LogFAQs > #976852127

Reg posted...

This is the key point for why things are the way they are in US sports. More exciting -> More money involved, even if a team other than the "best" one wins it in the end. Hype and intrigue sell.

That said, if your goal is to crown a champion, and you want it to be the "best" team as reliably as possible, a long regular season with no playoffs will typically do that. That sort of format has a lot of issues for engagement though. I very much like baseball, but I still tune out of a good chunk of the regular season because of it beyond keeping a basic eye on results, standout performers and injuries. Basketball and Hockey would be very similar if I followed them particularly. But at the end of the season in all three sports, the best teams will pretty reliably be the ones with the best records.

Meanwhile, the NFL with its relatively small number of regular season games and high variance sucks for attempting to objectively determine the best team. But it sure is exciting to follow specifically because of those reasons.

I think people could be conditioned so that it wasn't so weird, given enough time. Right now we're just too steeped in it, it would take decades at least.

I mean, soccer is the most popular sport in the world right? And there is so much money in euro football specifically, I see some of those transfer fees. They seem to be doing alright with that format.