Capitals to purchase CapFriendly website (UPD: Capitals hiring all capfriendly owners, beat out other teams that wanted to buy capfriendly)

[McDNicks17]

Presenting the data in a way that is easy to consume is hard. Capfriendly did it really well. We'll see if others can repeat that.

I don't agree with that. Building a site that looks like Capfriendly is extremely easy.

 

[nothingbeatshockey]

Another thought is they 'bought' the guys running it

A caps blog said that's exactly what's happening - the two guys behind are rumored to be sought after by the Caps and brought into the organization.

As a Capsfan, I am pissed that I no longer have access to the site. But all the wailing and gnashing of teeth is hysterical. Obviously Leonsis saw value in purchasing the site, either in the form of an advantage for the Caps and/or disadvantage to the other league teams. The same blog mentioned above said upwards of 70% of the teams in league will "scramble" once the site is taken down.

The creators, no doubt, got bank for the purchase.

If some other team had bought it, I'd be pissed but not just for the loss of my access to it, but because my team lost access to it [assuming they use it]. And I'd be second guessing why my team didn't think to buy it.

So, in summary, Caps win, creators win, other teams lose, and fans lose.

 

[TLEH]

I don't agree with that. Building a site that looks like Capfriendly is extremely easy.

Sure lol. Building a site and collecting all that data isn't easy to begin with, or everyone would do it. Designing the UI to be as clean and user friendly as the one they did isn't easy either.

 

[McDNicks17]

Sure lol. Building a site and collecting all that data isn't easy to begin with, or everyone would do it. Designing the UI to be as clean and user friendly as the one they did isn't easy either.

It really is. There's just no reason to try to compete with something as popular as Capfriendly. It's wide open now.

 

[TLEH]

It really is. There's just no reason to try to compete with something as popular as Capfriendly. It's wide open now.

Seems like your new site should be next up.

 

[tny760]

I don't agree with that. Building a site that looks like Capfriendly is extremely easy.

so why didn't you do it?

 

[Blackjack]

A caps blog said that's exactly what's happening - the two guys behind are rumored to be sought after by the Caps and brought into the organization.

As a Capsfan, I am pissed that I no longer have access to the site. But all the wailing and gnashing of teeth is hysterical. Obviously Leonsis saw value in purchasing the site, either in the form of an advantage for the Caps and/or disadvantage to the other league teams. The same blog mentioned above said upwards of 70% of the teams in league will "scramble" once the site is taken down.

The creators, no doubt, got bank for the purchase.

If some other team had bought it, I'd be pissed but not just for the loss of my access to it, but because my team lost access to it [assuming they use it]. And I'd be second guessing why my team didn't think to buy it.

So, in summary, Caps win, creators win, other teams lose, and fans lose.

I mean, people have a right to be disappointed when one of the few good and free resources they have to understand the Byzantine cap world is taken away.

I think most of the blame belongs squarely with Bettman and the owners who sneer at the idea that fans have a legitimate interest in contract details and teams’ cap situation and cap outlook. If they had any shame they would have instituted a centralized contract database and made it all transparent to fans after the Dadonov fiasco.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

Maybe they are just going to rename it Capsfriendly and leave it as is. HAS NO ONE THOUGHT OF THAT???

 

[McDNicks17]

Seems like your new site should be next up.

Hey, you never know.

Website building has come a long way since 2015. There’s going to be tons of competition. I could see HF actually playing a big part in who wins the race. Get established early and gain popularity on here and you’ll have a big boost. Win out Twitter after that and you’re in.

 

[TLEH]

Hey, you never know.

Website building has come a long way since 2015. There’s going to be tons of competition. I could see HF actually playing a big part in who wins the race. Get established early and gain popularity on here and you’ll have a big boost. Win out Twitter after that and you’re in.

I am in software, but I don't build websites. I have in the past. I agree that HF will likely play a part, but I think if it was easy, a lot more people would do it. Agree to disagree.

 

[NVious]

Maybe they are just going to rename it Capsfriendly and leave it as is. HAS NO ONE THOUGHT OF THAT???

They only bought it because they thought the website was a place for friendly Caps fans, they had no idea about any of it's other "features."

 

[varsaku]

Yeah I have no idea why the league would want to bury contract information... None at all...

https://x.com/i/web/status/1800669912253526252

Not making salaries public protects the team management in contract negotiations. If i was the NHLPA, i would publish the salaries to provide more power to the players during contract negotiations. MLSPA publishes all salaries.

MLS Players Salary Guide | MLS Players Association

Every year the MLS Player Association releases our annual salary guide, listing each player in the MLS along with their current salary. We see this transparency as an extremely important part of our mission to support and protect the player community.

mlsplayers.org

 

[McDNicks17]

I am in software, but I don't build websites. I have in the past. I agree that HF will likely play a part, but I think if it was easy, a lot more people would do it. Agree to disagree.

