da 888casino： While the magic in Europe captivates audiences, the American game isn't any closer to changing its current structure

da jogodeouro： It's that time of year again, when the same old debate resurfaces. Cinderella stories are being written all over Europe, as Wrexham's rise continues, while Ipswich Town won one for the little guys, earning their Premier League place. Promotion playoffs are set to begin all over the continent, several of which will include American players.

And so the same question gets asked once again: Why oh why don't we have this in the U.S.?

It's a nice thought, isn't it? A club rising from the smallest of towns all the way to the big leagues. Lionel Messi's Inter Miami having to take on a club from, say, New Mexico, with that team earning their place right there among the best in the country.

Thoughts aren't realities, though, and the American soccer landscape won't bend itself to accommodate Cinderella stories. As fun as it might be, the fact remains: Europe is much closer to changing to fit the American soccer model than American soccer is to adopting promotion and relegation.

Getty ImagesDiscussion ignites… again

As promotion and relegation races heat up all over Europe, the concept remains a talking point in American soccer. In a country so vast with so many big cities, why couldn't there be multiple tiers of professional soccer all on one pyramid?

College sports, in particular, prove that there are fanbases all over the country that can support literally hundreds of teams. There are 133 Division 1 football teams and 350 Division 1 basketball teams, many of which draw significant crowds in cities all over America. Why can't that be translated to soccer?

As lower leagues continue to carve out their own niche, that point will gain traction. The USL has built clubs in plenty of markets, with thriving teams scattered all over the country. It's that growth that has American coach Jesse Marsch wondering whether pro/rel is on the horizon.

Marsch, who has coached in the Premier League, Bundesliga and Champions League, told: "The game has come so far, but at some point there will be pressure to move to promotion/relegation. Trying to protect assets and what's happening with the lower leagues… At some point it's going to become inevitable. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it works. I'm a little surprised when FIFA gave us the World Cup [that they] didn't mandate along with that promotion/relegation. That's just the standard everywhere in the world."

AdvertisementGettyThe Wrexham effect

There's no doubt that this conversation has been furthered by the rise of the Wrexham. The growth of the Premier League in the U.S. has introduced fans to the concept of promotion and relegation, but Wrexham and their Hollywood owners have offered placed the microscope onto the lower leagues, and the dreams that come with playing in them.

The magic that Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have captured with their 'Welcome to Wrexham' docuseries has changed American soccer culture. The pair have opened American fans' eyes to a whole new world, drawing in both diehards and casuals with their project in Wales. The club now has thousands of fans stateside, all of whom are on the edge of their seat watching Wrexham's rise up the leagues.

It's all made for fantastic theatre, so compelling that even the Hollywood duo couldn't have written it. After coming so close in their initial season, Wrexham have now achieved back-to-back promotions, and fans have been captivated the entire time, turning a small Welsh club into a global juggernaut.

But Wrexham, and every other lower-league club, comes with something that just hasn't quite developed in American soccer: History.

Getty ImagesWhy it won't work (at least for now)

What made Ipswich Town's Premier League promotion so special was the emotion of it all. You saw it throughout the stadium; thousands of fans from all generations showed up at Portman Road for that special moment. For the first time in 22 years, the club is heading for the top flight.

MLS, by comparison, is just 28 years old. The USL? Just 11. The foundations of American soccer are still being laid and, right now, it's not quite strong enough to support promotion and relegation.

Ipswich averaged about 29,000 fans per game in the Championship this season. By comparison, the top USL sides average around 10,000. Right now, there's such a massive gulf in infrastructure from the best in MLS to the best in USL, from stadiums to training and everything in between.

For years, American soccer's lower leagues have been the wild west. Leagues have risen and they have fallen. The USL has done a fantastic job of building their league, but it is still very much being built.

If promotion and relegation were instituted, promoted teams would be instantly thrown into an impossible situation. Relegated teams, meanwhile, would be thrown into the fire financially. Thrust into a second division with no stars, attendances and TV money would plummet. Right now, there just isn't enough interest to sustain it.

“Just because there is promotion/relegation in other leagues that were founded on different principles doesn’t mean that it would make sense in Major League Soccer," MLS commissioner Don Garbertold thein 2019. "We have a vibrant No.2 league in the USL.

"If all of a sudden [expansion teams are] playing in a different division that doesn’t have national revenues – because the USL doesn’t have that – how does that make any sense? There’s no economic rationality to promotion/relegation whatsoever in the era that we’re in today.”

Much has changed since Garber's comments, as the USL has grown and secured broadcast deals of its own. But, even so, things haven't changed that much. Right now, it just doesn't make sense financially, particularly when you look at the risk MLS clubs would take if it were instituted.

GettyFollow the money

This week, released its list of the 50 most valuable soccer clubs in the world. Most of the big hitters were there: Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool and Bayern Munich made up the top five.

Guess which league had 20 of the top 50, though? MLS, who was far and away the most-represented league, ahead of the second-placed Premier League with nine.

So why are MLS clubs so valuable? In one word, safety. Clubs are regularly being bought by billionaires and, if you know anything about billionaires, they like to know what they're investing in. When you buy an MLS club, you know exactly what you're getting: a piece of this big, growing soccer pie that will almost certainly see its value go up in the next few years.

For MLS owners, there's no incentive to institute promotion and relegation. Could it lead to more money for teams at the top due to increased interest? Certainly. Casual fans would likely be drawn in by it all. But is that increase in interest worth potentially losing it all? Probably not. It would be a mighty big gamble, one that could see those that put their money on the table lose it all with one bad season.

MLS owners are instead content with a safe, steady rise. It's like putting your money into an index fund rather than crypto. Because of that, it's easy to see why MLS is largely protecting itself and building its own American soccer picture.