All American sports operate in a closed system, where the teams in a league only change if a franchise is relocated or if the league expands. However, this is not the only way to structure a sports league.

Soccer leagues around the world, especially in Europe, have traditionally used a system of promotion and relegation to determine which teams play in which league every season. If a team finishes at or near the bottom of a league under this system, they're 'relegated' or sent down to the league below the one they're currently in.

If a team finishes at or near the top of a league, they get 'promoted' or move into the league above the one they're currently playing in.

There's a hierarchy between the leagues, and teams can hypothetically move from the very worst league all the way up to the best league. In England, for example, there are four fully professional leagues, going from the Premier League, all the way down to League 2.

Teams can even be relegated below that into semi-professional leagues, of which there are two levels and three leagues. Below that, teams can hypothetically get relegated all the way down to amateur football, where you can go as far down as the 11th level of football.

Needless to say, the system of promotion and relegation can lead to some real Cinderella stories. Luton Town F.C. were in the fifth tier of English football as recently as 2014, but managed to get promoted several seasons in a row and played in the Premier League for the first time ever last season, notably in a stadium with a capacity of only 12,056.

This is not an uncommon occurrence. AFC Bournemouth were promoted three times in six years, while Brentford F.C. were in League Two as recently as 2009. There are certainly several appealing characteristics to the system, and the NFL would have a perfect league to partner with if it chose to change its model.

The UFL Already Serves as a Feeder to the NFL

Minor League players regularly make the jump to the NFL

The NFL has had an undisputed monopoly over the highest tier of American football in the US since the collapse of the USFL in 1986. Various leagues have emerged since, however, they have always positioned themselves as a minor league and as the level between college football and the NFL.

Most of these minor leagues struggle to stay relevant for more than a few years. The XFL debuted in 2001 to much fanfare, but couldn't sustain its initial viewership and the league folded after a season. The original UFL was founded in 2009, but collapsed after three and a half seasons after most of its investors withdrew their money. The leagues struggle to generate consistent interest, despite playing in the spring, and they don't appear to be a sustainable way of generating money.

The newest iteration of the UFL hopes to change that. Formed after a merger between the XFL and the USFL, the league had substantially better TV viewing numbers than the two leagues did separately in 2023. In order to further ensure its sustainability, the league also continued the XFL's partnership with the NFL.

The XFL had previously signed an agreement with the NFL. UFL president Russ Brandon told ESPN:

The NFL-XFL agreement will give the NFL a 'petri dish' to experiment with proposed rules, test new equipment and develop prospective officials and coaches.

The partnership has already started to bear fruit. The NFL recently changed its kickoff rules to match the UFL's kickoff rules, and the UFL is constantly innovating. The league has banned kicking for the extra point, instead offering teams the choice of going for one, two or three points depending on how far away from the goal line the team chooses to get the ball.

The UFL also has different overtime rules, allowing teams to throw two forward passes on one play and limits pass interference to a 15-yard penalty.

The league is also helped by the players it's able to attract. Many of the players in the league are high draft picks looking to impress NFL teams, or veterans looking to make a comeback. A.J. McCarron, Matt Corral, Amari Rodgers, Hakeem Butler and Vic Beasley are all recognizable names to some fans and all played in the UFL last year.

The pipeline has already started. Per ESPN, since the end of the 2024 UFL season, 11 players have left the UFL to sign with NFL teams, and this exodus of players will only give greater legitimacy to the league. If players can regularly make the jump from the UFL to the NFL, other struggling players will want to join the league, in turn raising the quality and the relevance.

However, despite the partnership giving the league increasing relevance, it's highly unlikely the UFL becomes anything more than just a feeder league.

NFL owners will never voluntarily risk their investment

Despite the appeal of promotion and relegation, it's highly unlikely that the NFL will ever allow its teams to get relegated to the UFL, or that the system will ever be adopted in the United States.

For one, franchise owners will never voluntarily put their investment at risk. Relegation to a lower league would mean an instant decrease in revenue, one that would be very tough to recover from. Teams that get relegated from the Premier League can find it hard to compete financially upon their return, and owners would not let something similar happen in the NFL.

Furthermore, American leagues are set up to ensure parity. The same teams, aside from a few exceptions, consistently win the European football leagues. American leagues are usually won by different teams every year due to the nature of the draft and the cap system.

It's very hard to be consistently dominant when other teams are drafting the best talent from college, and when some of your best players are leaving to get bigger contracts elsewhere. It's hard to imagine how a draft system would work in the UFL, short of the league essentially functioning as another conference.

Regardless of the logistics, NFL owners would never sanction the change, and Roger Goodell can only act with the consent of the owners. The UFL will have to be content with serving as a feeder league for the NFL for the foreseeable future.

All statistics are courtesy of Pro Football Reference and all contract figures are courtesy of Spotrac unless otherwise noted.