teams in a relegation system just play harder... or they go away.  there's simply more at stake.  Would be interesting to see this happen.  Another interesting thing that happens in a relegation system is that you get much more of a 'home team' affiliation (in my opinion).  People will always have their favorites (New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Dallas Cowboys, Manchester Utd., Arsenal, etc.)... but when the minor league team in your area moved up to the big times, and you were there to see it happen, I think you get a better sense of being a part of that.

I'd say that a barrier to this system in the US for the major sports is facilities.  Would relegation teams be able to support large stadiums and generate the ticket sales necessary?  And once they move up... will their facilities be big enough?  Interesting problem to have...

Excellent point, I was thinking the same thing. Since pro sports is such big business, and there is a pretty wide discrepency between the money invested in major league teams and minor league teams, I'm afraid it would eventually come down to who has more money to invest in their team.

Its't it funny how money is both the solution to, and the cause of so many problems? 

**GirlCo + UNdead = Chicks you DO NOT want to mess with.**

Money cannot be bleed out of sports without either a complicated salary cap system or some other restriction to the team you can field.

While relegation does not get the money out of the sport it ensures that there are only competetive teams in the league. 

It also ensures that whoever brings the money can compete and enter play. 

Eventually if there are few enough teams the sport loses it's appeal, so there is eventually a ballance between all the good players going to one team and making sure there are enough different quality opponents to make back the salaries in revenue. 

The CIFL (an arena american football league) currenlty has 8 teams as a part of it and 4 teams per division. I think 8 teams is kind of the minimum for a once a week sport. For baseball to continue to pay those kinds of salaries they will have to maintain revenue which requires a variety of opponents and many games or higher prices. Owners will not invest money forever if they don't believe someday they will get a return on the investment whether money or bragging rights. 

Will baseball ever go back to it's barnstorming days with players making 100k a year? No, but things will ballance themselves out in time. Any attempt to impose a salary cap would would nuke the posibilities of fielding the most entertaining product on the field. Unless all the players played for free there is no way to remove money from baseball. 

Money changes sport a lot! I used to enjoy watching sports so much... then came betting. Then came losing. Then unpaid credit cards. Now I'm getting a credit score repair service to get my score back on track but thankfully I'm done with betting forever. I still enjoy sports and I think I always will but now I know... Sports and money don't play nice together!

I could toitally get behind a relegation system... I want teams to play balls out from beginning of the season to the very end... In a perfect world I guess..........

Sometimes a bad guy is the only good guy you get.

The FDO is predicting the future accurately. Maybe he has crystal balls?

Well my Pittsburgh Pirates once again start out the 2011 season proving they're a contender then lose control and CRASH and BURN for a surprising not so surprisingly 19 consecutive loosing season, go figure! It has been 6,909 days since they have won, 6,909 sunrises and sunsets without a win. If the only variable is time then the Pittsburgh Pirates sure do have alot of time to play with! So here's to my possibly soon to be relegated Pittsburgh Pirates, CHEERS!

..........The extremely humble owner of "THE ROOKIE" #2487/3000.....NOCTURNAL (Rewrite) Byron Metz (as "Baldwin Metz," medical examiner for San Francisco police)

Split the season in half, call the minor leagues Tier II and the major leagues Tier I.  Tier II gets to play the first season and the best teams get to advance to Tier I and go straight into the second season.  
Ve veri veniversum vivus vici (idea’s cannot be killed)

I know for those following along with the Podcasted The Starter that the Krakens signed a few players from tier two at the beginning of the season, but few teams with contracted players would want their players risking injury in the off season.

The major barrier to a pure relegation system in major league baseball is the farm system and the game itself.

Baseball may be able to have cactus league play in arizona during the winter, but do you really feel like putting out your pitcher in a frigid 20 below in the middle of Montana or Minnesota. Short of domes which are cost prohibitive to the minor leagues all the new teams entering the league would be from the south. The less likely chapions would be dome / snowball teams(cold weather specialized). Imagine going to a championship game in February for the right to go to tier one with an icy field and snow falling as you sit there and shiver not very healthy for the most risky position in the game the pitcher.

Second, apart from minor league teams that are in other leagues, minor league baseball is a farm system for the majors. They play at the same time so players that are struggling or coming back from injury can come back at a lower level until they are back to form. Most players at this level are under contract allready with MLB teams.

Imagine if a major league team had their affiliate minor league team move to tier one. That would be devastating. It would lead to teams having multiple tier 2 affiliates or pushing their affiliate to throw games so they can keep serving their real purpose of physical therapy and confidence booster not winning.

MLB is a club that you can't join unless they approve you. Even if I had a trillion dollars if the owners didn't aprove me I could not buy a Team. Rush Limbaugh wanted to buy in as part owner of an NFL team, but he was not allowed due to his controvercial comments about Michael Vick (which at the time turned out to be correct that year) MLB works the same way.

Do you really think that whoever could win a tier two championship would be welcomed at the next Tier one owners meeting. They would either have to invest in a tier one quality facility for their minor league team or would be playing Tier One ball in a Tier Two stadium. Do you really think MLB would agree to allowing the possibility of a major tv market losing a team due to a bad year, or a nowhere town like Green Bay Wisconsin  or flint Michigan to get a team in the current day?

What about a competing team in the same city (What if Chicago or NY had a third team rise out of tier two which league do you put it in? If they had a deal as a minor league team to use the same stadium as a major league team and they played eachother who would have home field advantage? Would it be an artifical away game for one of the two teams?

The value of a franchise would drop if a relegation system was implemented. If there was simply an 8 team relegation league that was still major league baseball there could still be an approval system, and there could still be many of the advantages of these teams having an easier schedule while they are rebuilding. Also allowing for a less painful entrance or exit of a team from the league.

I think the variation of Relegation suggested on the radio is superior given the current state of MLB. Though if you ask me they need fewer teams and shorter seasons so that the best players are playing every game.

DRockel

There's plenty of reasons why relegation isn't feasible but as a fan I want it. 

But the owners would hate it cuz god forbid you bring the freemarket to sports that they have no problem with when it benefits them in the private sector.

@Prawatts United: I totally want it for all pro sports. No, the owners won't allow it, not unless they can get some kind of buy-in from dozens of new teams that will pay an annual league fee, creating a large chunk of new revenue. But, I think even that would pale in comparison to TV revenue, so we're stuck with what we've got.