Relegate The Closed-Shop Leagues

Two bits of sporting news yesterday have got me concerned about the way professional leagues run in the U.S.

Yesterday morning, ace pitcher Zack Greinke jumped the perpetually sinking ship known as the Kansas City Royals, taking cash and Yuniesky Betancourt with him to Milwaukee in exchange for pitching prospect Jake Odorozzi, outfielder Lorenzo Cain, shortstop Alcides Escobar, and Jeremy Jeffress, a pitcher who's one doobie away from being banned for life. While it might prove beneficial for the Royals' youth movement, fans are naturally demure at the news, watching yet another bright star leave the bastion of malaise that's become Kauffman Stadium. Fortunately, those Royals fans were wearing red and more focused on their Chief neighbors, who defeated cross-state rivals St. Louis 27-13.

St. Louis fall to 6-8, assuring them of not having a winning season. And yet, because of losses by Seattle, San Francisco and Arizona today, they remain atop the NFC West division. It's very likely that the winner of this division, who could very well host the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints in the first round of the playoffs, will finish the season with a 7-9 record. Meanwhile, as many as two NFC teams could go 10-6 and not make the playoffs, because of the lopsided strength of the other three divisions in the NFC.

And next year (barring a much-hyped players' lockout) the same 16 teams will compete again in arbitrarily defined divisions to determine who gets to play the AFC winners in the Super Bowl. It's lop-sided competition that only rewards the 32 owners who keep the closed-shop system in operation, usually at the expense of football's fans. It's a closed system that, frankly, runs contrary to the free market principles that many in America tout as being our paramount ideal.

How ironic that a better structure for organizing professional sporting teams be found commonplace in "socialist" nations.

It's time for American sport to embrace and incorporate promotion and relegation.

In baseball, the extensive farm system and independent, semi-pro leagues can serve as a launching pad for a successful multi-tiered system. And the inequity in the payroll and fortunes between baseball's current 30 teams provides a merciful reason to implement such a system.

As for football, it's a perfect tempest to explore the idea. 32 teams, none of which call Los Angeles, Portland, San Antonio, Las Vegas, Tulsa, Orlando, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, or Guadalajara home. None of which could be playing next season as the gaggle of 32 owners push for an expanded schedule without granting many concessions to their players, all the while pursuing generous tax breaks from state and local governments and charging $8 for a tray of stale nachos. Even if an owner's team goes 0-16, that owner can still sit comfy if the ink remains in the black, especially if the franchise is buoyed by, say, franchises in other sport or a multinational corporation that's their bread and butter. So what if half their roster winds up with permanent brain damage from repeated hits to the head, or they become the most hated entity in their metropolitan?

The current system doesn't put the owner at real risk. So long as they bring in the money and abide by league rules, they're practically safe in their luxury suite on the 50-yard line. On top of that, federal law explicitly grants the NFL, Major League Baseball, and other major sporting leagues exemptions from anti-trust laws in place to prevent monopolies from strangling the free market.

Promotion and relegation will force these owners to the front lines. If their teams don't regularly perform well, their investment is at risk. Americans like to cheer for winners, and if their team's not winning in the top league, their revenue goes down. Owners that regularly let their teams stagnate could easily wind up in bankruptcy court or with a mutiny on their hands, as fans and players flock to teams that will actually give a damn about playing competitively.

Future posts will detail how such a system can come into play for sporting leagues across the nation, from pro football and baseball to the collegiate and even high school.