As sports fans have smartened up through the years, and as the internet has continued to churn out more and more content, following each sport year round, even outside of the on-field season, has increased significantly. More specifically, while the results of the games are still important, the means by which teams construct their rosters or sports construct their actual leagues creates just as compelling content.
In the four major sports that matter to Houstonians — the NFL, the NBA, MLB, and college football — each has its own “off-field season” that sucks fans in just as much as the actual on-field games do. In the NFL, fans love the NFL Draft. NBA fans circle July 1, the start of free agency, on the calendar every year. In MLB, the trade deadline has been its own sport the last two weeks. Finally, college football conference realignment is seemingly always front and center.
To that end, which “off-field” content generator is the favorite among fans. I put that to a vote on Twitter, the results of which are below, and after which I will make the case for each one. here is the Twitter poll:
No big surprise there. The NFL is king in so many ways, and its draft trumps all other sports’ most prominent “off-field” event or occurrence. Here is my case for each of the four poll entries above being the best one:
NFL DRAFT
The NFL Draft has become a cottage industry unto itself, as many sports fans joke that the two most popular sports in America are the NLF and the NFL Draft. It feeds perfectly off of the highly popular sport of college football, as, unlike other sports, the college version of the game is a practically exclusive feeder system. This fosters a familiarity with the names involved that the NBA Draft (and its slew of one-and-done college kids and international teens) and MLB Draft (flush with high school kids) don’t contain. The draft itself is a spectacle that cities actually bid on to host, and it’s a three day weekend, essentially. If there are highly drafted quarterbacks involved, LOOK OUT. Just ask Texans fans.
MLB TRADE DEADLINE
In Houston, this one probably got a ton of votes because the Astros have been highly involved in some of the biggest trade deadline drama in the sport over the last six years, including trades for Justin Verlander (2017) and Zack Grienke (2019), This season, the MLB trade deadline is crucial here because the Astros NEED very specific things to compete and defend their title, and it’s crucial league wide because the race for the World Series has never been mroe wide open. The MLB trade deadline is the beginning of the run to baseball’s postseason, which rarely disappoints.
NBA FREE AGENCY
NBA free agency used to be the king of all of these, until the last few seasons, when players began signing long term extensions with their teams, or pushed to get move in-season like Kevin Durant this past year. LeBron James really made NBA free agency a marquee event with “The Decision” and his move to Miami in 2010, and that momentum carried every offseason for nearly a decade. It’s slowed down now, to where the Rockets made, by far, the biggest splash in free agency this summer with the signing of Fred VanVleet. That’s not gonna cut it, if you’re trying to displace the NFL Draft on the sports marquee. However, if the star power of the mid 2010’2 ever hits the market again, NBA free agency will skyrocket back into contention.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL REALIGNMENT
I’m a little surprised this finished as low as it did in the poll. While it’s not the same concept as the draft, trades, or free agency involving players, there is a “roster construction” element to college football realignment. (I realize the realignment affects all sports, but it is driven by football. Hence, I call it “college football realignment.”) The construction is at the institution level, with schools jockeying for greener pastures and bigger TV contracts, and wow, if you’re looking for back alley dealings and highly paid school leaders stabbing each other in the back, then realignment is your thing! Here in Houston, the University of Houston has been on the bad side (the disintegration of the Southwest Conference, and the futile 2015 campaign for Big XII inclusion) and the good side (this season’s entry into the Big XII) of the realignment dynamic.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
