2025-04-28, 09:16 AM - Word count:
The SSL is in the early goings of S20. Twenty seasons old and the league continues to grow. The league is in it’s infancy compared to other sim leagues. The only other sim league I have experience with is the SHL. I wanted to compare the early days of the SHL to the SSL to see how similar the two were when they were young. The SHL is starting S82 right now. Perhaps comparing the first seasons of the two leagues can shed some light on what the SSL will look like in 60 seasons.
The first few seasons of the SSL saw consistent growth season after season. In season 1, the league had six teams. Just one season later, the league grew by two teams. Then another 2 teams a season after that and then another two teams a season later and then another two teams in S5. The league stayed at 14 teams for two seasons before jumping to 16 teams in S7 where it stayed until S20 when the league grew by four, leaving us where we are today with 20 teams. It should be noted that the league format did change multiple times throughout the first 20 seasons. It started as one league, with all teams competing for the top spot. In S5, the league was split into two divisions. The upper division had eight teams while the bottom division had 6. During this format, we saw a two team promotion/relegation system. The promotion/regulation system was removed after 7 seasons as the divisional format was replaced with a farm team system with a Major and Minor league.
The SHL started a little differently. S1 of the SHL included a senior and junior league, both of which had six teams. The junior league remained at six teams before expanding in S25. The senior league (SHL) expanded by two in S2 and another two in S5 and then another two in S10 where it remained until S25. The SHL, throughout its entirety, has followed a farm team system.
Overall, we see that the SHL started with double the teams which I would think would result in slower expansion. As you can see in the below graph, this is the case. It took the SHL ten seasons to reach 18 teams whereas the SSL took 20 seasons to reach the same mark. The growth of the SSL is on a trajectory to outpace the SHL, when comparing the first 20 seasons. If we look at where we are today, the SHL is about to expand by four teams to have a total of 40 teams (24 in SHL and 16 in SMJHL), whereas the SSL has 20 teams (10 Major and 10 in the minor league). Twenty seasons in and the SSL already has half the teams that the SHL has after 82 seasons.
![[Image: Screenshot-2025-04-28-10-13-47.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/wMGNLH0K/Screenshot-2025-04-28-10-13-47.png)
Figure 1 - League size for the first 20 seasons of the SHL (SHL + SMJHL) and SSL (Major + Minor)
As previously mentioned, I know this isn’t a great way to look at league growth. Number of users would be a more direct way to compare the two leagues. However, I think it is easy to see that the SSL is off to a great start. If recruitment and retention are high, the league will quickly outpace the SHL This shouldn’t surprise many though, as soccer is the most popular in the world. Sim leagues are free and accessible so tapping into user bases around the world will likely garner more interest for the SSL than the SHL. It is an exciting time for the SSL as we continue to grow and expand.
The first few seasons of the SSL saw consistent growth season after season. In season 1, the league had six teams. Just one season later, the league grew by two teams. Then another 2 teams a season after that and then another two teams a season later and then another two teams in S5. The league stayed at 14 teams for two seasons before jumping to 16 teams in S7 where it stayed until S20 when the league grew by four, leaving us where we are today with 20 teams. It should be noted that the league format did change multiple times throughout the first 20 seasons. It started as one league, with all teams competing for the top spot. In S5, the league was split into two divisions. The upper division had eight teams while the bottom division had 6. During this format, we saw a two team promotion/relegation system. The promotion/regulation system was removed after 7 seasons as the divisional format was replaced with a farm team system with a Major and Minor league.
The SHL started a little differently. S1 of the SHL included a senior and junior league, both of which had six teams. The junior league remained at six teams before expanding in S25. The senior league (SHL) expanded by two in S2 and another two in S5 and then another two in S10 where it remained until S25. The SHL, throughout its entirety, has followed a farm team system.
Overall, we see that the SHL started with double the teams which I would think would result in slower expansion. As you can see in the below graph, this is the case. It took the SHL ten seasons to reach 18 teams whereas the SSL took 20 seasons to reach the same mark. The growth of the SSL is on a trajectory to outpace the SHL, when comparing the first 20 seasons. If we look at where we are today, the SHL is about to expand by four teams to have a total of 40 teams (24 in SHL and 16 in SMJHL), whereas the SSL has 20 teams (10 Major and 10 in the minor league). Twenty seasons in and the SSL already has half the teams that the SHL has after 82 seasons.
Figure 1 - League size for the first 20 seasons of the SHL (SHL + SMJHL) and SSL (Major + Minor)
As previously mentioned, I know this isn’t a great way to look at league growth. Number of users would be a more direct way to compare the two leagues. However, I think it is easy to see that the SSL is off to a great start. If recruitment and retention are high, the league will quickly outpace the SHL This shouldn’t surprise many though, as soccer is the most popular in the world. Sim leagues are free and accessible so tapping into user bases around the world will likely garner more interest for the SSL than the SHL. It is an exciting time for the SSL as we continue to grow and expand.
![[Image: Snor-Lax-Rova-20250905075714-2.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/50PHFkYR/Snor-Lax-Rova-20250905075714-2.jpg)
