by W.H. Garcia

Created on: August 31, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

I am aware that it would be almost impossible to introduce such a system in what is already a well-established transfer system. What I hope to achieve here is to provide a hypothetical discussion as to whether a draft system can provide parity to the level of competition in the Premier League.

Having been an avid fan of both Premier League football in England and also the NBA in the US, I have long been intrigued by the differences in the nature of competition between these two world-renowned sporting leagues. Other than the obvious fact that these are two different sports, the two leagues also manages the players based on completely different systems. Seeing the level of competition in the NBA, I have long been an advocate of the draft system.

In the Premier League, players are basically traded like goods. Every player has a price attached to him. In the NBA, a draft system is adopted whereby young college players are assimilated into the NBA teams at the end of every season. Basically, the lowest ranked NBA teams get to pick first. The basic premise is that the weaker teams should be able to get the better players this way, which presumably allows for better spreading of talent among all the teams in the league.

Many have longed complained about the dominance of the "big four" in the Premier League. Every season, there is speculation about which of the less fashionable clubs can break into this "mini league" of sorts. This kind of discussion would forever be just fodder for the media as long as the financial dominance of top four clubs is maintained. In the world of football, success would naturally bring more success. Monetary gains from winning competitions can be used to buy better players. Winning competitions can also lead to greater world-wide appeal, which translates to greater shirt sales. As a result, there is an increasing financial gap between the top four and the rest of the league.

The NBA always tends to throw up surprises. Even if there are a few favourites, there will always be dark horses that manage to challenge the big boys. More importantly, instead of a "big four", there are quite possibly up to eight or nine top quality basketball clubs challenging for the title. This has to be attributed to the success of the draft system.

Of course, people might point to the decade long dynasties of the Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers, not unlike their football counterparts in Liverpool and Manchester United. However, one cannot help but think that a draft system would iron out these disparaging levels of quality and truly provide a level playing field.

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