How would I do this - AFL/ABA/WHA competitor to MLB

tehsuigi · 12-31-2020, 02:24 PM

Hi gang,

I've had this idea rolling around in my head, and since I just finished my previous sim, I want to give it a go in January.
I know that the NFL, NBA, and NHL all had competing professional leagues start up in the 1960s and 1970s, steal top talent, and ultimately falter and get absorbed back into the established entity.
MLB's antitrust exemption prevented that from happening in earnest, but I do want to see how the tail end of the reserve clause era would play out if players could bolt to another top-tier baseball league. I'm thinking in particular of Curt Flood taking a Bobby Hull-style path to the upstart league and a substantial paycheck.

That said, I'm not entirely sure how best to pull this off in terms of league settings. Would players in MLB be willing to jump ship to the upstart league, even if the prestige level was set to be equivalent? I would want to keep it all real players in the save, and this is admittedly the first time I'm using the historical mode and MLB (I usually stick to ***).

Any advice you've got would be appreciated. Thanks!

ShawnSoup · 12-31-2020, 02:46 PM

I actually found out how this would work accidentally. I attempted to set up a Chinese league to bring baseball to China. I had no idea what I was doing and set it up as a major league instead of an international league and didn't adjust the financial settings and gave it a 10 prestige. I also had set China to excellent player status in the world settings.

When the league started all the teams had insane budgets especially in huge cities like Beijing (due to the market size being astronomical) to where they could offer up more money to MLB free agents than most MLB teams could.

I had to set the settings to not allow foreign players as I slowly bring the leagues financials inline with KBO and Nippon numbers.

But if you start a league and the teams have the budgets and have access to the free agent pool they will sign players from MLB.

Realistically though you wont, be able to compete with MLB, unless you start a historic season and start your league before the free agency boom, and build their financials up organically that way when the boom hits you can compete with the MLB for top tier talent.

thehef · 12-31-2020, 04:13 PM

Some related reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_League
https://www.baseball-reference.com/b...inental_League
https://baseballhall.org/discover/in...inental-league

Although the league never came to fruition, it's effect was similar to that of the AFL, ABA, and WHL.

Art Deco · 12-31-2020, 09:30 PM

(Sorry, deleted, thought I was making a new thread)

12-31-2020, 02:24 PM	#1
tehsuigi All Star Reserve Join Date: Sep 2019 Posts: 790	How would I do this - AFL/ABA/WHA competitor to MLB Hi gang, I've had this idea rolling around in my head, and since I just finished my previous sim, I want to give it a go in January. I know that the NFL, NBA, and NHL all had competing professional leagues start up in the 1960s and 1970s, steal top talent, and ultimately falter and get absorbed back into the established entity. MLB's antitrust exemption prevented that from happening in earnest, but I do want to see how the tail end of the reserve clause era would play out if players could bolt to another top-tier baseball league. I'm thinking in particular of Curt Flood taking a Bobby Hull-style path to the upstart league and a substantial paycheck. That said, I'm not entirely sure how best to pull this off in terms of league settings. Would players in MLB be willing to jump ship to the upstart league, even if the prestige level was set to be equivalent? I would want to keep it all real players in the save, and this is admittedly the first time I'm using the historical mode and MLB (I usually stick to ***). Any advice you've got would be appreciated. Thanks! __________________ OOTP Streamer Affiliate on Twitch - come get your drops!

12-31-2020, 09:30 PM	#4
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,578	Whose ratings are reflected in player changes? (Sorry, deleted, thought I was making a new thread)

12-31-2020, 02:46 PM	#2
ShawnSoup Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2020 Posts: 123	I actually found out how this would work accidentally. I attempted to set up a Chinese league to bring baseball to China. I had no idea what I was doing and set it up as a major league instead of an international league and didn't adjust the financial settings and gave it a 10 prestige. I also had set China to excellent player status in the world settings. When the league started all the teams had insane budgets especially in huge cities like Beijing (due to the market size being astronomical) to where they could offer up more money to MLB free agents than most MLB teams could. I had to set the settings to not allow foreign players as I slowly bring the leagues financials inline with KBO and Nippon numbers. But if you start a league and the teams have the budgets and have access to the free agent pool they will sign players from MLB. Realistically though you wont, be able to compete with MLB, unless you start a historic season and start your league before the free agency boom, and build their financials up organically that way when the boom hits you can compete with the MLB for top tier talent.

12-31-2020, 04:13 PM	#3
thehef Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,345	Some related reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_League https://www.baseball-reference.com/b...inental_League https://baseballhall.org/discover/in...inental-league Although the league never came to fruition, it's effect was similar to that of the AFL, ABA, and WHL.