i mean mls mentality is do we have to win a games it is not like we going to get relegated, and do we have to go for first place because that means nothing we can just go for 6th place that leads to playoffs. i mean games mean nothing in mls it is always the next year for some teams.
The point is that this thread is not about MLS. It's about another league. (But for the record, MLS players do try to improve on sixth place. They want playoff byes and the Supporters Shield.)
So you're saying professional players don't try? Also, again, this is not a thread about MLS. I'm sure players play really hard in the UPSL, which (supposedly) has pro/rel. Go watch them.
My indoor soccer league had pro/rel. We tried to convince them not to promote us to the upper division.
the ASL sure keeps you on your toes, so either Lancaster announced their forfeit in advance or somebody can predict the future: 4/29/2017 Lancaster Mennonite School 5PM Philadelphia Fury 3 AFC Lancaster Lions 0 http://www.aslsoccer.org/schedule_results.asp?lstDivision=96
Reminds me of my grandfather's stories about getting the pro wrestling results in plenty of time for first edition.
so I just called the Lancaster folks and they seem to believe that the league agreed to postpone the match...so the mystery continues...lol
Mass United FC @massunitedfc 3h3 hours ago United takes on the Philadelphia Atoms Saturday night at 8pm at Dilboy Stadium in Somerville! Tickets $11 #LetsGoBoys! #WeAreUNITED!pic.twitter.com/kGaQXMFmsi
what i am saying games don't matter. reason why nfl is big in ratings is because games matter. then look at nba and baseball 82 and 162 not all games matter and ratings drop if mls would promote relegation and promotion i bet ratings and popularity would go up for mls and that means that american soccer ratings would go up
No, that isn't the reason. The societal reasons for gridiron football's ascension to the top of American sport space are many and varied, but the games "mattering" (whatever TF THAT means, given nearly half the teams make the playofffs and they would like to add more) is not high on that list. That is a superficial understanding you are utilizing to try to make your absurd point. Which, again, IS ABOUT MLS IN A THREAD ABOUT THE ASL. Again....those sports' relative popularity as compared to the NFL has a lot to do with a lot of things, but your perception of how much each individual game "matters" is not among them. Yes, we would add all the hyphens and posers who claim that's what is keeping them from watching now. Just kidding, you would all find some other ********ing reason not to watch.
I don'k know about that kenn. I think there is something to how much the games matter. I'm not saying pro/rel is a magic answer, but I think scarcity of games in very relevant in the desire to watch and attend games. Also significantly less NFL teams(38%) make the postseason that NHL or NBA(53%). Also seeds matter in the NFL, in the Stanley cup playoffs, weather you make it as the division winner or wild card get you a maximum of one extra home game. In the nfl a week 27 game between two team already qualified for the playoffs can still have a huge impact on the season. There is a huge prize in moving from the 5/6 seed to the 3/4 seed or from the 3/4 seed to 1/2. and in college football every single game matters for bragging right for the whole year.
But my point is those sports are not where they are in the hierarchy by virtue of the percentage of "meaningful" games or the percentage of teams that make the playoffs in a given league. That's not why gridiron football is on top of American sport space. That's not why baseball - which once was - has been second for some 50 years. That's not why the NHL and NBA are where they are. It's just not. The societal reasons for the rearrangement of the sport space - from the days when it was college football, boxing and horse racing that were the big deals to today - are many and varied, and "meaningful games" are way down the list. Do we think any baseball game in April could possibly be "meaningful?" Yet people attend them, right? Baseball is the second-most attended sport in the country, on average. How many "meaningful" AAA games are there? Yet people go see the Sacramento River Cats and the Louisville Bats play. College football brings emotion and tradition into the equation. While "every game matters" in college football because your second loss pretty much takes you out of the running, there are still a lot of non-competitive college football games (power conference schools paying smaller schools to come get beat up in a non-conference schedule). Yet people go. How "meaningful" the individual game is or series of individual games are simply aren't what drives interest in a sport.
Also, even in the NFL, there are a lot of dead rubber games at the end of the season between teams that have been eliminated from the playoffs. People show up for those anyway. Last season the Cleveland Browns, the worst team in the league, had 60k show up in snow to watch them play the all-but-eliminated Cincinnati Bengals, and then had 57k in the stadium to see them play the eliminated San Diego Chargers.
Part of that is because the vast majority of NFL tickets are sold as season tickets. Given the cost and the fact there are only eight of them in the regular season, people tend to use them, regardless. (Truly dreadful teams will show lots of empty seats in such a game, obviously, but when you have sprung for season tickets - maybe for years and years - you're not inclined to let them go to waste.) Plus, footbawwwwwwwww.
Do we think any baseball game in April could possibly be "meaningful?" Yet people attend them, right? Baseball is the second-most attended sport in the country, on average. How many "meaningful" AAA games are there? Yet people go see the Sacramento River Cats and the Louisville Bats play. People watch baseball because watchin' baseball is fun. As somebody once said, "The best thing in the world is to root for a winning baseball team. The second-best thing is to root for a losing baseball team!"
I went to a minor-league baseball game yesterday. The amount of distraction is substantial. We were there as part of a program to recognize kids who read. It was also "Harry Potter Day," so when each batter from the visiting team came up, their stats were displayed with a picture of Voldemort, Draco Malfoy or some other bad guy from the Potter series. The home team had their mugshots Photoshopped onto some generic Hogwarts robes, and they were assigned to one of the four houses. When a player hit a home run, everyone sitting in the Gryffindor section of the stands (we were unaware we were doing so) received free tickets to an upcoming game. I have no idea who won the game. When I was at Duke, the Durham Bulls were still in the old decrepit-but-charming ballpark you see in the fantastic film "Bull Durham." My classmates would go to games to drink a beer an inning and chant "Bulls hit, Bulls hit." Even major-league games are basically picnics with a game going on. Camden Yards is a great place to visit. Go to Boog's, shake hands with someone who starred for the Orioles a few decades ago, have some ribs or crab cakes, check out the charming sliver of Baltimore's skyline, etc. And make fun of Red Sox fans if Boston's in town.
Did you notice that it went extra innings? In ASL news, the League wants 32 teams in four divisions. No list of newcomers, though. Seeing how it started with 10 teams, and then started with two fewer each subsequent year, it will need to turn the tide. http://www.aslsoccer.org/latest_vipnews.asp?action=view_newsdetail&id=170
That's what the pro/rel snobs miss about sports in general. I watch soccer because I like watching soccer!
But unless every game and every season has a larger meaning and is a test of how much misery you can endure as a fan and how loyal you can be to 23 people you'll probably never meet, it doesn't mean anything! The way teams are arranged is crucial.
In all the postulating going on, no one has mentioned the real reason the NFL is so big and to some extent why pro/rel works in other countries. GAMBLING. You can find a way to gamble on every meaningless NFL game (some teams are virtually eliminated in training camp) and at least in the UK there seems to be a bookmaker on every street. If pro/rel means so much, why are clubs in the middle of the table who cannot move at this point still drawing crowds. I would like to apologize for this post and have this thread return now to the ASL I want some humor back in my life.