start blending genres
like sports and racing
picture a nba 2k and gran turismo collab. in my player you could race cars in the offseason to earn fame and money or make 2k an open world game like GTA. make my player open-world. its your decision if you want to drive to practice or show up at the game at all. Show up late, get fined. Fail a drug test, get fined. Have a dynamic weight system, show up overweight to camp, you get fined. Robbing cars and killing people will get you kicked out the league, but you can do it. In the case you get kicked out the league you can still enjoy the open world aspect but the object of the game would to be make the hall of fame, become billionaire, buy companies, become a mogul, etc.
maybe even an open-world sports game
that would be sick. one issue would be away games for all sports, but I think you could just eliminate the open-world aspect for away games otherwise youre looking at a USA sized map. Other than that yea, give the player the option of playing any profession sport/racing and make everything about it dynamic/openworld. You decide if youre pulling up to practice high/drunk , to get better there could be lifting minigames, PED's, etc. You could pull off any crime you want, but a realistic wanted system would be in place. So you COULD kill LeBron James before a game, but youd probably get life and be asked to start the game with a new character, although the old one would still exisit in the world. Of course all athletes wont be accessible to you at all times, but say the Lakers are in town..have Kobe there a day before the game staying at a open world mini hotel. Player contracts and endorsements would actually mean something. You could use the dough to buy cars, build mansions (Sims building engine), by jets, buy the best trainers, build your own gym, invest in stocks, start drug ring etc,,,money would mean something. give players a fame/buzz meter.Going to parties, event, shows, etc. helps that meter but at the same time you got to measure your player's dedication to the sport. Lot of potential. I hope we see something like this one day.