In soccer leagues across the world, the promotion/relegation system is in use. Simply put, this system sends teams that finish at the bottom of a league down to the league below, and sends teams that finish at the top of the lower league up. In each country, there is a hierarchy of leagues that are connected. At the end of each season, teams move up and down within the ladder system.
This is common practice in all the major soccer leagues around the world. The only major league, if you could call it that, that does not utilize the promotion/relegation system is Major League Soccer (USA). There are multiple reasons why the system of movement between divisions is effective and beneficial.
The first and most obvious is that it encourages success and does not allow for failure to be rewarded. As I discussed in my previous blog, North American sports leagues utilize a draft system that allows for low-finishing teams to have high draft picks. In world soccer, there is no such thing as a draft. Youth players do not attend colleges, they play for real clubs' youth teams. Thus, if they are a good enough, they will work their way up to the first team and play at the highest level. Players can transfer clubs similar, either as a free agent or if a team pays the other team for the rights to that player. It is a completely different system than American sports.
If young players are struggling at their club, they can always move down the divisions and possibly break into the first-team. It's really a better system for all involved.
If a team does poorly in the league, they will be relegated. For the purpose of this blog, I will talk about the top tier of English football — The Premier League. The three teams that finish at the bottom of the league each year are relegated to The Championship, the second tier. There are 20 teams in the Premier League. The bottom three are relegated. That means any team has a 15% chance to be relegated.
With that said, there are big clubs with massive histories that would never be favored to go down. Although anything can happen, this makes it even more likely that the "weaker" teams will be in the relegation battle every season.
But why does it matter? First and foremost, the money. The difference between playing in the top tier and second tier is roughly 133 million pounds or almost 170 million pounds. On average, 157 million pounds flow through a Premier League club compared to 24 million pounds through a Championship club. This is a MASSIVE difference. The majority of this money comes from television revenue. All Premier League games are available internationally, whether they will be televised live or offered on a streaming service.
Usually only select second-division matches are offered on streaming services. Recently, fans of clubs that are stuck in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th tiers of English football have been offered the opportunity to pay to be able to watch all of their club's matches for a season.
The money is the motive for executives and for the players to a degree, but players also want to play at the highest level. Players know that it is better for their careers, their future moves and their future paychecks.
But for me, the most beneficial part of the promotion/relegation system is the fact that different teams get the opportunity to have their shot in the top flight. If a team earns their way to promotion, they will have their chance to go up against the best clubs in the country and see if they can stay in the division. Recent examples of unlikely teams to have success are Bournemouth, who under manager Eddie Howe, earned three promotions in four seasons to come from the third tier to the Premiership. Since entering the league in 2015, they finished 16th, then 12th, and now sit in 7th this season. Other success stories include Brighton and Huddersfield's promotions in 2016 and both teams staying up last season in their first-ever Premier League season. Lastly, Leicester City was promoted in 2014 and almost went immediately back down. However, they stayed up by the skin of their teeth and then went on to win the league the very next season in what was the biggest underdog story in world sports.
Not only does it create great storylines for news clubs that are getting a chance on the biggest stage, it also keeps the season interesting down to the final day. There are no "playoffs" in soccer, it's a season, where points from the first game means as much as points from the last game. Oftentimes, the winner of the league has already been decided long before the final day of the season. But the beauty of having a relegation zone is that teams near the bottom must perform well until they physically cannot be caught.
This means that when top teams are facing teams near the bottom down the stretch, both teams have something to play for. Oftentimes, games involves teams near the bottom are some of the most entertaining and emotional fixtures because players know they are essentially playing for their jobs. The passion of overcoming a relegation scare really cannot be described. It's a combination of ecstasy and relief.
This is a type of drama that we just don't have in American sports. And probably never will.
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