Stacking the odds
Superteams bring into question integrity of professional sports Nicholas Rasmusson
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rasmunic000@hsestudents.org
ince the recent transfer windows, free agencies and trade deadlines, new superteams were formed and current superteams grew stronger. Throughout the sports world, the term “superteam” is something that most sports fans recognize. A superteam is a title given to a team that contains players that cause said team to be significantly better than their competition. Despite being prevalent in sports leagues around the globe, the bigger question is: Is it good for sports? The short answer: no. The main goal for any sports franchise is to bring home a championship and superteams take away from that achievement. Superteams tend to ruin the suspense and competition provided in regular sporting events, as the superteam should, in theory, almost always win. “Superteam” is used the most in the NBA. It seems that every other season, a new team emerges and builds a team full of current and former all-stars. Back in 2011, the Miami Heat built a team that contained the likes of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, among other former all-stars. James, who was in his prime, was arguably the best player in the NBA at the time, and Wade and Bosh were perennial all-stars. It is important to note that this team also contained multiple former all-stars like Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen. In the four years that these players played together, they achieved four NBA Finals appearances and two NBA championships. In the MLB, there are a few teams that tend to dominate when postseason play rolls around. The New York Yankees
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are the original superteam in baseball. They have numerous all-stars, Cy Young winners, MVPs, and hall of famers scattered throughout their rich history, and this is still the case. The Yankees are known to cash out during free agency and the trade deadline, acquiring players like Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton, and Aroldis Chapman among others. Like the Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers make splashes every year during the trade deadline and free agency to bolster their sluggers and bullpen. As the MLB trade deadline approached, the Dodgers traded with the Washington Nationals to acquire pitcher Max Scherzer and infielder Trea Turner, both of whom were all-stars this season. In addition to Scherzer and Turner, last season the Dodgers engaged in a blockbuster trade that added former Cy Young winner David Price and former MVP Mookie Betts to their already World Series-caliber roster. While the Dodgers’ superteam may have only captured one World Series, they have appeared in three World Series in four years and are typically one of the betting favorites to win the World Series each season. Recently, French soccer club Paris Saint Germain (PSG) signed one of the best soccer players in the world, Lionel Messi. After this addition, PSG gained access to three of the best attackers in the world with Messi, Brazil’s Neymar Jr. and France’s Kylian Mbappe. PSG is already a major superteam in their respective league, Ligue 1, as in the past 10 seasons, they have won seven league titles. Not only does the addition of Messi make PSG an even heavier favorite to win Ligue 1, but
Dwyane Wade and LeBron James built a superteam in Miami, where they won two NBA Championships. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. it also catapults them to be a betting favorite to win the UEFA Champions League, a tournament played by the top European soccer clubs. All of these superteams contain one common trait: location. Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Paris are considered “big market” locations. This provides these teams with larger sums of money to purchase players. This provides a major disadvantage for teams that aren’t based in large markets, such as Indiana or Wisconsin. The difference in available money makes it nearly impossible for a superteam to be based in a smaller market, which is why most superteams are found on the west coast, Miami, or New York. Despite them being very prevalent throughout professional sports, superteams are a major negative. While superteams may provide higher scoring or slightly more exciting games, they ruin the best part of sports: the drama and suspense provided throughout the season. Although it’s basically impossible to achieve, a league in which all teams have a chance at winning a championship would provide for the best entertainment.
September 2021
