I don't know the actual thought process that went behind that decision but it appears to be a measure to ensure parity which is why the NFL has reverse-order drafts(though some of the original reasons are a bit outdated), salary caps, and scheduling division winners vs in-conference division winners(other than divisions they're group scheduled with). Runner ups vs runner ups. Bottom feeders vs bottom feeders.

Which is something the European soccer leagues don't care too much about where you see the same teams win and huge differences in talent, thanks to relegation. League prefers teams pull themselves up with their own bootstraps.

Kind of funny in countries where they have health care, safety nets, etc they have soccer leagues that resemble cutthroat capitalists while here in a cutthroat capitalist country (w/ a little more help than before) w/ sports leagues that is a little more like socialism. The one thing they do to ensure league and team viability is restrict entry which then leads to the leverage over cities/counties/states for these sweetheart deals which transfers 100s of millions from public taxpayer funds into private interests.