School for many i feel may play a role, from his chart seems activity spikes during that time.
I think part of it might be the auto retirement, i realize it keeps things fresh and teams on there toes, but to me its a huge turn off for my activity. GM has returned that spark, but media can be hard for me to do. And for many working on 450 articles for 6 TPE a week, just for your player to retire 8 seasons(about a year real life) is a hard pill to swallow for many.
Ive been trying though to kinda see if i can create something to spark the league abit. Some fun articles, and stuff to get things going. Seems serious debate still can draw people in