Pyramid Possibility for the Beautiful Game

There’s hardly a discussion in present day soccer circles that does not resurrect the topic of promotion and relegation of clubs between leagues/divisions/levels/tiers of competitiveness (based on preference the rest of the article will use the term division). Years ago, it was a concept that only a handful of American soccer fans knew about and fewer understood how it functioned or what the purpose was. That isn’t the case as the 2015 season kicks off for our national leagues. More and more players have experienced it plying their trade in Europe or Latin America and the general American soccer fan has also heard about it especially with the topic being frequently mentioned during nationally televised games. Beyond that, the persistent challenge by passionate fans and reporters of the sport who firmly believe in this system has forced the executives of the game to discuss it. Most national federations around the world practice it, and FIFA expects it. Almost everyone participating in the king of sports in our country, be they fans, players, owners, or executives knows that at some point American soccer will include this system. But there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that a system involving promotion and relegation would be a paradigm shift for our sport culture. Thus a number of supporters have developed some sort of system. This article serves as an attempt to do the same, understanding that ideas generally begin and develop through stages with the participation of different and diverse people before a plan becomes reality.

Purpose

Ideas and systems are only useful if they serve a specific, intentional, and beneficial purpose. Identifying the purpose of a promotion and relegations system for a sport is probably the first question to be answered. The answer is quite simple and it is fairly straightforward. In order to serve the sport of soccer, performance on the field must be the determining factor for rewarding the respective club and players. Therefore, clubs are assured that the system will reward them for their core activity: playing soccer. Thus when teams win games they are rewarded with higher standings in the respective division. When a team is a season champion, at the top of the standings in its division, the reward is that they move up the ladder of competition to the next division, switching places with the team at the bottom of the standings of the division above. Certainly there are many other activities that make for a successful soccer club: coaching, business acumen, marketing, visionary leadership, financial viability, health training, youth development, community outreach, public relations, great sales people, etc. Indeed as business entities, soccer clubs everywhere have many aspects to consider in order to be successful organizations, however, the main purpose for existence is to play the best soccer possible, win games, and advance in competition with other soccer clubs. That’s precisely the purpose for which a soccer club exists, and a system that promotes and relegates clubs truly reflects performance on the field. Having identified the purpose, it is worthwhile to address the challenges that such a system brings forward.

Challenges

The first challenge that is often identified is that the North American sports culture does not have this concept as part of the fan experience. Other sports, such as: baseball, basketball, hockey, American football; all sports that currently attract more fans than soccer do not even have a concept of promotion and relegation.

The second challenge is the ‘franchise’ concept, by which a person (or group) are awarded a franchise/team in exchange for a fee paid to the respective league office. At first glance this might not seem very complex an issue, but the fact is that a franchise owner essentially buys ‘rights’ over a specific territory and within a specific league. Major League Soccer (MLS-D1) and National American Soccer League (NASL-D2) are both functioning based on this concept, although the NASL has made statements in favor of promotion and relegation on a few occasions. Therefore, current owners of these 30+ clubs would have to come to terms with this dramatic shift.

The third and perhaps the only true stumbling block is the necessity for financial viability of various clubs to sustain the increased level of competition. Many aspects of a club depend on the financial might of its owners. The stadium has to meet a certain minimum number of seats. The players have to be paid a base salary at a different level. The coaching staff and training facilities must improve based on increased needs. The front office infrastructure would have an increased workload. Naturally promotion to a higher league of competition would place an expectation of increased such standards of operation on the respective club.

Solution

Naturally there will be clubs who might have a great year on the pitch and earn promotion based solely on the performance. However, it would fall in the authority of the national federation – USSF – to establish certain minimum requirements beyond performance for any club that aims to be promoted. These areas of requirements would have to include, but not be limited to: (1) players’ salaries, (2) suitable stadium, (3) coaching and health training staff, and other reasonable requirements. If a club does not meet all the requirements, it is not awarded the promotion even it has won the championship.

Potential Pyramid

It is important to have a top division that is national in representation and coverage. Therefore the top division would be national, it would include (for example) 20 clubs and be divided in 2 conferences – East and West – of 10 teams each. The clubs would compete in a single table, balanced schedule of games where each team plays the others twice – home and away. This would make for a total of 38 league games crowning as champion the table leader. As an example we will call this the National League.

The second division would include 2 leagues one in the Eastern States and the other in the Western States – again as example we will call these the Eastern League and the Western League. Each of these leagues – EL & WL – would include 16 clubs and be divided into 2 conferences. Thus the EL would have a North-East Conference and a South-East Conference; while the WL would likewise have a northern and a southern conference of 8 teams each. The land area of the Eastern League would be the same as the National League – East Conference, and the same correlation would take place in the West. Just like in the National League the clubs of the Eastern and Western Leagues would compete in a single table crowning a champion in each. For fun the Eastern and Western Champions could have a match leading to second division trophy.

The third division would include 4 leagues, matching with the territory of the 4 conferences of the second division Eastern and Western Leagues. The could be named – Northeastern League, Southeastern League, Northwestern League, and Southwestern League – and each of these would include 12 teams for a total of 48 clubs. The clubs in each of these D3 leagues would compete for a season championship in the same manner as the D1-National League and the D2-Eastern and Western Leagues.

Promotion and Relegation System

Based on the pyramid described above there would be an assurance of national and regional representation for all the leagues in all three divisions. At the end of the season of the National League the bottom team from the D1-National League Eastern Conference would switch places with the Eastern League Champion. Identically, the bottom team from the D1-National League Western Conference would switch places with the Western League Champion. Thus the top two clubs of the D2 leagues would be promoted to D1. The bottom 2 clubs of the D1 division, in their respective conference, would be relegated to the D2 league of their region. The National League as well as the Eastern and Western Leagues would maintain their regional integrity and national footprint. The same concept would be applied for promotion and relegation between from D2 and D3.

The recommendations for the number of clubs are for discussion purposes only, as these numbers can be decided upon by the national federation, and they can be adjusted if necessary. As is clearly visible this system can be replicated for further lower divisions. This system addresses the need to accommodated players at different levels of playing proficiency. It also addresses the financial burden of cross-continent travel, and number of matches in a season.

D1 - National League – 20 teams West Conference                                                East Conference
D2 - Western League – 16 teams Northwest Conf.  Southwest Conf.		D2 - Eastern League – 16 teams Northeast Conf.  Southeast Conf.
D3 – Northwest League -12 teams	D3 – Southwest League -12 teams	D3 – Northeast League -12 teams	D3 – Southeast League -12 teams

Conclusion

As this article closes, a useful reminder is appropriate; this writer does not expect this to be the perfect solution. The numbers of clubs in each league and division can be adjusted as necessary. The regions can have borders that the national federation deems most useful and beneficial. The salaries of players and staff can be set and adjusted as necessary. The standards for facilities such as stadium, training grounds, medical facilities and staff, may be discussed and set in reasonable and appropriate fashion. This system offers a system that includes 100 clubs, which means that 100 local and regional communities would support a home team with homegrown players (especially in D3). Additionally, it offers a door and a ladder of increasing opportunity in the king of sports to more than 20,000 players. Our current leagues – MLS, NASL, USLPro, USLPDL, & NPSL, along with a few other regional leagues – already field these players who are hungry for promotion possibilities. Most of these same clubs already boast reasonably sound investors who are strongly interested in the opportunity to advance and grow their organizations. Lastly, and perhaps more importantly, all the clubs of these already existing leagues – a total of 185 clubs in 2015 – have passionate fans in their respective communities who are eager to see their local club advance up the pyramid of success in the beautiful game.