[Matty81]

I hate drafts as a means of distributing players. Rewarding failure and then it really underlines how contrived the loyalty is when you just randomly send guys from the Yukon with absolutely no connection to like New York city or somewhere random.

For me players coming up through a local academy or a regional system connects fans to the franchises or clubs in a much more organic way. Of course some will leave or be traded eventually but you're cheering for more local kids and there is something amazing about a soccer player who grew up at a club making their debut there's nothing in NA sports like it. The model forces these profit machines to spend some of that money on local grassroots sports instead of just going in some billionaire's pocket so his instagram influencer daughter can flex on a yacht.

Certainly though in the NHL it would never work because the league has moved into a lot of markets where no one plays hockey I know. So I think the next best system is the Gold system.

I think north american sports has a reckoning coming because I think you either need to cultivate intense loyalty, or make your product accessible and affordable and they are doing neither. When the old farts who grew up being able to easily go to games die out, I think the fanbase will be a lot thinner. Some have passed it on to their kids but a lot of kids aren't getting exposed to the product because of how expensive the tv packages and tickets are - particularly immigrant kids which is a massive chunk of Canada now. Right now they take for granted that people will go for the "experience" no matter what but that won't last forever, tastes shift, and the enduring power of sport historically and why it has lasted over 100 years is the actual fans who are attached to the teams emotionally and go when it's not fashionable, not the dumb scenesters.