Not quite. If the team is eligible to be promoted then they will be. The Liga MX team can only avoid relegation if a) the team isn't eligible to be promoted b) they pay the money. Though I am sure it will change
En caso de que el club que descienda no esté interesado en ejercer la opción de la aportación económica o hacerlo pone en riesgo su estabilidad financiera, así como la estabilidad de la competencia, el lugar número 18 dentro de la Liga MX será depositado en la Liga y el importe de 120 millones de pesos será aportado por los 17 clubes que se mantienen en la División. El Certificado de Afiliación depositado en la Liga MX podrá ser suscrito por aquel club de Ascenso MX certificado o proyecto deportivo externo, que, de cumplimiento con todos los requisitos aplicables, así como el pago que se fije por la Asamblea de los clubes de la Liga MX, y que a juicio de esta misma sea considerado un integrante que eleva la calidad competitiva de la misma. En caso de que no exista un club o proyecto deportivo externo interesado en lo anterior, la Asamblea de Clubes de la Liga MX determinará lo conducente para la Temporada 2019-2020, reservándose los derechos sobre el Certificado de Afiliación correspondiente. In the event that the descending club is not interested in exercising the option of the financial contribution or doing so puts its financial stability at risk, as well as the stability of the competition, the 18th place in the Liga MX will be deposited in the Liga and the amount of 120 million pesos will be contributed by the 17 clubs that remain in the Division. The Certificate of Affiliation deposited in the Liga MX may be subscribed by that club of Promotion MX certificate or external sports project, which, in compliance with all applicable requirements, as well as the payment that is fixed by the Assembly of the League clubs MX, and that in the opinion of this same is considered a member that raises the competitive quality of it. In the event that there is no external sports club or project interested in the foregoing, the Liga MX Club Assembly will determine what is appropriate for the 2019-2020 Season, reserving the rights to the corresponding Affiliation Certificate. https://deportes.televisa.com/futbol/establecen-nuevas-reglas-en-ascenso-mx/
There's so much that is not good about that story. A 90 year history of continues amateur and semi-pro football destroyed by idiot owners, followed by 25 years of slumming it just to get back to where they were when it all started. Now they have different owners, different players and half of their fan base from before it all went pear shape is probably dead. Otherwise an inspiring story.
Their rebirth is an inspiring story. But even "idiot owners" as an understatement. They sold their stadium before they even got promoted to the Football League and then succeeded in buying a site for a stadium that they couldn't get planning permission to build on. Wtf? Their escapades also killed Dartford iirc.
Most definitely not dead! Well some of them might be but I'm not sure what this has to do with anything to be honest?
25 years is a long time. I mean 5 of the Twin Peaks cast died during shortly before, during, or after the sequel was broadcast 25 years after the original series. Don't take any notice of me. But don't you think Maidstone fans would have been happier watching a Conference/National League side than having to watch a couple of decades of dross as they worked their way up the ladder.
No, I don't. Maidstone fans are pretty proud of what they've built in terms of promotions and their stadium. Being confined to non-league soccer with essentially no possibility of Football League status? Not so much.
I think our fundamental difference of opinion stems from our experience in our native countries. You’re used to the organic evolution of FA football in England, where every city has plenty of teams and the solution to organize it all was giant pyramid which encompassed all the teams at all the levels of fiscal competitiveness. I’m used to the corporate greed of America, where the only thing keeping every business from forming a cartel are the occasional use of laws which prevent cartels. Simply put, the American mindset is “you have to buy your way into an exclusive club, we’re not letting outsides in for free.” Which eliminates linking the tiers of clubs that exist in America. The only way PRO/REL happens for MLS is the greed of “There are people owning soccer teams in all those markets, how do we take all their money? By selling them ALL the POTENTIAL for an MLS team, while really giving them a ‘minor league’ life in MLS-2.” Expansion via promotion and then let the second-rate clubs yo-yo between MLS and MLS-2. Because our nation has been trying to build a footballing culture from basically scratch in the cable TV sports network era (say, 1986-present), and trying to compete with four more firmly entrenched sports for TV dollars, I think that advertising “expansion via promotion” and then PRO/REL would have been good “gimmick” that sets it apart from the other four and helped its growth domestically. The biggest 50 metro areas all have soccer teams; and my point is that MLS could be selling a TV contract to networks based on “we’re the only league with EVERY ONE of those markets.” They could have sold MLS merchandise and streaming subscriptions to every fan in all those markets. They could have taken the standard 30% local revenue cut, made the MLS-2 clubs limited partners in the investment. For a smaller expansion fee, they get the chance to earn larger revenues when they’re up. It’s a good trade off for a D2 owner. They forgo their 30% of local revenues (but get the MLS-2 revenue share), and get to advertise the opportunity of playing their way up. If drawn up properly, it could have been a win-win for everyone involved.
