Some Teams Don't Deserve Their Fans... and Should Be Punished

I am just going to come out and say it and deal with the backfire of diehard fans afterwards.

The following teams should not be in the National Football League (NFL): Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills.

The following teams should not be in the National Basketball Association (NBA): New Jersey Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves.

The following teams should not be in the National Hockey League (NHL): Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Islanders.

The following teams should not be in Major League Baseball (MLB): Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles.

Now let me explain why.

These teams have over the past years failed to produce a product that is up to standards of their respective leagues. This is not to bash the fan support (some of these teams have immense fan support), but rather it is in the interest of competitive spirit. Good fans do not deserve to be exploited for their money and given a terrible product. Other teams and owners should be rewarded for providing a better team.

Let us begin from the list above with the team with best fan support and the worst results: the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs had the 2nd worst record in the NHL last year and have not made the playoffs since 2003. They have traded away their top draft pick this year, giving them less young talent. And, as every Canadian hockey fan knows, have not won the Stanley Cup since 1967. Now this team is clearly making a good profit from the very loyal fan support, but as an NHL team, the fact remains that they don't belong. Years of poor management have relegated them to this reality, trading draft picks for aging over-the-hill superstars and overpaying mediocre players.

In Football, The Detroit Lions have been the disgrace of the NFL, managing to go an unprecedented 0-16 just 2 years ago. In fact, they have not had a .500 winning record since the 2000-2001 season. The Lions have had the right of being the bottom dwellers through consistently poor draft picks, choosing high risk wide receivers (Calvin Johnson, Mike Williams, Roy Williams, Charles Rodgers) as their 1st round pick 4 out of 5 years in the last decade. Only Johnson remains on the team. Poor ownership and poor management creates a product that is so subpar it is an embarrassment to the league.

My point is, do smaller market teams deserve to have a chance to be in the top leagues in spite of the fact that they may have less money to throw around for top players? In Europe, where soccer reigns, every league has the system of promotion and relegation. The bottom 3 teams from the top division will be relegated to the 2nd Division while the top 3 teams from the lower division will be promoted to the top league. It's incentive for the management to perform well to ensure that their team is consistently playing against top competition. If your team lacks quality, the ownership must invest in good players and young talent to ensure a speedy return to the top league. Not only does this add incentive to the players and coaches of lower quality teams, it adds excitement to the end of the season; while the top teams are competing for the championship, the lower teams are competing to have a right to stay in the highest league for the following season. 

Teams in smaller markets may not be able to afford the big name superstars, but with smart managing they can maintain themselves in the top division. Just look at the Tampa Rays' salary in Major League Baseball compared to other teams. This year, their team salary totaled $72,323,471, the 19th highest amongst MLB teams, (compare that to the Yankees whose salary is over $200,000,000!!!) (1), and the Rays had the best regular season record in MLB this past season. The Rays’ smart management is proving that smaller market teams can compete and win. At the same time, there can be a sense of pride for teams like the Kansas City Royals, who may not win a championship anytime soon, but can definitely fight to have the pride of staying in the Major Leagues for a long tenure.

In other cases, ownership has little reason to finance a winning team. Case in point: The Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates were the worst team in baseball this past season, losing 105 games (out of 162), and have had an incredible 18 straight losing seasons. In spite of their poor on-field performances spanning decades and gate revenues being well below league average, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been an extremely profitable organization, making $29.4 Million in 2007 and 2008. (2) This was thanks in large part to Major League Baseball sources, such as revenue sharing, TV networks and merchandising encompassing nearly half of the Pirates' income. The Pittsburgh Pirates' income from their own revenue sources was essentially half of their total income. Their profit margins remain high thanks in large part to the success of other franchises, while consistently having player salaries near the bottom of the league. The team has opted out of resigning improving talent or veteran players, instead signing less expensive unproven players to create the lowest payroll in baseball on opening day this past season, $34.9 Million. So long as other teams are making money and sharing it with the Pirates, any investment by the ownership into more talented, and thus more expensive, players will likely cut down on their profit margins.

The only question that remains is whether leagues can be sustained without first division teams in the biggest cities. Sure, it's hard to imagine the NHL without the Toronto Maple Leafs or the NBA without the New York Knicks, but the answer is, quite clearly, yes, the leagues can survive. Bundesliga soccer in Germany is not crumbling at the fact that this year there are zero teams in Berlin, as Hertha Berlin was relegated this past year. Instead, teams like Hertha Berlin, who finished in 5th the season before last, are being punished for not using its money for buying more talented players or better coaching. Hertha tried to sell top players for good money and not reinvest to maintain a level that would compete for the championship, instead hoping to finish in the middle of the pack at the highest division. They failed and are now being punished by having to invest in good players to get back to the top division or otherwise remain in 2nd division obscurity.

Being thrown into 2nd division does not necessarily mean that coming back to the top league takes years. Juventus, perhaps the most famous club in Italian soccer, was relegated several years ago to Division 2 in a well-publicized match fixing scandal. (3) The management invested heavily in maintaining top talent despite being in a lower division to ensure their return to Seria A was swift. The same can be said for Newcastle in the English Premier League, as they made their Premier League return this year after a short 1 year hiatus.

Fans deserve to have the best quality product for their money on the field/ice/court at all times. It's not right that teams can reserve themselves to mediocrity knowing that fan support will not leave entirely, nor is it right that teams have to prove they are not purposely losing games at the end of the season to improve their draft picks for the offseason. Fearing relegation, teams will always have an incentive to win. Using hockey as an example, teams in Winnipeg, Halifax, Quebec City, Hamilton and Hartford (all strong hockey cities) can create quality teams. Through strong fan support and smart managing these teams can eventually earn a promotion to the NHL and earn their right to stay there if they maintain a good enough team. Maybe even excel.

The status quo in professional sports might not be cutting it right now in North America. Many teams are too discouraged to invest in winning, and prefer to stay happy with the money already coming in. Some teams are just hoping to get lucky in the draft to land a superstar to bring their city to the forefront of the sport. Still, management and ownership need to be smart about how and where they spend their money and prove that they belong in the top leagues not only because they haven't gone bankrupt, but because they produce competitive teams. Otherwise, let another city with better management prove they've earned a shot at the big time.

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1 http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/salaries?team=tam

2 http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5484947
3 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/5164194.stm