by tmesis »
24 Mar 2025 18:20
Sutekh RoyalBlue Forbury Lion Worse than that.
The Premier League could vote to end promotion and relegation, it just needs a majority vote and he way it's going the majority of clubs will be owned by American owners, some who own NFL clubs where they make shit loads of money with no relegation or promotion.
USL, the other main pro league in the USA, have just voted in favour of introducing promotion and relegation to their setup. They believe the competitiveness throughout the season that this will bring will make their leagues far more attractive to fans/viewers and enable them to challenge MLS's dominance.
I watch a fair bit of football/soccer in the US and I can see pros and cons to both setups. Although it's said that without relegation clubs in MLS have nothing to worry about and, as a consequence, seasons can die off and be less competitive, the draft system and caps on salaries etc. have, in the past, made it a much more level playing field. A team can be struggling one season and be challenging for the honours the next and vice versa.
How much time will it take to explain the concept to US sports fans?
Fans of football (proper kind) get it because there have been fans banging on about introducing it to MLS and the other divisions for more than 20 years now.
They've had to work very hard to create a league where clubs didn't just crash and burn every couple of years, and relegating teams could be horrifically bad for a lot of them, to replace them with clubs who just aren't equipped to step up.
It's probably more like the situation with rugby union in England, where a team would go down and struggle with debt, only to often be replaced by club that didn't have the facilities, and could cope.