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FuzzyRussianHat · 12-10-2024, 07:06 AM

Since adding the Eurasian Professional Baseball defectors and four expansion teams in 2000, the European Baseball Federation had maintained two 24-team conferences. Each conference kept a four division, six team format. With the European Second League formed in 2005, EBF was able to expand its footprint significantly without having to adjust the Elite tier’s format.

The promotion/relegation system made for constant shifts in which teams were in what division. Because the amount of relegated teams could vary based on how many teams lost 100+ games, this meant many years had significant shuffling. Officials had tried to maintain longstanding rivalries and keep things geographically kosher as best they could. However, some of the shakeups had made for some odd pairings and by 2020, many teams had gotten annoyed with this.

Possibilities to remedy this varied from changing the promotion/relegation rules, restructuring the divisions, or even adding/removing teams from the top tier. EBF ended up settling on a realignment that went into effect for the 2020 season. Both conferences kept their 24 teams, however instead of the 4x6 divisional format, the switch was made to a 3x8 format.

The hope was that the larger divisions would more effectively maintain rivalries and negate some of the shuffling required each year. Both the Northern and Southern Conference would be divided into an eight-team West, Central, and East Division. The promotion/relegation system remained the same with the worst team in each conference getting demoted along with any additional teams that lost 100+ games.

The postseason continued its same format of six teams per conference and four total rounds. The only difference was you would now have three division champs and three wild cards, as opposed to four division champs and two wild cards. Some teams also thought this change would help protect good teams that were stuck in loaded divisions. This format remained in place through the 2028 season with an expansion and realignment to come after that.

Below is how the teams were realigned between the 2019 season and the 2020 season:

12-10-2024, 07:06 AM	#1871
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,903	2020 EBF Realignment Since adding the Eurasian Professional Baseball defectors and four expansion teams in 2000, the European Baseball Federation had maintained two 24-team conferences. Each conference kept a four division, six team format. With the European Second League formed in 2005, EBF was able to expand its footprint significantly without having to adjust the Elite tier’s format. The promotion/relegation system made for constant shifts in which teams were in what division. Because the amount of relegated teams could vary based on how many teams lost 100+ games, this meant many years had significant shuffling. Officials had tried to maintain longstanding rivalries and keep things geographically kosher as best they could. However, some of the shakeups had made for some odd pairings and by 2020, many teams had gotten annoyed with this. Possibilities to remedy this varied from changing the promotion/relegation rules, restructuring the divisions, or even adding/removing teams from the top tier. EBF ended up settling on a realignment that went into effect for the 2020 season. Both conferences kept their 24 teams, however instead of the 4x6 divisional format, the switch was made to a 3x8 format. The hope was that the larger divisions would more effectively maintain rivalries and negate some of the shuffling required each year. Both the Northern and Southern Conference would be divided into an eight-team West, Central, and East Division. The promotion/relegation system remained the same with the worst team in each conference getting demoted along with any additional teams that lost 100+ games. The postseason continued its same format of six teams per conference and four total rounds. The only difference was you would now have three division champs and three wild cards, as opposed to four division champs and two wild cards. Some teams also thought this change would help protect good teams that were stuck in loaded divisions. This format remained in place through the 2028 season with an expansion and realignment to come after that. Below is how the teams were realigned between the 2019 season and the 2020 season: __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)