The End of an Era?

September is here, and the transfer window across European football has closed until January, without much fanfare or event. In truth, deadline day become something of a non-event in most circles, with big money having changed hands early in the summer, and clubs looking mainly to fine tune their sides on the final day, rather than overhaul them.

However, the disappointment amongst many football fans eager for a major move raises an important question: have we seen the end of major transfer deadline days and trade deadlines in professional sport, or are we merely seeing the temporary effects of the worldwide economic crisis on sport?

The biggest deadlines on the world sport calendar in terms of player movement, historically, have been the football transfer window closing date(s), the National Hockey League trade deadline, and the Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline. Unfortunately, 2009 has seen each of these major dates come and go without much incidence, despite massive media coverage, countless hours of devoted television time, and fan and expert analysis to rival American politics.

In the case of the NHL, this year's comparatively slow deadline can likely be attributed to the salary cap, and teams edging ever closer to the upper-limit of spending. Whereas in previous years, teams with championship aspirations would load-up on talent and take on additional expiring salaries in hopes of winning the Stanley Cup, under the new economic regime, such acquisitions are no longer possible, making trades more difficult to execute. It will be interesting to see if, following next year's Winter Olympics and the attention surrounding hockey in Canada this season, the major Canadian sports networks (TSN, Sportsnet, The Score and RDS) devote the same time to the trade deadline as this past year, and run the risk of another 8 hour broadcast with little news to report.

Perhaps more disconcerting than the NHL's slowing in-season player movement, has been the diminished transactions and spending in non-salary cap restricted leagues such as Major League Baseball, or the English Premier League. Although an important date in the baseball year, and traditionally a day of many rumours and considerable movement, the MLB deadline is perhaps less alarming than the NHL or the European football deadline days. Given that baseball has struggled for years with competitive balance, and that a small number of clubs are able to spend exponentially more than lower level clubs on player salaries, the lack of major player movement is less worrying. That baseball allows moves following the deadline, with transactions based on waivers, and that a number of deals have since been completed in this way, can perhaps appease any worries fans may have.

However, football's slow transfer deadline, and indeed the overall financial figures surrounding transfers in British football this summer, paint a cautious if not unsettling picture of football's standing in the current economic climate.

Without going into great specifics, and not wanting to press the panic button too early and abandon hope of a quick recovery for professional sport, these two articles from the Telegraph and the Financial Times maps out the Premier League's limited spending power, and generally cautious approach to transfers this summer, much better than any analysis I could provide here.

Have we seen the end of big spending in sports, massive transfer deadline days, and unrelenting player movement? Or will Premier League clubs redeem themselves and save Sky Sports News the embarrassment of another uneventful, uninteresting news day in January by once again spending beyond their means, acquiring exciting international talent, and loading up the Premier League for a final 5 month push before next summer's World Cup? Only time will tell...