How U.S. Athletes Reach the Pros

Soccer leagues around the world use a promotion-and-relegation system to reward the best teams and punish the worst. We ask whether American sports fans would enjoy a similar system. (Part two of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Domonique Foxworth, sports analyst and former N.F.L. player.
  • Stefan Szymanski, professor of sport management at the University of Michigan.
  • Victor Matheson, professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross.

• RESOURCES:
  • "'Root, root, root for the home team" did TV kill minor league baseball in the 1950s?" by Stefan Szymanski (University of Michigan, 2025).
  • "European and North American Sports Differences (?): A Quarter Century on," by Stefan Szymanski (Principles and Paradoxes of Sports Economics, 2024).
  • National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of the World Plays Soccer, by Stefan Szymanski and Andrew Zimbalist (2006).

• EXTRAS:
  • "When Is a Superstar Just Another Employee? (Update)," by Freakonomics Radio (2025).
  • "The Longest Long Shot," by Freakonomics Radio (2016).

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