Comments for EPL = NFL at http://www.wsc.co.uk , comment 0 to 3 out of 3 comments http://www.wsc.co.uk Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:29:55 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/1065/38/#pc_157 And don't forget that you can be the wealthiest man in the world, you still can't stroll in and buy all the best players. The salary cap the draft is a fantastic leveller (unless you're the Saints or the Lions: then you're barely ever even the bridesmaid. Obviously the draft system is impossible in world football, but there's nothing to stop UEFA (or, hmm, FIFA) considering a salary cap system. Every team having their own equivalent of a "Marquee" player would do wonders for the domestic game. - rudi Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:22:26 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/1065/38/#pc_156 The other possibility is that the lower leagues of English football could be more like baseball. Here, minor league baseball is thriving by building very nice, but small, parks with a lot of extraneous "entertainment" and food options at the park in order to generate a "family friendly atmopshere." - Reed of the Valley People Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:30:30 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/1065/38/#pc_155 As ever, Plenderleith is spot-on. But the EPL = NFL headline is disingenuous. There are some fairly fundamental differences between the two entities. Under the NFL's revenue-sharing agreement, the money from televised matches - even the Super Bowl - is shared by all the clubs. This means that, with good TV ratings for other games, even a loser like the Redskins can come out ahead. It also means that, in time, every team (except New Orleans, by rule) gets a shot at the Super Bowl. Last year the Green Bay Packers - a community-owned franchise devoid of any Synderesque figure of scorn - came within one game of reaching it. TV money has been crucial to the NFL for decades; as early as the 1960s many clubs would have lost money without it. But its importance to football over here is relatively new. "Going to the match" may still be the game's bread and butter, but for generations most NFL fans have followed their teams on television - every week, home and away. Many have never been to a game in their lives. This, to me, is where the real danger lurks for British football: in fans not bothering to support their local team because they can watch more glamorous stuff on the box (even if it means listening to Clive Tyldesley), and in the game deriving its revenue largely from television viewers who don't really care for football but will watch the occasional match involving players they have heard of. One suspects whatever interest Snyder and his ilk have in the "EPL" has more to do with climbing aboard the Champions League gravy-train than a desire to fleece customers on this side of the Atlantic. It's no coincidence that Liverpool and Manchester United have American owners - and that the likes of Newcastle and Tottenham do not. There's a worldwide TV market for these mega-clubs; there really isn't one for the Redskins. - The Exploding Vole Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:00:49 +0100