When it comes to some of the world’s most famous sports leagues, there appears to be two types of formats. We will compare the Canada and US-based Major League Soccer, National Football League, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, and National Basketball Association with Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Series A, France and Monaco’s Ligue 1, Spain’s La Liga Santander, and the English Premier League. After the comparisons, we’ll see which model works better in terms of business, entertainment, and growing their respective sports.

1.Acquiring Players

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There are no drafts in the European leagues. They either come from youth academies, are acquired as free agents, or are bought or loaned from other clubs. Instead or alongside of Youth Academies, many leagues like the MLB, MLS, and NBA have lower division teams. In the North American leagues, along with buying talent from other teams, they draft players from college. The concept of loaning players to others within the same league is absent except in Major League Soccer. So while Jack Wilshere, an Arsenal player, can go on loan to fellow Premier League player Bournemouth to get more playing time, NBA teams can only send their players for non-permanent transfers to their development league.

2.Paying Players

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Salary Cap exists in North America but doesn’t in Europe. However, there are financial fair play laws which are set to restrict how often and how much clubs spend on players. This is especially important for clubs like AS Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, and Manchester City who underwent changes in investors that essentially gave these clubs the spending power to compete with more historically successful clubs, like Manchester United and FC Barcelona overnight.

3.Promotion and Relegation

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Whether or not to implement relegation in the North American leagues, especially in the MLS, has been a debate for years. As of now and for the foreseeable future, there is no promotion or relegation in this league. The only way franchises enter or leave the league is through expansion and folding respectively. The only other major soccer league that follows this is the Australian A-League. In every major European League not limited to the ones I focus on, every season a few clubs are promoted to and relegated from the top division and this holds true for the lower divisions as well. This ensures that more of the games throughout the season are meaningful and mediocre clubs (Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia 76ers) are not guaranteed the spotlight.

4.Regular Season Formats

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Regular Season is far more important to Europe than in North America. The title of champion in the European leagues is determined by which club accumulated the most points over the campaign. In 2012, Manchester City and Manchester United tied on points but Manchester City were awarded the Premier League title by virtue of goal difference (the number of goals scored subtracted from the number of goals conceded). In North America, the goal of every team during the regular season is to qualify for the playoffs. The top team(s) are not awarded with a title, but are still given favorable seedings for the playoffs as well as home field advantage.

5.Post Season Formats

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In Europe, there is none albeit for a few exceptions. Most notably are in the lower divisions like England’s Football League Championship. In this particular league, the 1st and 2nd place teams receive automatic promotion to the Premier League. The clubs that finish from 3rd to 6th qualify for the promotion playoffs where the winner of this short tournament joins the 1st and 2nd place teams in the Premier League next season. In the Bundesliga, the 3rd from bottom team will face the 3rd place team from Bundesliga in a home and away series. The winner earns their place in the Bundesliga next season. In North America, the playoffs determine the season champions instead of the regular season. The playoffs range from one off ties, such as the NFL to best of 5 or 7 series in the MLB, NHL, and NBA. Factors such as divisions and all star games, which are absent in Europe, may also affects seedings.

Verdict?