The European and American Model of Sport: What does the future look like?

The world of sport is a fickle everchanging beast continuously growing in popularity and becoming a
true staple within society on a global scale today. Now that we as a society are in this modern age of
organised sport, debate has begun transpiring on what the “right way” to run a sport is with different
sporting associations and federations dipping their toes into many of these different said models.
However, the two that have risen to popularity amongst the bulk of the society is the European and
American models of sport. Both vastly different from a monetary and legal standpoint but remain the
front runners in the public eye of modern-day sports organisation. As such, this blog will attempt to
delve into this debate of which model is best by looking into, the benefits and shortcomings of each
model, the impact of each model on players and coaches, the impact of the model on the sport as a
nation and in turn answer the crucial question of what does the future of sport look like? Is it truly in
safe hands?

The American Model of Sport is categorised by the major leagues (Major League Baseball (MLB),
Major League Soccer (MLS), National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL),
etc.) and is thus known for its heavy marketing presence and commercial pull. It is a franchise
system in a closed league with a draft system that utilises collective bargaining agreements which
help all revenue flow to remain within the league along with ensuring the same rules apply to all its
teams universally with a shared profit amongst the league
(https://moneysmartathlete.com/economic-environment/collective-bargaining-agreements-in-
sports-how-do-they-work-in-the-united-states-vs-europe/ ). In the European Model however, it
focusses on a more pyramid like structure stemming from grassroots to professional national and
international leagues having independent and individualised sporting organisations and federations
whilst also contrastingly having collective bargaining differ within each national federations and the
clubs which own the players within those member federations are held to individualised standards.
(https://www.ecorys.com/global/our-work/study-european-sport-model#:~:text=The%20Model
%20is%20based%20on,on%20principle%20of%20promotion%2Frelegation ) Hence, many
inconsistencies begin to arise with this European Model in cases where players must move as many
leagues have visa laws on international players as well as their own differing salary caps and
capabilities. A prime example of this is right outside our backyard as in the NPL state football
competitions, the Football Victoria Rules, and Regulations state that in NPL 1 league 2 players are
allowed on the senior player roster as an Overseas Visa Player and 4 for teams in NPL 2 and 3. (FFV
Rules and Regulations 2021, Clause 22). This therefore creates a complication in international players
needing to be de-listed if their club is promoted to the NPL 1 league meaning the competition is
losing large amounts of talent and revenue from these players with clubs with wealthier clubs being
able to have a bigger advantage of signing better visa players if they can afford to do so. This
therefore only stagnates the aesthetic output and overall player quality of the league leaving it at a
monetary disadvantage when compared to top leagues around the world. When pinned against the
American Model however, in the USL (US Soccer 2 nd Division) 7 International roster spots are allowed
per club with no promotion and relegation of teams meaning this complication not seen as well
teams having similar amounts of money to spend on player transfers due to the collective bargaining
agreement of shared revenue amongst the leagues.