Parity

The NFL has the most parity of any professional sport, hands down. This is amazing for several reasons. First, that means Monday Night Football isn't plagued with completely boring games. Second, it means no one's safe, and it's anyone's game. Third, it means that the teams with the most money won't constantly dominate the playoffs and the Super Bowl (*cough cough Lakers, Yankees, Celtics cough cough*).

So, how is it that football has come to be so evenly matched? Well, a little thing I like to call revenue sharing and a salary cap and floor. Very quickly, the salary cap and the floor keep teams from gambling with their picks and their season by either a) out-spending other teams; or b) spending very little to intentionally run the team into the ground (while owners still turn a profit). The revenue sharing deal means that all the teams share in the TV money equally, and the gate tickets are also split, 60/40 home team and visiting team. So what does this mean? Rich teams and poor teams, big teams and little teams, everyone is in it together.*

But none of us are getting the money, so why do we care? Well, we care because this means the talent is spread among all the teams. And that sometimes, a team that was in obscurity in one year (like the Bengals) can then be in the playoffs the next year. It also means that I have legitimate hopes for the Dolphins against the Saints on Monday night. (Grant it, they lost -- but both teams were undefeated going in last Monday).


*Conversely, baseball teams are often accused of trying to run the opposing teams out of business.