r/sports • u/paulfromatlanta Atlanta Hawks • 22d ago

Basketball LeBron James and business partner plot $5B investment to launch rival NBA league

https://www.themirror.com/sport/basketball/lebron-james-international-league-nba-1309260
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u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

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u/randomactofchaos 22d ago

It’s coming to US soccer. USL is going to a pyramid in 2027. Promotion and relegation. Hopefully it bumps out MLS.

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u/raptearer 22d ago

It won't, MLS honestly doing better than USL, and it's already a tier down in the US Soccer pyramid so it won't replace it unless MLS just straight collapses, which I just can't imagine anytime soon. This isn't MLR.

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u/hella_sj 22d ago

Do people really think there are people that don't watch MLS specifically because of lack of pro/rel?

I can't wait for USL to actually try it to see if it makes any difference. I doubt it will, but it's good that someone is trying.

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u/TonyzTone 22d ago

Yeah, pro/rel supporters don’t realize that system only works when there is more interest in the sport than there are ways to keep realistically schedule organized teams of equal competition.

The system developed in Europe where there was so much interest in the sport that sometimes singles neighborhoods had multiple competing clubs with supporters. Those supporters weren’t just fans with scarves but literally dues paying members cheering on their friends and neighbors agains the rivals around the corner.

A few decades of that and it was just too unruly to have everyone playing everyone so divisions were developed for scheduling purposes, and to keep well resourced teams who could travel across country to compete from wasting time with unserious hobbyists.

Support in pro/rel systems has to be so deep that you’ll still fill the stands even if you’re an amateur club.

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u/RPO777 22d ago

The only American sport where Pro/Rel would be realistic is probably American Football. Even then tradition would make it very difficult, and the economics make it impossible.

That being said, the Cleveland Browns being relegated to College Football, with the Ohio State Buckeyes replacing them would be kinda hilarious.

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u/So-Called_Lunatic St. Louis Blues 21d ago

Even the Browns would destroy Ohio State.

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u/[deleted] 21d ago

[deleted]

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u/RPO777 21d ago

You realize the Lions went 15-2 last year right?

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u/So-Called_Lunatic St. Louis Blues 21d ago

Relegation will never happen in the US, there's too much up-front investment in our major leagues, there's no incentive.

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u/BeefInGR 22d ago

It won't bump out MLS, but it absolutely will wake them up. Looking at losing access to Detroit, Oakland, Indianapolis, Tampa, Sacramento, San Antonio, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Milwaukee/Madison and possibly Phoenix. Not to mention teams in Orange County, Omaha and possibly Maine in the future who will eat market shares of long established MLS sides. Plus, an option for MLS substitutes to be first team players.

It doesn't have to topple MLS to force MLS to change.

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u/Doogolas33 22d ago

The way Euro leagues do sports is trash. There's negative parity. Those are shit. Same champs over and over and over forever. Drafts, salary caps, etc are imperative to the competitive balance of a league. That some of the most watched games are the SHITTIEST TEAMS trying to avoid relegation is a blight on professional sports everywhere.

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u/cujukenmari 22d ago

I prefer a system that is composed of more than 30 cities throughout an entire country. They may be able to fabricate parity within that tiny system but it is an extremely exclusive club.