In reply to: Not without heavy restructuring posted by wcnitz
Some sort of guarantee for the owners so the move down doesn't crush them, but there needs to be some sort of incentive to fight against relegation.
I can totally imagine, cough Fire ownership, tanking, being fine with going down a division, still cashing MLS checks, and not turning around and investing said money in the team, because of the buffer. This is what happens when the team is an investment and not a passion project.
After you drop down, you still get the PL bump but it's lower, then it's lowered again the following 2 years while you're still out.