The “Promotion and Relegation causes instability in leagues” myth

If you have ever discussed an Open Pyramid with Promotion and Relegation on social media or in person I am sure you have heard quite a few reasons why it will not work or why it is a bad idea to be implemented in the United States.

Today on Twitter I came across one of the very common reasons given in this tweet…

@burkelmt @DJCharlieBlac @dejenji @rambogooner Pro/Rel, by nature, is destabilizing. Not feasible until investors line up to provide extra.
— WrongSideOfThePond (@wrongsideofpond) January 14, 2015

So I decided to do some research on the subject. Has a national open pyramid soccer league system in the entire history of soccer ever failed?

What I found during the course of my (limited to Google) research was 15 failed closed national soccer leagues in the United States, 2 failed national Canadian closed leagues, 1 failed closed national Australian league and 4 leagues (a mix of closed and open regional leagues) in the UK that over the course of 130+ years folded in to the growth of the English pyramid.

What I did not find was a single national open pyramid structured league system in the history of world soccer that has failed. Not one… out of the 209 nations involved in FIFA not one has a history of having an open pyramid promotion and relegation system failing.

I think it is safe to say that this myth of an open pyramid with promotion and relegation somehow being inherently less stable than closed leagues can be put to bed as false. Well over 100 years of history shows that having an open pyramid actually leads to increased system stability. We have also here in the US had the chance first hand to see how even in closed systems clubs/franchises are not protected from failure by the recent contraction of the Chivas USA franchise and the litany of previous failed franchises inside of the closed MLS system. 

So the question must be asked now… Would you rather have a system that in over 200 nations has proved to be rock solid or our current system that has so far proven to have an extremely high rate of failure?

Join the discussion on Twitter using the #ProRelForUSA hashtag!
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