The International Swim League recently announced that it will be adding “jackpot times” to the 2020-2021 season. Jackpot times aren’t really “times;” instead, they are time margins that a swimmer can win by to steal points from the other swimmer’s team. For example, if the jackpot margin is 0.70 seconds for a race, and Swimmer A beats Swimmer B by 0.75 seconds, not only does Swimmer A win the points, but he or she also wins the points that Swimmer B would have earned, essentially “stealing” Swimmer B’s points.
But the new rule falls short when applied to all swimmers in a race. With the new scoring rule in place, a dominant swimmer in an event can completely sweep a race and he or she could win a grand total of 37 points in a single race while the rest of the competition wins nothing from that race. This rule will also significantly affect relays, as a dominant relay could earn a whopping 74 points. To put this into perspective, a normal 1st place finish earns 9 points, but with the addition of this new rule, a 1st place finish can now earn more than 4 times the normal amount of points. The same goes for relays, also potentially earning more than 4 times more points. My biggest concern is that this rule will incentivize teams to only sign top swimmers instead of focusing on building deep rosters, which could possibly lead to an imbalance in the league, making events less entertaining.
The best way to implement this rule would have been to set a jackpot time between two swimmers that have very similar times so that they have near-equal chances of winning the race. By doing so, points stolen via Jackpot times will be small bonuses that can give teams an edge when results are close, whilst still keeping other teams in contention. Personally, I think ISL should leave this rule out because it unnecessarily overcomplicates scoring for viewers who are new to the sport and may not understand how Jackpot times work.
How Would It Have Affected Last Year’s Season?
When I first saw the jackpot scoring time margins, they seemed difficult to reach, and I didn’t expect it to happen often. But taking a closer look, if the jackpot times rule was in place last year, the scoring would have been drastically different. According to Swim Swam, jackpot times in individual races occurred 170 times in the 2019 season. That’s about 81% of the total 210 individual events last season. Jackpot times will most likely affect relay events even more, as jackpot times occurred in all 35 relay events last season. That said, it’s safe to say that Jackpot times are common enough for teams to make substantial roster changes in order to take advantage of the new scoring rule.
As far as overall scoring goes, if the new rule were in place, the top three teams would have scored significantly higher, and the rest of the league would have scored much lower. The Cali Condors, London Roar, and Energy Standard, the top three teams in the league, would have scored 166.5, 139.5, and 122 more points, respectively, while the fourth and fifth place teams, LA Current and Team Iron would have scored much lower, losing 34.5 and 35.5 points, respectively. The bottom three teams, DC Trident, Aqua Centurions, and New York Breakers, would have scored even lower, losing 79, 130.5, and 148.5 points, respectively. The 3 top teams would have scored an average of 10% more points overall, while the bottom 3 teams would have scored an average of 13% fewer points throughout the season. These numbers reveal how the jackpot scoring rule is likely to only widen the gap between the teams and unbalance the league.
How Will It Affect Future Seasons?
In my opinion, the addition of this new scoring will only create further disparity in the league and completely alter how rosters are built. Instead of focusing on depth, teams will invest heavily in star power. If these teams focus on signing only the best swimmers, league events will become more and more lopsided. This change would consequently make the league less entertaining, as viewers typically prefer competitive, unpredictable sporting events; however, take this with a grain of salt, as these concerns are merely hypothetical speculation. Furthermore, with the league announcing the addition of two new swim teams, one confirmed as the Toronto Titans, there is reason to remain hopeful for the upcoming season.