Playoffs vs. League

[fútbolfan2003]

I know that in Europe the champion is decided by who has the most points at the end of a season, but do other leagues in the world use playoffs? Does Brazil have playoffs? How about Argentina? K-League?

Which do you think is better? I grew up in the US where playoffs decided the champion in every sport, and I must admit that I prefer playoffs over choosing the champion at the end of the season based on points.

Also, I don't consider Champion's League, the UEFA Cup, the FA Cup, the Italian Cup, or Copa del Rey as playoffs. They are tournaments unrelated to the individual league's seasons.

[Craig the Aussie]

It's been done on here before, but anyway - I prefer playoffs, so long as not too many teams qualify, and the higher ranked teams get some sort of benefit - home field, a second chance if they lose early on etc.

In Australia pretty much all sports have playoffs (we call them "finals") so like you, its what I'm used to. Noone remembers who finished top of the table, just who wins the "Grand Final".

I find straight leagues a bit boring, but I suppose they do reward consistency.

[aloisius]

Actualy, the ch.league is the playoff.To qualify you need to be succesfull in your national league, comperable to divisions and conferences in the US.Diference is that the national titles mean a lot for them self and that the Ch. league is played at the same time as the national leagues. The schedule is allready overcrowded so there is no place and no need for a playoff to decide national champions.

[olafgb]

I prefer the playoff mode as well. Bundesliga thought about it in the recent past, but Bayern Munich is against it as they usually are on top after the season and see their title endangered by playoffs. Actually UEFA Cup and partially the Champions League are played in a Best of Two playoff mode, but also there I prefer the US system to count the wins and not the results with the odd road-goal-counting.

[hemariva]

I believe that is the beauty in the difference between various sports and countries. American sports use playoffs and they work very well. I like to see a team who has their sh!t together beat a higher seeded team who has problems.

Then again, I love the tables in domestic soccer. And due to the various European competitions and relegation, there are very few instances where a match does not matter. Soccer has a good thing going in that aspect.

People will be against playoffs because the best team does not always win. But clearly, if you can't win when it matters the most (in the clutch) you are not the best team.

But I like tables as they are. If there were no European competitions or relegation it would be extrememly boring, but as it is, it is perfect.

I do believe the MLS letting 4/5 of the teams into the playoffs is a bit goofy though. I personally believe 4 would be better. But I should first buy the MLS...........

[michaec]

This has indeed been done here before, but here's my tuppence worth.

I prefer the league system. It rewards the best team over the entire season.

The playoffs reward the best team for a couple of weeks at the end of the season. Take the Nationwide League playoffs here in England. Four teams (3rd-6th placed league teams) play 3 games to decide who is the last promoted team. The team who finished sixth can have a lucky 3 games and be promoted even though they weren't as good as the third placed team over the season. This is what gets me.

Anyway, it generates a lot of money for the teams involved so it's here to stay as money talks.

I suppose people get used to it. The playoff system is used extensively in America, but it's different there. In all the sports there's at least two divisions or leagues, depending on which sport we're talking about. So you win your own league, but how do you decide who is the national champion? Play-offs are the only way. This is however confused a bit by the fact that teams play other teams from outside their league or division during the regular season as far as I know. Over here we have one national league and the one at the top at the end of the season is the winner. There no other divisions or leagues to play against, so play-offs aren't needed.

[Elninho]

In the US, the unbalanced schedule developed as a solution to travel costs and jet lag. The idea is for teams to play regional opponents more frequently than more distant teams. Playoffs are necessary due to the fact that teams have not played the same number of matches against the same opponents.

Currently 47 FIFA member nations, including most of Latin America, decide their champions by playoffs.

[skipshady]

Originally posted by Elninho
In the US, the unbalanced schedule developed as a solution to travel costs and jet lag. The idea is for teams to play regional opponents more frequently than more distant teams. Playoffs are necessary due to the fact that teams have not played the same number of matches against the same opponents.This is an important point that most people overlook - playoffs in the US is a neccessity, not a preference.

BTW, in the J-League, the season is divided into two stages and after the end of the regular season, the two stage winners face each other in a two-legged playoff to determine the season champion.