It just isn’t a niche where competitors can really exist.

Like look at most of the popular hockey sites. Hockeydb, NatStatTrick and Moneypuck look like a thirteen year old built them haha, but good luck taking any of their users.

It’s all about getting established and getting popular enough that competitors won’t even try.

 

[Viqsi]

Not sure if this was posted yet but some more interesting quotes in here. This quote in particular is crazy to me:

NHL’s relationship with CapFriendly was ‘icy’ before Capitals’ purchase, sale has left teams without internal infrastructure ‘scrambling’

The Washington Capitals sent shockwaves through the hockey world when it was revealed on Sunday that they purchased the popular salary-cap site…

russianmachineneverbreaks.com

Nine teams, five of which are in the same division as the Caps. Maybe they were feeling a little competitive pressure. At this point the only Metro teams that don't have that would be the Flyers and Rangers.

Maybe in memory of Matthew Wuest (z''l) we should petition to rename the Metro Division to the Capgeek Division.

 

[Viqsi]

I don't agree with that. Building a site that looks like Capfriendly is extremely easy.

It's easy but not everybody knows how to do it, which is why there were a bunch of imitators. UX design is kind of an underrated skill, but it's still out there and available. The real value is the network of contacts needed to get the contract info that is otherwise not public.

 

[SEALBound]

Can someone refresh my memory on what happened with CapGeek? I'm thought the guy died and the family didn't want it so *poof* gone but I can't quite remember.

To be fair too, capfriendly was around during CapGeek but it took awhile for it to evolve into what it is today. I think what most people are upset about is, more or less, the inevitable "reset" to an inferior product waiting for it to catch up.

We'd all be bummed if all of a sudden the Capitals bought the 4/5G network and cut it off meaning we all had to go back to 3G phones. Yeah, eventually the market would catch up but it doesn't mean it doesn't suck in the mean time.

That said, it is absolutely a BOMB opportunity for a web designer and stats nerd to build a suite dedicated to providing the service to NHL teams. If I had the capability to create it, that would be the priority. Public, second honestly.

 

[johnjm22]

Does anyone know how much the Capitals paid for it?

Any guesses?

 

[SuperScript29]

It really is. There's just no reason to try to compete with something as popular as Capfriendly. It's wide open now.

Far from easy, think about the following:

- UI design that actually looks friendly
- Good code/database architecture
- Regular data updates
- Good server infrastructure so your site doesn't get hacked or have a shitty performance (Even if you don't do it yourself, you need to pay others to do it)
- Funding to keep the site up should it get popular
- You can do all that, and still fail to better competition

Running a site of that magnitude is not an easy task what so ever.

 

[Mr Positive]

Well it's nice that the capfriendly people got some cash out of their passion project

 

[Arthur Morgan]

again more than ever f*** the caps. hope they lose all their money and have to relocate, im sorry for the fans but f*** your team.

there's a city just dying to get an NHL team out there.

I don't agree with that. Building a site that looks like Capfriendly is extremely easy.

then do it, we're waiting.....

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

again more than ever f*** the caps. hope they lose all their money and have to relocate, im sorry for the fans but f*** your team.

there's a city just dying to get an NHL team out there.


then do it, we're waiting.....

We appreciate your feedback and will take your suggestion of f***ing off into oblivion under consideration.

 

[RandV]

Far from easy, think about the following:

- UI design that actually looks friendly
- Good code/database architecture
- Regular data updates
- Good server infrastructure so your site doesn't get hacked or have a shitty performance (Even if you don't do it yourself, you need to pay others to do it)
- Funding to keep the site up should it get popular
- You can do all that, and still fail to better competition

Running a site of that magnitude is not an easy task what so ever.

Yes it's 'easy' to replicate the UI work and post a bunch of salaries, but to do the full package, do it well, add all sorts of additional features, and constantly maintain updates, is not only not so easy but also a ton of work.

For as long as it's been running it would pretty much be a full time job for the people running it, and while I understand fans being upset about losing it I say if they can cash out on their work then good for them. This is a significant but relatively niche free product so I can't complain that they're being rewarded for their work.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

We appreciate your feedback and will take your suggestion of f***ing off into oblivion under consideration.

I mean I dont hate you or any of the fans but I dunno how I can not be this way towards the caps right now.


also this is pretty minor, just wait till the site actually goes dark

 

[Liam Smith]

I love how people are blaming this all on the caps as if their favorite team wasn't trying to buy it too. Just looking for reasons to hate the caps.

 

[hockeykicker]

I mean I dont hate you or any of the fans but I dunno how I can not be this way towards the caps right now.


also this is pretty minor, just wait till the site actually goes dark

The owner of the previous site before capfriendly- general fanager got bought by Vegas and their former owner is making all the cap moves for Vegas that people are complaining about. Why wouldn't Washington want that advantage too?