5 ms·

Ask HN: Why isn't US sport fond of pyramidal structure with promoton/relegation?

tobinfekkes 3y ago
Because cartels are too profitable.
nradov 3y ago
Why would a major league team owner ever agree to the risk of relegation, which would destroy the value of their investment? Most pro leagues also keep all their teams somewhat competitive through a mix of revenue sharing, salary caps, and draft preferences. So, even the worst major league team is still way better than the best minor or farm league team.
- JumpinJack_Cash 3y ago
  > > Why would a major league team owner ever agree to the risk of relegation, which would destroy the value of their investment? Because they are supposedly an expert in the field and could build a portfolio of clubs so that even if one gets relegated, then others might come up and viceversa. Their skills would be then measured much more 'on the stuff' and less on the politics such as the political manouvers to get the league to agree to an expansion team in the geography of preference. Wouldn't it be much easier to create a soccer club in Vegas and inject capital into it to make it reach the MLS? Or an NFL franchise in Austin, again inject capital and see it rise to the NFL? The state of the art requires the businessmen who want to set up shop in such cities to politic their way into having the league accept an expansion team, wheres the natural order of things would be via the promotion/relegation system, so that Vegas could replace Commerce City, CO as the city represented in the MLS and Austin could replace Buffalo, NY in the NFL. And the best thing is that it would not be definitive in any way, as circumstances change then Buffalo could once again rise to the top tier once again and viceversa
  - nradov 3y ago
    There's nothing particularly natural about a promotion system. It's just a different set of arbitrary league rules. As for building a portfolio of clubs, come on be serious. Most of the current pro major league owners don't have the capital to buy multiple teams even if the league would allow that. The valuations are enormous. The whole concept is just silly.
- notahacker 3y ago
  Meanwhile, team sports across the rest of the world where relegation is a thing wonder why teams would give up their competitive edge in recruitment for a draft... :) Mainly its path dependency based on meetings that took place in the late 19th century establishing norms. It's not like association football clubs aren't big businesses, it's just relegation is so fundamental to fans' idea of competitive sport that even the English Premier League - a breakaway organised by the top division clubs for the stated purpose of giving themselves a bigger share of the broadcasting revenues - didn't seriously consider the idea of not continuing to kick its worst three performing members out every season. For related reasons, fan backlash killed the American-owner-inspired "European Super League" project off within days of it being publicised

Because cartels are too profitable.

Why would a major league team owner ever agree to the risk of relegation, which would destroy the value of their investment? Most pro leagues also keep all their teams somewhat competitive through a mix of revenue sharing, salary caps, and draft preferences. So, even the worst major league team is still way better than the best minor or farm league team.

JumpinJack_Cash 3y ago
> > Why would a major league team owner ever agree to the risk of relegation, which would destroy the value of their investment? Because they are supposedly an expert in the field and could build a portfolio of clubs so that even if one gets relegated, then others might come up and viceversa. Their skills would be then measured much more 'on the stuff' and less on the politics such as the political manouvers to get the league to agree to an expansion team in the geography of preference. Wouldn't it be much easier to create a soccer club in Vegas and inject capital into it to make it reach the MLS? Or an NFL franchise in Austin, again inject capital and see it rise to the NFL? The state of the art requires the businessmen who want to set up shop in such cities to politic their way into having the league accept an expansion team, wheres the natural order of things would be via the promotion/relegation system, so that Vegas could replace Commerce City, CO as the city represented in the MLS and Austin could replace Buffalo, NY in the NFL. And the best thing is that it would not be definitive in any way, as circumstances change then Buffalo could once again rise to the top tier once again and viceversa
- nradov 3y ago
  There's nothing particularly natural about a promotion system. It's just a different set of arbitrary league rules. As for building a portfolio of clubs, come on be serious. Most of the current pro major league owners don't have the capital to buy multiple teams even if the league would allow that. The valuations are enormous. The whole concept is just silly.
notahacker 3y ago
Meanwhile, team sports across the rest of the world where relegation is a thing wonder why teams would give up their competitive edge in recruitment for a draft... :) Mainly its path dependency based on meetings that took place in the late 19th century establishing norms. It's not like association football clubs aren't big businesses, it's just relegation is so fundamental to fans' idea of competitive sport that even the English Premier League - a breakaway organised by the top division clubs for the stated purpose of giving themselves a bigger share of the broadcasting revenues - didn't seriously consider the idea of not continuing to kick its worst three performing members out every season. For related reasons, fan backlash killed the American-owner-inspired "European Super League" project off within days of it being publicised