Soccer Can Someone Explain This Euro SuperLeague Bruhaha?

Empirical Cane

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I have zero knowledge of the inter-team/inter-league structures of Euro soccer.

Apparently this Super League announcement has caused several to self-immolate.

Can someone explain?

As I read it, and multi-national Euro league of super teams has formed and that threatens the established national and champions league structures?

Governing bodies are threatening to exclude those players from national side contests?
 
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I only know a little bit about European soccer cuz my son is an ****nal fan. I support the new league proposal because it upsets the Apple cart, undermining the corrupt UEFA monopoly on professional soccer. Some thoughts:

* the proposal threatens the nation-based league structure of today. The best league is in England followed by Spain, France, Italy and Germany. The new proposal cherry picks the best teams from England, Spain and Italy robbing those nations of their “star” teams. The new league is going after the best teams in France and Germany as well.

* this factor has caused PM Johnson of the UK and President Macron of France to go nuts. Their top leagues are threatended.

*UEFA, the worldwide soccer authority, is directly attacked. This group runs the World Cup and Champions league. UEFA is furious. Who cares? They are corrupt in their selection of World Cup venues. To retaliate, UEFA has threatened to ban players from this new league from representing their nations every 4 years.

* worldwide fans would prosper under the proposal. They’d see the best teams play each other every week rather than have to wait for the Champions League.

* teams in the new league would make tons of new revenue. Remining teams would lose $ as would UEFA. Follow the Money!
 
By no means an expert, but yes, as you said basically the top dozen or so teams from the top European leagues are breaking away from UEFA to form a super league. It's long been talked about but revenue pressures from COVID have pushed the top teams into making it a reality. Right now, in addition to their respective domestic leagues, the top Euro teams compete against each other in the UEFA Champions League, with the lower Europa League for teams who don't qualify for the Champions. Crucially, this new league would feature a permanent collection of teams that would not be subject to qualification or relegation. As it stands now, teams have to qualify for the Champions League. From a revenue perspective, the largest teams want something more predictable and less risky than the current arrangement in which they can be upset, eliminated early on points, or fail to qualify outright, which can be a huge $$$ hit. With all the biggest brands in Euro football in their own league, they'll be able to have a more predictable revenue stream and instantly become one of the most valuable TV contracts out there.

So who loses out? The UEFA, Europe's governing body of football, who operates the current Champions/Europa league tournaments. This new league isn't intended to conflict with teams' respective national leagues (English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, etc), but does directly compete with the UEFA's CL/EL. They are ****ed that they'll be losing the best teams, and thus lots of money, for their tournament. All the teams not invited to the league are also ****ed, because it's closed (save for a 5 team rotating play-in) and would chiefly benefit the permanent members. And I suppose fans of The Magic of Sports are mad, because the league reduces the possibility of fun Cinderella stories where an afterthought David topples one of Europe's Goliaths in a super high-stakes contest (though I'd imagine many more fans are happy they don't have to wait till the Champions League to watch Europe's best square off). So the UEFA, with FIFA's backing, is trying to threaten all the teams involved in the proposed league with a variety of sanctions including expulsion and potentially barring players from representing their national teams.

Unclear how it will all shake out but what is certain is the amount of money at stake guarantees it's going to be a very acrimonious fight.
 
If you like "tradition" the super league isn't for you. Fans and ex-players are in an uproar over this and are blaming it on greedy owners just wanting more money. Liverpool very harsh on FSG and ManU no fan of the Glazers.

Part of it was the structure and to get more money they were going to add even more games to the Champions League. Bayern and PSG did not sign on but truth be told they are guaranteed champions league spots every year because they are such top heavy leagues. In fact, when they play against teams from England they will rest their starters during league games because they are already 50 points up in their league.

Chelsea, ManU, ManCity, Liverpool, ****nal, and the Hotspurs would still play in their league but not have to worry about being top 4 and qualifying for the Champions League. In their defense, top 6 or so in England is similar to being top 2 in the Bundesliga or like only PSG in France, but those leagues still got 4 spots.

There has been talk of this for years but last time they backed out because of the uproar...Not sure they will back out this time and it is due to UEFA and how they divvy things up I believe. A lot of the lower level teams ****ed off the money makers too because they have an equal say in things just before being relegated.

I too am not exactly sure of the financials but they are being guaranteed billions. Guaranteed.
 
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If you like "tradition" the super league isn't for you. Fans and ex-players are in an uproar over this and are blaming it on greedy owners just wanting more money. Liverpool very harsh on FSG and ManU no fan of the Glazers.

Part of it was the structure and to get more money they were going to add even more games to the Champions League. Bayern and PSG did not sign on but truth be told they are guaranteed champions league spots every year because they are such top heavy leagues. In fact, when they play against teams from England they will rest their starters during league games because they are already 50 points up in their league.

Chelsea, ManU, ManCity, Liverpool, ****nal, and the Hotspurs would still play in their league but not have to worry about being top 4 and qualifying for the Champions League. In their defense, top 6 or so in England is similar to being top 2 in the Bundesliga or like only PSG in France, but those leagues still got 4 spots.

There has been talk of this for years but last time they backed out because of the uproar...Not sure they will back out this time and it is due to UEFA and how they divvy things up I believe. A lot of the lower level teams ****ed off the money makers too because they have an equal say in things just before being relegated.

I too am not exactly sure of the financials but they are being guaranteed billions. Guaranteed.
There is a $300m payment to each club just for joining if/when finalized. I'm not a huge fan of this, but that's the type of money you simply cannot turn down.
 
