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Originally Posted by Erik W.
I'd argue that, with the exception of the NFL, leagues in the US are driven more by survival than profit (and even the NFL is experiencing lean times right now, forcing them to lay off league employees). On the team level, the vast majority of owners are losing money.
You're also overlooking the fact that most baseball fans like the division set-up and wildcard. It's only the most rabid purists (and you, who seems to just like the European way of doing things more) who grumble about it.
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Maybe you are right. I prefer a simpler way of doing things I guess.
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Originally Posted by tysok
Ah, true on all counts. But soccer is boring so I discount your viewpoint. 
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Point taken sir.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tysok
It also doesn't change the fact that North Americans are driven almost purely by financial motives. Since, as a society, we're all out for individual profit why shouldn't our sports franchises do the same?
I don't know of what I speak of here really... but isn't the three major sports in NA responsible for creating far (FAR) more multimillionaires than soccer as a whole? With the players of the three major sports demanding more money every time they touch the field it would stand that the franchise itself has to be more concerned with trying to make the dollars to keep them touching that field.
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Actually, the biggest European soccer teams are worth more, and spend more, than US teams. An extreme example are the 4 summer signings by Real Madrid this summer worth about $250mil (not including wages). One of those players, Cristiano Ronaldo, will be getting something like 400K a WEEK.
What amazes me is that soccer/football can bring in massive amounts of revenue without interrupting their games for commercials. I think American sports can learn something from them and keep our games as pure as possible while still getting rich in the process. Sports teams belong to the larger community IMO.