How feasible will American styled playoffs be in European leagues?

[WA Toffee]

Was the stadium full? Did people watch on TV?

No, and no.

 

[NEWSWEETTOFFEE]

So, the final answer is that it would be very hard to introduce knock-out play-offs in European football leagues.

 

[Papa Shango]

I hate the play off system how it is.

Take League One.
The winner gets a trophy.
Second get automatic promotion but nothing else.
Potentially 6th place gets an extra home game and the gate receipts and TV money that comes with it, a day out at Wembley, TV money and I assume a cut of gate receipts in a massive ground from the final AND a trophy.

Hardly seems fair really.

 

[Papa Shango]

That’s what the FA cup, League Cup and Europe are for.

The best team wins the league fairly over 38 games, we don’t need clubs playing a whole season just to determine seeding in some one off super bowl game where teams can get lucky.

And we all know who would win it...

 

[WA Toffee]

I hate the play off system how it is.

Take League One.
The winner gets a trophy.
Second get automatic promotion but nothing else.
Potentially 6th place gets an extra home game and the gate receipts and TV money that comes with it, a day out at Wembley, TV money and I assume a cut of gate receipts in a massive ground from the final AND a trophy.

Hardly seems fair really.

I understand your point, but I would rather have automatic promotion than a 1 in 4 chance

 

[ilikecheese]

No, and no.

I did a bit of digging. I asked the wrong questions.

More people attended that match than SFC averaged.

 

[WA Toffee]

I did a bit of digging. I asked the wrong questions.

More people attended that match than SFC averaged.

it was the right question, but i hit reply before i could add further info.
not sure of the tv audience, but there was 17k at the game (in a 45k stadium). Their average crowd is 14k and when they played Melbourne in the regular season just a couple of weeks earlier there was more than 15k. All in all, not a big leap in attendance considering they were playing for a place in the grand final.

 

[toffeejack]

It's a shocking system, the champions are always fairly the champioms. We have plenty of cups for the lucky teams to try and fluke something.

 

[Armel]

Aren't the belgian play-offs a complete mess?

Think they have a play-off for the Europa league which includes second division teams.

No they are actually quite fun. Top 6 plays a mini competition amongst themselves after halving the point totals. In a normal competition Club Brugge would have been champion this year quite easily (big lead), now they've only got 5 points left [they'll still win but there's always a chance]. Good games, lots of goals.

The problem is for the rest of the teams it's quite dire. Before the play-offs it's already decided who's facing relegation so the teams that don't get into play-off 1 just play youth players etc... As a result most of those teams play in front of half empty stadiums because the result is quite irrelevant. Theoretically you can win your play-off 2 group, then you play against the other play-off 2 group winner. If you manage to win that game you have to play the team that ends fifth in play-off 1 over two games. Most of the time that's impossible to obtain; since play-off 1 is much higher level than 2 and they've been playing against substandard teams for the last weeks (including some second division teams - they never get a European place, it's just a theoretical possibility).

Another problem is that lately a lot of the top6 teams start the season very slowly since the most important thing is the play-offs - want to be at their best then. This isn't good for when they are playing in Europe.

For a team like Everton such a play-off format wouldn't be good. It's good for when you're in the top 6.

 

[IllinoisBlue]

I think play-offs should be brought to the English league and other top European leagues.

Many leagues in Europe, have adopted the American playoff styled nature in their top flight leagues, examples being the Belgian, Ukrianian, Greek and many smaller nations. The Belgian league, can be cited, as a prime example of a copy of the American system. I feel if there was a system, where a top 8 could be entered in a play-off format, for the league title, it'd be something refreshing and interesting. Let's be honest, this year, the PL was over by October, with City basically declared the winners, and last year it was the same with Chelsea. It was the same story in Spain, France and Germany, with Italy being the exceptions. If a play-off system was introduced, then the league will be interesting until the last minute. The Europeans have stuck to the old system and haven't evolved, compared with Americans. I think if play-offs were introduced, then the number of teams would have to be cut from 20 to around 15-16.

Would this be a great idea? I think it's what European league needs.

Awful, awful idea. Man City are the best team in the league by a distance and deserve the league title. In your format the RS would probably win the play offs and be crowned champions.