The NCAA basketball TV ratings are misleading — and I’m a huge college basketball junkie. The NCAA Tournament draws massive ratings as a cultural phenomenon, but the interest in NCAA basketball year ‘round as a sport is smaller than the NBA. People watch the NBA because of star players and favorite teams all year. SOME people watch the NCAA season for that reason, but it’s a small number (of people like me). But tens (hundreds?) of millions of people who didn’t watch a single game of college basketball all year, watch the NCAA Tournament because they filled out brackets for their office pools or online. The Bracket is the star. Our nation spends the first weekend talking about “I picked that upset” or “that school I’ve never heard of busted my bracket.” When they have commercials showing a montages of the Tournament’s biggest moments, about two-thirds of the highlights are not actually the best teams, or plays from the Championship game. The vast majority of the memorable moments are the shocking upsets (or big plays to avoid an upset), where a school you never heard of beat a big state school everyone expected to win. Everyone remembers the Cinderella little school going way farther than they should have: George Mason, VCU, Butler, Loyola. Gonzaga is now “a good basketball school that always goes far in the tournament” (even though they’re a very small school) because they were a Cinderella team that busted everyone’s bracket… THREE YEARS IN A ROW. So more people checked out their school and they started getting better players. Point is: People watch the NBA playoffs because they know Curry and the Warriors; and LeBron and the Cavs (now Lakers) are so good at basketball. NO ONE watched the NCAA Tournament because they knew Ali Faroukmanesh or Byrce Drew were good. Most people hadn’t heard of their teams. But then Bryce Drew hit the best-executed buzzer-beater ever to lead Valparaiso over Ole Miss. And Ali Faroukmanesh hit the ballsiest three-pointer ever to lead Northern Iowa to a huge upset of Kansas. It doesn't matter who's in the tournament for TV ratings. People watch because a single-elimination knockout is going to have massive upsets no one expected and it's glorious drama.
No way! They LOVED every minute of it! They don't want to stop in the conference either, Premier League is their goal, hard, bloody hard, bloody bloody hard they know but its the ultimate dream, my home town club Crawley made it from the Conference to League 1 (currently League 2) and Maidstone has better support than Crawley.
Who loved every minute of it? Because based on the fact they only had an average attendance of 430-odd when they were in the Isthmian D1 South, versus 2.5k now, the majority of the current fans weren't there every minute.
Attendances increase as you climb leagues, everybody knows that. Besides you can't have more than 430 people surrounding a football pitch! When they started again they REALLY started again, we are talking village 'recreation grounds' (they even played my hometown (well village) team (where I was born) Westerham (population around 4000), I was there! Then every game 430 was maximum capacity! They didn't get the stadium they have now until about 5 years ago and despite not being in the Conference immediately got the crowds they get now, as somebody who's best friend is Maidstone United daft, as somebody that has been to games with him every year since the early 90's, as somebody that knows many of the 430 that were there at Westerham recreation ground I can categorically say, Maidstone fans have LOVED every minute of their journey, I doubt crowds would be bigger than a couple of hundred (if that) if they were always destined to stay in the 5th tier of English football forever!
But you have claimed repeatedly that promotion and relegation is the reason for football's popularity. If fan interest tends to decrease incrementally with each level you drop, that would appear to refute that. Oh and they didn't immediately get 2,500 fans upon opening their venue.
Oh it IS! I reckon attendances a Maidstone would be lucky to get to 50 if they were destined never to move from 5th tier football, 20'000 (approx average) fans wouldn't be turning up at Championship games if the clubs were destined to forever bee 2nd tier football clubs, my 'journey' over the years with Chelsea Football Club would have been dull as hell if in 80/81 they were destined never to be anything other than 2nd tier (2nd rate), the thought of it sends shivers down my spine. I KNOW that people would simply stop going to football if they took pro/rel away (myself included), and I KNOW this because I am a long time English football fan that lives and works with other long term English football fans...........I am the 'horses mouth', without commenting on whether it would be a good thing for American fans or the American game I can categorically say that pro/rel has MADE Maidstone United Football Club.
The old Maidstone United used to average about 1,000 in the early 1980s, during the national football slump. That's a bit more than 50.
I wonder how many fans AFC Winbledon would be getting if they were stuck in the Combined Counties League without the possibility of promotion up a level or two. Or seven.
I'm English, a long term English football fan who until a few months shy of my thirtieth birthday (11.5 years ago), lived and worked with English football fans. A high percentage of my family and friends are English football fans. I agree that many could stop watching out of principle. That however, is because the system is already well-established, the majority of teams at each level are viable and it would be seen as an elite power-play. It's not because football requires pro/rel, to be entertaining. 5th tier baseball in the US, which is the "short season A" tier, averages about 2k-3k, with a few teams in the 4k-6k range and an average below 1k being very rare. There is no pro/rel. Well at least not in terms of teams, anyway. MiLB is effectively a farm system so players that perform well will rise up the ranks. And during the "closed shop" era of football in England, the 5th tier drew significantly north of 50.