Instead, more and more countries are opting for more unique formats, capturing the attention of the local fans and media, and beyond.
In what is the first of two parts, we take a look at six domestic formats in Europe that stand out in one way or another. Only top-flight domestic leagues are considered in this piece.
Scotland
The first league in this list is the Scottish Premiership, the pioneers of the split league format. Since the beginning of the millennium, Scotland's top flight has adopted a system where the league breaks in half. This comes after 33 matches, where the 12 clubs face each other thrice, with at least one home and away match.
After that, the league splits into a top six and a bottom six, based on the regular season rankings. All points are carried over to the playoffs, where the sides face their rivals once more within their group. That brings the total to 38 league matches for the season. No team can switch sections, even if a side from the bottom half ends up with more points than one in the top half.
Here is where things really stand out: even though sides face five others four times, there is no guarantee that it is an even split of two home and two away matches. There are seasons where one side faces another thrice at home (or away).
In fact, clubs can even end up in situations where they have 20 home (or away) games for the campaign. In principle, each team has two home and away ties in the playoffs.
To determine who faces whom twice at home and once away - and vice versa - the league tries to forecast the regular season final table before a ball is kicked. They use this formula with the aim of teams facing each other twice at home and twice away, should they meet four times.
This format has also been adopted in Northern Ireland (since 2008/09) and Switzerland (since 2023/24). In the former, a European play-in tournament is also held at the conclusion of the playoffs to determine the league's final representative for the UEFA Conference League.
It involves teams finishing in the bottom four of the title playoffs, plus the top team from the relegation playoff. If the cup winner is any of the top seven teams, one fewer club is involved in this mini-tournament.
However, both can credit Scotland for the assist in being the original creators of the format, which has been going strong for the last quarter-century.
Follow the Scottish Premiership on Flashscore.
Belgium
Scotland may have had the first of the split formats in Europe, but the country that truly revolutionised it was Belgium. Since the Jupiler Pro League introduced their playoff system in 2009/10, several nations have followed suit.
Under its current guise, the 16 teams face each other home and away in a traditional double round robin. After 30 games, the league splits into three: the top six enter the Championship Playoffs, the sides finishing seventh through 12th play in the European Playoffs, and the bottom four contest the Relegation Playoffs.
In each group, the clubs go through another double round robin. In the Championship and European Playoffs, points earned in the regular season are halved. For the playoffs, the half points are rounded upwards. However, the first tiebreaker sees this 'half point' removed if necessary.
A truly unique feature of this format is that the regular-season winner is guaranteed a European place, regardless of playoff performance. Moreover, the winner of the European playoff takes on a side from the title playoff for the UECL berth. This is a one-off match, hosted by the team from the championship group. It is important to note that this game does not take place if the European playoff winner won the domestic cup as well.
As the league is returning to a traditional double round robin with 18 teams next term, there is no direct relegation. Instead, the last-place team from the relegation group will partake in a two-legged affair with a side that finished between third and sixth in the second division.
Belgium was the second to bring in a play-in game for the final spot in a UEFA club competition after the Netherlands started it in 2005/06.
As of this current campaign, 18 other countries adopt a split league in their top tier. Greece is the only other one where sides split into three groups after the regular season, playing double round robins before and after the split. But, the Belgians were the ones to truly kickstart the change of domestic league formats..
Follow the Jupiler Pro League on Flashscore.
Malta
To European football fans, Malta's domestic league format, currently in its second season, is quite bizarre. Ask a Latin American, and they are already quite used to this set-up.
The Maltese Premier League stands out from the rest as their season is split into two: an Opening Round and a Closing Round. Both sections contain an identical format. First, the 12 clubs face each other once before the league splits into a top and bottom half, just like Scotland. Then, the six teams - within their groups - take each other on once more.
This occurs twice, totalling 32 games. That is fairly straightforward to understand. What can become challenging is determining the champion, the European places, and relegation.
For the league champion, there are three scenarios. If one team finishes top of both periods, they are the winner. No problem there. If two teams take the top two spots, but in alternate spots (first place then second and vice versa), they meet each other in a one-off final to determine the winner.
Things become even crazier if more than two teams manage a top-two finish in either period. If three different teams do so -providing that one side finishes first in one round and second in the other - all three of those clubs, as well as the better third-place finisher as per the overall table (if applicable), partake in a four-team playoff.
In a similar vein, if four different teams take the top two places, which happened last term, then the quartet compete in a four-team playoff tournament. The overall standings from the 32 games are used to rank the four clubs and determine the semi-finals. This happened in 2024/25, when Hamrun Spartans claimed the title.
A European play-in match could also occur, depending on whether there is a title playoff, or if two different teams finished third, or even fourth.
Relegation is slightly easier to remember. Two teams go down at season's end, and if any side finishes in the bottom two of both tournaments, they are relegated. If four different clubs take the bottom two places, then there is a relegation playoff, with overall standings determining the match-ups.
It goes without saying that Malta wins the award for the most complicated league format, at least when deciding the crucial spots.