While I am working on a post about the U.S. Men’s National Team I wanted to broach a subject that I have discussed with others many times. In Europe, top soccer countries such as England, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy, and France have a relegation system where the bottom three teams at the end of the season are relegated to a lower league and replaced by the top three teams in that in the lower league. My question is would this work in major sports leagues in the United States?
Now in the Europe soccer teams that are promoted to the top divisions receive monetary compensation to add to the roster to make the team competitive. When Newcastle United fell from the EPL to the English 2nd division, the Coca-Cola Championship, they were forced to let go of many of their top players. They have clinched the 2010 2nd division title this year and will be promoted back to the EPL and receive a $60 million dollar bonus to make roster additions. While $60 million is not enough to buy them enough talent to win the EPL it is enough to make them competitive if spent well and stick in the EPL.
It is true that Major League Soccer does not follow this model, even with the existence of a 2nd division soccer league in the United States. MLS has maintained that the league being just a start up, for the past 13 years and not financially sound it would not work and there would be considerable risk of losing fans. Well there are four leagues in the United States that are financially sound and have established fan bases.
How interesting would it be if teams were fighting for their spot in the 1st division of the NBA, MLB, NHL, or NFL? Would the Cavs have tanked the 2002-2003 season to increase their chances of getting LeBron James? How much different would franchises like the Detroit Lions be run if they faced the prospect of dropping from the top football league and losing their top players? Would the Houston Astros have made six years of suspect (I am in a good mood this morning) free agent and draft moves if they could be dropped from MLB?
Now I understand that there would be a lot of reorganization that would go on such as creating a smaller first division league and there would definitely be issues with attendance and financial loses etc. Let’s put that aside and look at the merits of the system and how it would affect the fans and teams. The system clearly works in Europe. For the legitimacy of soccer as a real sport to be questioned as much as it is here in the United States their fans stay with their team no matter what division the team is in. Leeds United was a fixture in the EPL in the 70’s and 80’s. Because of financial issues and bad roster moves they are now in the 3rd division (there are five total divisions professional soccer in England) yet their fans still show up and support the club.
Would this be true for the “real” sports here in the United States? Would you stick with your team if they were relegated from the top league? Do you think it would put pressure on the teams to make better roster moves? Do you think it would make the overall quality of the league better? Would it really hurt your feelings if the New Jersey Nets were sent to the D-League? Would less fans show up to watch them?
Just something to think about on a Tuesday.
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