Playoff Rebrands Needed

OP-ED: Playoff Rebrands Needed 

by Vinny Gasparro

Did you ever wonder what would happen if your favorite sport’s playoff system was drastically modified? What if an otherwise mediocre team got hot towards the end of the year and had a shot at the title? Here some ways that leagues could change the playoffs to make things more entertaining for everyone's viewing pleasure:

NFL/XFL: There’s not much that you could change for the playoffs for the NFL, however, there are some big changes that could bring the league more viewers and could bring about some of the most entertaining football ever played. The first step is resetting the layout of the entire league. I know this sounds extreme, but hear me out first. The players can stay on their current teams, so there is no need for a redraft, but the divisions get scrapped. Under this format, the league will be on the same system as most soccer leagues, where every team in the conference plays each other once. This system has been proven to be extremely popular amongst fans of soccer, the most widespread sport in the world. After the top six teams in each conference compete in the playoffs, the two conference champions would play each other in the Super Bowl. The XFL could largely do the same thing, except every team plays each other twice and the two with the best records play each other in the championship. The winner of the XFL gets promoted to the NFL and the players will receive a pay bonus based on the percent of income that the team receives. It’s like the richest game in soccer in the Championship league for English League Football. To make things even more interesting, get rid of the Pro Bowl, a game where the players don’t show effort and few fans are interested. If you want a game that players would try in, have the bottom team from each conference play each other, with the loser being demoted to the XFL.  Both teams would feel pressure to perform because the loser would take a pay cut, while the winner would be awarded a bonus. because the teams won’t be having as high viewership or attendance as teams in the NFL.

MLB: What if a team that sucked the first three quarters of the year got hot at the end and had a shot at the title? Wonder no more. Take out the last ten games of the regular season and start the playoffs. Every team has a shot at the title, but this isn’t going to be done bracket style. The six division winners will be in the same spots as before, where the second seed plays the third and the first seed plays a wild card, but the difference is how the wild card team is determined. There will be rounds of one game, sudden death matchups starting with the 15th ranked team playing the 14th ranked team. The winner of that will play the 13th ranked team and so on until the wild card spot is determined. The higher seed will, of course, be the home team for the games, and games will be played every other day allowing the team that just played to have a rest day. This scenario allows for a true Cinderella team in the playoffs because anyone can win the title. The higher seeds will still have an advantage, so the regular season will still matter.