A second rationale is that it may prevent collusion amongst teams needing only a draw to advance in a tournament or avoid relegation.
[3][4][failed verification] In addition, the overall competitive balance decreases in favour of top teams.
[5] The average number of goals per match in Turkey's top football division has risen significantly since the change to three points for a win.
[6] The three-point system in ice hockey – in the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Russia, Switzerland and Sweden – had no effect on the number of goals scored.
In 1995, FIFA formally adopted the system,[3] and it subsequently became standard in international tournaments, as well as most national football leagues.
In the mid to late 1990s, leagues and governing bodies in the sports of ice hockey, field hockey, volleyball, water polo, bandy, floorball, camogie, and Gaelic football would start adopting the 3 points for a win system.
Major League Soccer, based in the United States and Canada, has awarded three points for a win since its first season of 1996, but initially held a penalty shootout at the end of regulation draws, awarding 1 point to the winner of the shootout and none to the loser.
Since 2000, it has allowed ties/draws to stand in the regular season, and follows the international standard of awarding 1 point for a draw.
Listed below are the years that ice hockey leagues and associations have adopted and abandoned a 3 points for a win system.
[50][51] The same system is adopted in the group stages of the 2016–17 EFL Trophy and 2016–17 Scottish League Cup onward (in both cases, no extra time will be played).
This proposal was put on hold by the 2004–05 NHL lock-out and subsequently rejected by team owners in February 2007.