American sport is more about the money that it is about the sport and the playoffs are an example of extending the season and squeezing more money out of the fans and TV revenue.

American sport is 'safe' sport with teams called 'franchises' and moving from city to City, whoever has the most favorable financial conditions for the 'franchise'

Oh - and the financial safety of no relegation.

No we don't want anything from american 'sports' thank you.

 

[andym78]

No they are actually quite fun. Top 6 plays a mini competition amongst themselves after halving the point totals. In a normal competition Club Brugge would have been champion this year quite easily (big lead), now they've only got 5 points left [they'll still win but there's always a chance]. Good games, lots of goals.

The problem is for the rest of the teams it's quite dire. Before the play-offs it's already decided who's facing relegation so the teams that don't get into play-off 1 just play youth players etc... As a result most of those teams play in front of half empty stadiums because the result is quite irrelevant. Theoretically you can win your play-off 2 group, then you play against the other play-off 2 group winner. If you manage to win that game you have to play the team that ends fifth in play-off 1 over two games. Most of the time that's impossible to obtain; since play-off 1 is much higher level than 2 and they've been playing against substandard teams for the last weeks (including some second division teams - they never get a European place, it's just a theoretical possibility).

Another problem is that lately a lot of the top6 teams start the season very slowly since the most important thing is the play-offs - want to be at their best then. This isn't good for when they are playing in Europe.

For a team like Everton such a play-off format wouldn't be good. It's good for when you're in the top 6.

Sounds pretty messy to me!

So the team in 7th place before the play-offs has no chance of getting higher even if they're on the same points as 6th?

I think with the extra money for each spot in the prem, as well as the possibility for european places, the clubs wouldn't go for it.

 

[ilikecheese]

it was the right question, but i hit reply before i could add further info.
not sure of the tv audience, but there was 17k at the game (in a 45k stadium). Their average crowd is 14k and when they played Melbourne in the regular season just a couple of weeks earlier there was more than 15k. All in all, not a big leap in attendance considering they were playing for a place in the grand final.

Sorry just saw this. I guess for the league/teams they would view this additional revenue as a success...if just regular success.

 

[Armel]

Sounds pretty messy to me!

So the team in 7th place before the play-offs has no chance of getting higher even if they're on the same points as 6th?

I think with the extra money for each spot in the prem, as well as the possibility for european places, the clubs wouldn't go for it.

No after the regular competition (positions decided on points, goal difference etc...) ends they get placed in their respective play-off 2 group (it's seeded and 2 games against every team). They can still win play-off 2 and play against the number 5 of play-off one. So they can still get an Europa League spot if they want (like every other team except the one that faces relegation). From a monetary point of view (including broadcasting money), it's better than ending fifth in play-off 1. (You will probably lose a bit of money with playing in half empty stadiums though).

I also think the clubs in the PL wouldn't go for it because it would make everything outside of the top six more irrelevant. Problem is it also creates a lot of "small games", that are not really interesting for a neutral. Like potentially you could have something like Huddersfield v. Crystal Palace four times a season. But you'll also have four Man City v. Man Utd games.

 

[riddick]

Awful, awful idea. Man City are the best team in the league by a distance and deserve the league title. In your format the RS would probably win the play offs and be crowned champions.

American sport is more about the money that it is about the sport and the playoffs are an example of extending the season and squeezing more money out of the fans and TV revenue.

American sport is 'safe' sport with teams called 'franchises' and moving from city to City, whoever has the most favorable financial conditions for the 'franchise'

Oh - and the financial safety of no relegation.

No we don't want anything from american 'sports' thank you.

Just a point on this, there is almost no way to have relegation/promotion in almost any professional American league because each team owns each "minor" league team.

 

[USABlue]

Just a point on this, there is almost no way to have relegation/promotion in almost any professional American league because each team owns each "minor" league team.

not to mention how spread out the country is. Also a big reason for playoffs (in addition to revenue) is it's hard to have a balanced schedule with everyone playing the rest of the league home and away once, impossible in the NFL for example. I guess theoritcally it could be done in NHL and NBA. But yeah MLB, NBA, NHL all the minor league teams are owned and affiliated with existing top teir teams.