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Should NFL incorporate a promotion/relegation system?

Discussion in 'Football: NFL, College, High School' started by TheRealist137, Apr 24, 2012.

  1. TheRealist137

    TheRealist137 Member

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    I mean watching teams fight for their lives is really intense.

    I think football is big enough in the USA to handle at least another professional league, we already have the UFL, I say expand the UFL to about 20 teams.

    Here's my idea, shorten the NFL to 20 teams, 12 teams get downgraded to the UFL, basically there only needs to be 8 "new" expansion teams created, there are easily 8 cities that would love a pro football team.

    LA
    OKC
    San Antonio
    Las Vegas
    Memphis
    Austin
    Toronto
    Vancouver

    That's 8 teams right there.

    Each year, the top 3 teams from the UFL get promoted to the NFL, bottom three NFL teams get downgraded to UFL.

    Here's how a draft order would be

    1-17 = bottom UFL teams
    18-20 = relegated 3 NFL teams
    21-23 = promoted 3 UFL teams
    24-40 = rest of the NFL by record

    What do y'all think? This would be a lot more exciting imo. Think of how big football is in America, those UFL games will get sold out, college football games get sold out and get huge media coverage. UFL will easily get the same type of coverage.

    Oh, and there will be 4 divisions in each league, consisting of 5 teams each.

    The top 6 teams in each league get to the Playoffs (4 division champs, 2 wildcards).

    For UFL purposes, once the final 4 has been reached, the two teams that advance play each other for the championship, but the 2 teams that lost have to play a single 3rd place game to determine who gets promoted, that might be more exciting than the first place game.
     
  2. boomboom

    boomboom I GOT '99 PROBLEMS
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    I don't think this would work with the NFL. How do you explain to Bob McNair that his billion dollar toy has been demoted to the NFL Minors?


    I could see this as an option with the NBA, though. Although the major issue with this type of team movement in any league would be an extremely small market team gets promoted and has no way of bringing in the money to maintain a major league payroll. I think a great deal of thought would need to go into the system and how it works and what teams/cities make up the minor league. I'm sure ABC/ESPN would hate to have to air playoff games of two extremely small markets.

    I think this works well with soccer because it's always been this way (from studying the Argentinian soccer leagues). Interesting concept...but overall, I think it would be almost impossible to implement fairly and to be widely accepted by fans (no matter what American sports league we're talking about).
     
  3. br0ken_shad0w

    br0ken_shad0w Member

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    I stopped reading this after "shorten the NFL to 20 teams". No owner, even cash-strapped ones like the Bucs, will want to give up or relegate their team.
     
  4. SuperS32

    SuperS32 Member

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    This would make sense in leagues without salary caps, namely Major League Baseball. Teams at the bottom like the Astros would have something to play for over a 162 game season. But even in baseball, we've seen teams go from last to first when their prospects begin to grow up and have breakout years. Either way, it definitely doesn't make sense in the NFL.
     
  5. Shroopy2

    Shroopy2 Contributing Member

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    Looks like the old to new USFL is trying to make some noise again

    Thats where it starts. Make a league that KISSES UP to the NFL and complements it, without being a direct threat.

    Some holes in promotion/relegation approach

    - There already is so much PARITY in the NFL, which is generally seen as GOOD parity, that NO ONE in the NFL will want to relegate themselves. The Buffalo Bills went the ENTIRE 2000s without a playoff appearance. The Detroit Lions havent won a playoff game since Milli Vanilli and had all the reason to just give up, yet even they wouldnt have relegated.

    - If US football was big enough for another pro league, why haven't any pro leagues since the old USFL in the 80's been viable leagues? (Arena league only kinda counts)

    - The NFL IS a bit of a trust. The World League/NFL Europe lasted as long as it did BECAUSE it was partly funded by the NFL as a subsidiary. All other direct competitors and alternatives get CRUSHED.

    (Now we see why Al Davis and Bud Adams and the old AFL bunch gets lauded as renegades. Because they directly challenged the NFL and SUCCEEDED.)

    - It would have an effect on college football as well. Maybe some Maurice Clarret type guys would successfully file suits to go into a farm system rather than go to school.
     
  6. DieHard Rocket

    DieHard Rocket Contributing Member

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    Too radical for today's NFL. They are making so much money and fan interest is so high that it would make no sense to even risk it.

    Plus, in football you don't really "groom" prospects like you do in baseball or perhaps basketball. They either have the talent to step in and help within a year or two or they don't.
     
  7. BigBenito

    BigBenito Member

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    Promotion/Relegation:
    I think you would need to relegate (5-10?) teams to the lesser division to start the program so that the lesser division would already have fans on-board and the new teams added to the division would have more excitement, because it would be far more legitimate than some thrown-together league because of the known quantities.

    I have no idea how drafts would work with these 2 leagues though.
     
  8. fallenphoenix

    fallenphoenix Contributing Member

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    i don't think there are enough terrible teams in the nfl. most teams have a good chance to win each week.

    the nba on the other hand...
     
  9. FrancisFan3

    FrancisFan3 Member

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    I think this idea will stop or put an end to teams tanking games to get a #1 pick in the draft. The #1 overall draft pick will belong to the team that gets promoted to the NFL.
     
  10. Shroopy2

    Shroopy2 Contributing Member

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    NFL careers are very short as well, even for contributors. Fred Bennett started several games for the Texans. 3 years later he's out the league. Always another prospect in the wings.

    Can see that as competition being so tight that QUALITY players get snubbed from a real chance, so there's plently quality football left for another league.

    Or with more relegated teams, would be a continuation of your favorite college players who can't hack it, but still following them in the dream of a pro career. Maybe Case Keenum can lead a relegated team but not a promoted teamd.

    In a perfect world, I think its a bit of both of those and it COULD work if EVERYTHING aligned right. All the other non-NFL leagues would have to converge together. It'd be like graduated extended SEC football with legal pay.

    In the REAL world, things like the CFL eating up leftover talent gets in the way, and neither CFL or NFL are gonna borrow or lend their teams for that kind of system.
     
  11. v3.0

    v3.0 Contributing Member

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    No current NFL owner would ever agree to this. They want to make money and what NFL fan would pay top dollar for perceived minor league play?
     
  12. rocketsflow

    rocketsflow Member

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    Not a chance owners or fans allow a demotion.
     
  13. AFS

    AFS Member

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    It'd be fun to watch, but wouldn't be good for business, so wouldn't happen.
     
  14. Kam

    Kam Contributing Member

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    Franchises. Owners paid lots of money to be in the league. At least Bob McNair did.




    I'd do this in College Football.
     
  15. plutoblue11

    plutoblue11 Member

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    I thought most NFL teams made a profit to begin with, except the Lions. These numbers were before last season. So, I'm sure there revenue has gone a bit. I hate the idea of a 20 team league in any league at this point. Why are they so many fewer teams.
     

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