Tom Brady has won several Super Bowls, but the NFL is competitive (Image: Norm Hall/Getty Images)

Imagine if the same was true for the Premier League. If I had written a column in which I dared to suggest that Brighton, Wolves and Crystal Palace all had a real shot at winning the title, Metro Sport would have taken me to the entertainment pages before the ink was dry!

Obviously, the NFL isn’t without major issues and issues, well documented, but when it comes to competitiveness it leaves so many other sports behind.

Of the four teams still in the hunt for the Vince Lombardi Trophy, the Cincinnati Bengals have never won it before and the San Francisco 49ers have not won it since the 1994 season.

Then there are the Philadelphia Eagles, who topped the rankings for the only time in their history in 2017, and the Kansas City Chiefs with megastar Patrick Mahomes hoping to make their third big showing in four years with a recent win and in a hell of a lot to reach a fight to make it two. Both of this weekend’s conference championships are too close to announce.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes can lead the Kansas City Chiefs to the Super Bowl (Photo: Getty Images)

It wasn’t always that way, but right now the NFL is both a capitalist dream and a socialist paradise rolled into one.

That starts with the national income, which consists of television contracts, media partners and the like. The amount that trickles down to the 32 teams is divided fairly down to the last penny. Over $300 million this season alone, to be exact, whether you’re the Chicago Bears, the New York Jets, or the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Add to that local revenue, which varies greatly depending on the size of the market and the popularity of each team, but even then 40 percent of all ticket sales are redistributed, with only 60 percent staying with the home team.

That wouldn’t stop a multi-billionaire from using a franchise as his magic wand, but that’s where the harsh salary cap comes in. . So how to lubricate the wheels?

Well, the third piece of this puzzle is the draft system, where the worst football team gets the best players to graduate.

A team can now trade cheap draft picks in deals to attract established players. Betting the house on instant success and knowing what price it will pay, succeeding or not, is a form of rebuilding in the following seasons. Hello LA Rams.

Or you can go the other way and trade your seasoned players for future draft picks with a long-term strategy to build a young team that grows into something special at low wages.

I should also mention Tom Brady, who often took less than his worth with the New England Patriots because he needed better players, and he has almost as many rings as fingers to prove it was worth it.

It doesn’t create a perfectly level playing field because there’s just no such thing as that, but it does mean that eight different teams have won the last ten Super Bowls.

Of course, not all is rosy in the NFL court, and there is always another side to the coin, but in terms of creating a financial structure that sees success coming without decimating everything and everyone in its wake, the NFL is leading the way . .

In about a decade, Britain could have its own NFL team, and if it does, there’s a good chance it will be the UK’s most financially secure sports team. The way the NFL handles things, I think Rihanna deserved it.

@ColinMurray