The European Super League Debacle

 Earlier this week, 12 teams were ready to break off from their respective leagues to join the European Super League. It wreaked havoc all over the world and social media. The idea was to get the best clubs and the best players to compete against each other. The 12 teams consisted of 6 teams from England (Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham), 3 teams from Italy (Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan) and 3 teams from Spain (Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Barcelona). These teams were the "founding clubs". JP Morgan were willing to back the league with a $5 billion investment. The overall league was planned to have 20 teams with the other 8 being selected on the basis of performance and respective league difficulty (UEFA club coefficient ranking).

The financial implications of this league would have been huge. All 12 clubs are in the top 16 of the most valuable clubs. Their combined value is about $35 billion. The founding clubs would have received about $4.2 billion to set up the infrastructure and an additional $300 million welcome bonus each. In terms of how much TV money would be earned, the estimate could be well over $10 billion per year (compared to $4 billion from English Premier League and $2.4 billion from UEFA Champions League). Why would it be significantly more? Fans. As of August 2020, 11 of the 12 founding clubs are in the top 15 of the biggest and most supported clubs. 3 other clubs were offered a spot in the league: Bayern, Dortmund, and PSG, who are also in that top 15, but they all rejected the offer. 

So why deny a star-studded league that could "potentially" have a trickle-down effect on to the rest of the football period? Well, there are several reasons. First, timing. In a time where all the clubs are struggling financially due to the pandemic, the founding clubs looked for money elsewhere. This was not received well by the fans or UEFA and FIFA authorities. What is needed is unity within the leagues. The large teams have to set the standard for the rest and help them. We have seen small clubs in small leagues forced to shut down because of money. This alleged "trickle-down effect" is pretty much non-existent and now having an exclusive league will completely suck out the money from other leagues. What's the point of having a league if the top teams are not really involved? If the quality of football played drops in those leagues, fans will refuse to watch those games. Besides, most of the fans are going to watch their teams in the Super League. No viewership means less money from broadcast rights, sponsors, shirt sales and so on. Players will only want to play in the Super League because that's where the money will be.

The second, and in my opinion the more important, reason is the destruction of the spirit of the game. It does not sound like a big deal to some people that the 12 founding clubs cannot get relegated from the league and get to keep their place in the league regardless of their performances. What is the point of playing if there are no risks involved? If I am Manchester United, I wouldn't care if I win or not, I'm going to make lots and lots of money. It destroys the very foundation that this sport was built on: competition, consequences. Football fans know how intense relegation battles can be, even more than the race for top 4. The gut wrenching feeling of being relegated, the elation of promotion. The need to be up to speed with tactics and being in shape, ready for anything. Every year the sport evolves because of the competition. It is never about the money. As long as you perform on the pitch and show that passion for the badge, the fans will recognize it and the money will come. A wise man once told me, follow money, you'll be chasing it forever but follow passion and money will run after you. 

So, who's to blame for all this? From the reports, we know that it was the owners and executives who were behind this. The intention was to make a ton of money. That's pretty much clear. What's more interesting are the clubs who rejected the offer: Bayern and Dortmund. Why? The 50+1 ownership rule. In the German League (Bundesliga), the law is the club must retain 50%+1 ownership so they can make their decisions. They remain non-profit organizations. They represent the soul of the club, the very soul that the fans fall in love with. They rejected it because they recognized what was behind the offer because they embody the spirit of football, unlike external (mostly American) owners who are looking to profit off the clubs. To the external owners, trophies are not the goal, it's money. But those who know, live and breathe football know that it's the trophies, the performances, the quality on the pitch, that leads to a perpetual legacy which in turn leads to money. External owners exploited the existing legacies of big clubs like Manchester United for profit rather than trying to prolong that legacy.

Business has its place in football but it's not money that makes the sport run, it's the football. Ruin football and you will ruin the money. Simple as that. The fans, pundits, players, coaches, all of them knew that. Fans protested, UEFA and FIFA threatened with banning players from their competition if they joined the Super League. That is why a project that took 3 years in the making collapsed within 3 days. Never have we witnessed such a feat where bitter rival fans joined hand in hand to fight for their sport. It was poetic. 

So, what's next? These owners have broken the trust of everyone else. Fans are still angry. Protests are still happening to oust their owners and bring in people who actually care about the club. Rumours are already circulating that an owner is looking to sell. Are we going to see teams take a similar approach that the Bundesliga did with the 50+1 rule, or will there be a new innovation on how the ownership structure should work? We will see in the coming months. Changes are coming and they are coming fast. A nerve has been struck and there is another storm brewing.

On another note, we have just witnessed what can happen when fans unite with passion for a cause. This same passion and unity have been witnessed in the Black Lives Matter movement. We know that racism is very prevalent in football. My hope is that the same passion and unity can be directed towards this cause. Many players have already asked that question. Why not have the same energy towards a bigger issue like racism? The football fans of the world are a sleeping giant. There is a reason why Cristiano Ronaldo is the most followed person on Instagram. The football platform can be used to effectively to create positive change in the world.