# Could US sports sustain a Euro-style league setup? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 26, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-us-sports-sustain-a-euro-style-league-setup/515182 "2009-10-26T15:02:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-us-sports-sustain-a-euro-style-league-setup/515182/41 "2009-10-31T21:23:14Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Sort of, yeah, but the point I garbled was that it would be theoretically possible to set up a promotion/relegation system for American sports, but it is _not_ possible to allow a city to just arbitrarily decide to form a team and join in on the fun. > > For example, this year’s NFL season is a perfect example of haves and have nots. They could split up the league into three tiers pretty simply, since there are around 8 quality teams, 8 worthless teams, and 16 middle of the road teams. Toss the top two and bottom two from the middle group to the upper and lower tiers and you’re good to go. > > This would be an example of a promotion/relegation system in American sports. You said one of the advantages of such a system would be allowing an Oklahoma City to start their own team. This is not the case, since they would not be able to without permission from the NFL. Gotcha. I just assumed the system would include the ability to do an FC United type of thing. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-us-sports-sustain-a-euro-style-league-setup/515182/42 "2009-11-01T01:49:12Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > If I was benevolent (OK, mostly benevolent) dictator of the U.S., I’d institute relegation for college sports, particularly football. That way, rather than arbitrary groupings, teams are grouped by actual ability. And we’d see competitive games every week, rather than one or two interesting matchups and a bunch of blowouts. Actually, this can be done with one simple rule: Division I schools can only play Division I schools. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-us-sports-sustain-a-euro-style-league-setup/515182/43 "2009-11-01T13:48:08Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Sort of, yeah, but the point I garbled was that it would be theoretically possible to set up a promotion/relegation system for American sports, but it is _not_ possible to allow a city to just arbitrarily decide to form a team and join in on the fun. > > For example, this year’s NFL season is a perfect example of haves and have nots. They could split up the league into three tiers pretty simply, since there are around 8 quality teams, 8 worthless teams, and 16 middle of the road teams. Toss the top two and bottom two from the middle group to the upper and lower tiers and you’re good to go. > > This would be an example of a promotion/relegation system in American sports. You said one of the advantages of such a system would be allowing an Oklahoma City to start their own team. This is not the case, since they would not be able to without permission from the NFL. Promotion/relegation doesn’t work like that. Indeed, the fact that the NFL is a group of franchises in a league that is unconnected to anything else is exactly why promotion/relegation won’t work in the US. The only major professional sport in the US that would easily be set up for promotion/relegation is baseball. But to do it, we’d have to scrap the idea of farm clubs. I don’t see that happening. Among the minor professional leagues, hockey and soccer could do it, though hockey farms and would have to give that up. But MLS can’t promote/relegate, given its single entity structure, and the NHL has the same sort of “franchise” concept going on that stands in the way of the NFL doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-us-sports-sustain-a-euro-style-league-setup/515182/44 "2009-11-01T17:05:00Z")
Something similar to farm teams does exist in European soccer. In Spain, for example, the major clubs have B and sometimes C teams that compete at lower levels alongside regular clubs, and, if memory serves, are ineligible for promotion. There are also some slightly shady relationships between major and minor clubs, wherein the big club often seems to sign players from the minnow. I don’t think this kind of arrangement is strictly allowed by the authorities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-us-sports-sustain-a-euro-style-league-setup/515182.md?page=2)