its really pretty easy.
If you want a more in depth look at the financials, be sure to watch the video embedded at the beginning of this post. Also, feel free to post any questions in this thread and I'll do my best to answer them and help you out.
Sign up to join our Madden 17 leagues here
Here is the video version of How to Make Money in Madden 15:
Trim the Fat
The first, and most important, step in turning a profit in Madden 15 is to trim the fat from your roster. That means cutting guys with big salaries who you do not necessarily need. Its also important to pay attention to cap penalties as you do not want to reduce your cap space when you finally do have money to sign free agents.
Above is an example of a place where you can save a lot of money: cutting overpriced backups. The Jaguars have Blake Bortles who is a 77 OVR rookie. Chad Henne is a decent guy to back Bortles up, but he's a luxury we really can't afford, especially at $4M. I cut Henne, Toby Gerhart (because we had 3 other halfbacks rated 70 OVR or better), Jason Babin (we had four 77 OVR or better defensive ends) and Ziggy Hood (three DTs over 70) and saved over $14M before we played our first game. That's a HUGE savings right out of the gate, especially when its not really making your team a whole lot worse.
Listen to the Fans
The next place that you want to focus your attention is in the "FINANCES" section of the "OWNER" tab in your CFM. As you can see in the screenshot below, the fans will give you a good indication of what you are doing right or wrong with your ticket prices, concessions and merchandise. Listen to them. They are there for a reason.
Generally, if I was starting off new in a Connected Franchise and was using a team that's not so great and/or in a poor stadium, I would lower all of my prices to one notch below where they are by default. For instance, if the default mezzanine ticket price is $70, I would lower it to $65. If the default price for a burger is $5, I would lower it to $4. That is a good way to start off and make sure that you are maximizing your revenue early on by not overcharging. Then, after a week or two, you can go back in and see what the fans are saying. If you need to lower some things even more you can.
NOTE: I do not recommend raising ticket, concession or merchandise prices until you are winning consistently and selling out every home game.
Practice Makes Perfect
There is not an exact number that you should set your ticket or merchandise prices to. That is all going to depend on your on-field success, stadium, market size and fan support. Your best bet is to follow the guidelines I've laid out in here and tweak them to fit your situation.
NOTE: Ticket prices comprise the majority of your revenue. Focus on them the most. Merchandise is next. Concessions play a much smaller role so don't get lost trying to set those just right and neglect the more important pieces of the financial puzzle.
I took the Jaguars, who started 0-4 in the preseason and then lost their final eight games of the regular season (I simmed every games), and turned an $18M profit with them in my first season. It seems difficult to make money in Madden this year but, once you figure out how it works, its really pretty easy.
If you want a more in depth look at the financials, be sure to watch the video embedded at the beginning of this post. Also, feel free to post any questions in this thread and I'll do my best to answer them and help you out.
Sign up to join our Madden 17 leagues here
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