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Relegation: Can it/would it work?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Songbird, Aug 8, 2007.

  1. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Good point, Bubbler. And how I think it should work here is that all contracts, let's say starting in 2010, cannot have relegation clauses. You want to play in the big leagues, boy, you better produce like a big-leaguer ...

    That's the nut-cracker pressure that would drive the players every day.
     
  2. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Vermont Frost Heaves!
     
  3. shotglass

    shotglass Guest

    I've thought the same thing, Xan. It would be great, but too many mountains would have to be moved. Somebody would throw up the stop sign somewhere along the way.
     
  4. RedCanuck

    RedCanuck Active Member

    Not only affiliation, but also you have the issue of market size where clearly the major leagues have generally more desireable markets. You'd have a serious problem too if say the Yankees got relegated and Ottawa AAA was promoted for example.
     
  5. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    I absolutely love the idea, but have grown convinced it couldn't work for one simple issue: the country is too big, making travel an insurmountable issue.

    Virtually every minor league system in North America is broken up into regions to minimize the travel. A road trip for the single-A Eugene Emeralds may take them to Salem, Portland, Tri-Cities and Spokane. If you change that to Buffalo, Oklahoma City, New Orleans and Tucson the team won't survive.

    Countries with relegation systems are small enough to make it work.

    I could see it done on a very small scale, like the MLS and USL. Beyond that I just don't see it.
     
  6. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Bingo. The elephant in the room, before any of the other logistical questions can get answered.
     
  7. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    But Steinbrenner would save so much money, from $400M/year to roughly $15M. It would make those Yanks wanna hurry the fuck up back to the majors. A-Rod, from $25M/year to half a mil. Rich thought.

    And shit, Ottawa could probably beat the Pirates, Nats and D'Rays.
     
  8. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    The best league where this would work right now is in Arena Football. You have the AFL and afl2 already in place; most of the afl2 franchises that are successful could probably compete in the higher league. There's some disparity between the two levels, but it's not so pronounced.

    For other leagues, the contractual logistics would make it impossible. The only way to make it work would be to split the leagues into a top tier and bottom tier. Plus owners would be dead-set against it to a man. No big-league owner wants his team shunted off to a second-rate level.
     
  9. shotglass

    shotglass Guest

    If an afl2 team were promoted in an empty arena, would it make a sound?
     
  10. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    Seriously, the more I think about this premise in relation to sports in the U.S., the more stupid it becomes.
     
  11. Boomer7

    Boomer7 Active Member

    Not to mention that it would require x percent of owners to write a death sentence for their teams. If you own the Royals, D-Rays, Lions, Arizona Cardinals, Blackhawks, etc., you're not going to vote for a relegation system.

    Promotion/relegation is a great concept, but I don't see it working here. The American system, for better or worse, rewards shitty teams (with high draft picks) rather than punishing them.
     
  12. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    You're a hater, old man :D
     
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