Quote Originally Posted by StraightOuttaCanton View Post
Following on from the ‘identity’ thread and the futility of elite level football worldwide today

I never thought I’d say it, but the North Americans have probably got it right, and I don’t think football at club level can become exciting for everyone again until the playing field gets levelled somehow.

I think elements of the North American system could work for football, particularly a salary cap, but the challenges are massive. Football is global at the elite level whereas the US sports are continental. However the fan bases are massive in the US and success is cyclical because of the way the sports are set up. As a consequence the gap between first and last is much narrower and most fans start each season with the impossible ‘Leicester’ dream very much a possibility

Even MLS operates a draft system for North American players and each team is allowed (I think) 3 designated players

European or Global Leagues are possible I guess, and you could introduce a draft system if that were the case as well as a salary cap.

The more likely reality is that money wins and as Cardiff fans we’re destined for and accepting of the fact that success is being the best of the rest.... Great!
Good shout. I'm a baseball fan - no particular team. They run it to ensure parity(equality of status and pay) through a payroll cap among other measures, which you mentioned.

A few years ago I compared the results of the Premier League with that of the World Series, the highest competition. At that time, 18 years after the Prem started, only 4 clubs had won the Prem, one of them only once and one 11 times. For the same period 13 different teams had won the WS and none had won it more than three times.

They just don't think about sport the way we do. World football is open to unrestricted market forces, even more so than normal business, which is regulated by laws against monopoly etc. Financial Fair Play is a weak level of control though it may get stronger.

They have strong-armed UEFA into giving them their European Super League, starting in 2024 I think. There'll be 4 pools of 8 instead of 8 pools of 4, and the top 6 in the pool will be guaranteed a place in a pool for the next year.

Money talks, eh?