When it comes to competitive balance, it seems as if the US is flattening its European counterparts.
An entry draft and salary capping ensure that big, rich US clubs cannot dominate smaller, poorer ones.
Meanwhile, in Europe, a Russian billionaire can buy an English soccer club while a powerful body, the G14, slavishly protects the interests of the continent's richest teams.
But is the US model providing fairer competition?
Comparing the Super Bowl to the Champions League title over the last 10 years provides interesting reading.
There have been more different winners -- eight to seven -- of the Champions League in that period and more different quarter-finalists (as compared with conference semi-finalists in US football) by a tally of 31 to 27.
Real Madrid are the only team to have won the Champions League more than once in the last 10 years while two US football outfits -- the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos -- have won back-to-back Super Bowls.
Despite this, European soccer bosses at UEFA are worried about the future.
"You can't apply US rules and regulations in Europe," said UEFA spokesman William Gaillard.
"In Europe you have to let the free market have free reign with buying and selling players and contracts," he said.
"What we can do is introduce sporting rules so no club has an advantage and ensure there is a distribution of profits," he said.
One measure UEFA has introduced is a quota system of home grown players to try to stop rich clubs buying up all the best talent across the globe.
Teams must now name in their 25-man Champions league squads at least two players that came through their own system and two more that came through the system in the same country.
Neither Arsenal nor Chelsea could manage that and so were forced to name 24-man squads.
Life will get more difficult for those two as the quota will eventually rise to four and four.
"Already Barcelona has eight and Lyon seven, so you can be successful with home-grown players," Gaillard said.
NFL spokesman Michael Signora is convinced the league's system works.
"The key thing with the policies that the NFL has in place is that they give fans hope," he said.
"Every fan of every team goes into the season thinking they have a chance of winning the Super Bowl -- that drives fans," he said.
"We think the measures and policies we have in place help create an opportunity for every team to be successful," he said.
While the same 32 teams play in the NFL from one season to the next, the Champions League has around a 25 percent change in teams year on year.
Big guns such as Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and AC Milan never fail to qualify for the group stages.
However, last season's two Champions League finalists, Barcelona and Arsenal, both struggled to get out of their groups.
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