There is a $300m payment to each club just for joining if/when finalized. I'm not a huge fan of this, but that's the type of money you simply cannot turn down.
From LFC website:

Competition Format

  • 20 participating clubs with 15 Founding Clubs and a qualifying mechanism for a further five teams to qualify annually based on achievements in the prior season.
  • Midweek fixtures with all participating clubs continuing to compete in their respective national leagues, preserving the traditional domestic match calendar which remains at the heart of the club game.
  • An August start with clubs participating in two groups of ten, playing home and away fixtures, with the top three in each group automatically qualifying for the quarter finals. Teams finishing fourth and fifth will then compete in a two-legged play-off for the remaining quarter-final positions. A two-leg knockout format will be used to reach the final at the end of May, which will be staged as a single fixture at a neutral venue.
As soon as practicable after the start of the men’s competition, a corresponding women’s league will also be launched, helping to advance and develop the women’s game.

The new annual tournament will provide significantly greater economic growth and support for European football via a long-term commitment to uncapped solidarity payments which will grow in line with league revenues. These solidarity payments will be substantially higher than those generated by the current European competition and are expected to be in excess of €10 billion during the course of the initial commitment period of the Clubs. In addition, the competition will be built on a sustainable financial foundation with all Founding Clubs signing up to a spending framework. In exchange for their commitment, Founding Clubs will receive an amount of €3.5 billion solely to support their infrastructure investment plans and to offset the impact of the COVID pandemic.

Florentino Pérez, President Real Madrid CF and the first Chairman of the Super League said:

“We will help football at every level and take it to its rightful place in the world. Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires.”

Backing the new European league, Andrea Agnelli, Chairman of Juventus and Vice-Chairman of the Super League said:

“Our 12 Founder clubs represent billions of fans across the globe and 99 European trophies. We have come together at this critical moment, enabling European competition to be transformed, putting the game we love on a sustainable footing for the long-term future, substantially increasing solidarity, and giving fans and amateur players a regular flow of headline fixtures that will feed their passion for the game while providing them with engaging role models.”

Joel Glazer, Co-Chairman of Manchester United and Vice-Chairman of the Super League said:
 
It would be like if Clemson, Bama, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Notre Dame decided that it wasn't enough to be in the playoff every year and split the revenue with their conferences...instead they are going to make it so that they are the only ones in the playoff, they make it every year, and they keep all the money.

Oh, and they also expected that the conferences would be super pumped to continue playing the regular season as is because of some weird, trickle down economics nonsense about a rising tide raising all boats.
 
It would be like if Clemson, Bama, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Notre Dame decided that it wasn't enough to be in the playoff every year and split the revenue with their conferences...instead they are going to make it so that they are the only ones in the playoff, they make it every year, and they keep all the money.

Oh, and they also expected that the conferences would be super pumped to continue playing the regular season as is because of some weird, trickle down economics nonsense about a rising tide raising all boats.
ABSOLUTLY AGREE, not to mention all the top recruits would go to those elite schools, creating an even more imbalance in talent. Sort of similar
to the wealthy top 5%, they continue to get richer as they accumulate more and more of available assets, with less and less going to the other 95%.
 
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By no means an expert, but yes, as you said basically the top dozen or so teams from the top European leagues are breaking away from UEFA to form a super league. It's long been talked about but revenue pressures from COVID have pushed the top teams into making it a reality. Right now, in addition to their respective domestic leagues, the top Euro teams compete against each other in the UEFA Champions League, with the lower Europa League for teams who don't qualify for the Champions. Crucially, this new league would feature a permanent collection of teams that would not be subject to qualification or relegation. As it stands now, teams have to qualify for the Champions League. From a revenue perspective, the largest teams want something more predictable and less risky than the current arrangement in which they can be upset, eliminated early on points, or fail to qualify outright, which can be a huge $$$ hit. With all the biggest brands in Euro football in their own league, they'll be able to have a more predictable revenue stream and instantly become one of the most valuable TV contracts out there.

So who loses out? The UEFA, Europe's governing body of football, who operates the current Champions/Europa league tournaments. This new league isn't intended to conflict with teams' respective national leagues (English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, etc), but does directly compete with the UEFA's CL/EL. They are ****ed that they'll be losing the best teams, and thus lots of money, for their tournament. All the teams not invited to the league are also ****ed, because it's closed (save for a 5 team rotating play-in) and would chiefly benefit the permanent members. And I suppose fans of The Magic of Sports are mad, because the league reduces the possibility of fun Cinderella stories where an afterthought David topples one of Europe's Goliaths in a super high-stakes contest (though I'd imagine many more fans are happy they don't have to wait till the Champions League to watch Europe's best square off). So the UEFA, with FIFA's backing, is trying to threaten all the teams involved in the proposed league with a variety of sanctions including expulsion and potentially barring players from representing their national teams.

Unclear how it will all shake out but what is certain is the amount of money at stake guarantees it's going to be a very acrimonious fight.
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And it all comes tumbling down....LOLOLOLOLOLOL

What a "charlie fox" as they say
 
Cool 48 hours everyone. Particularly love what FSG did here.

- Force Klopp and the players to take the heat while they hid even though Klopp is on the record hating this type of ****
- Bottle game against Leeds that was crucial to chance of Top 4 finish
- Watch ESL crumble, thus likely losing out on Top 4 AND the ESL money
- **** off entire supporter base, risk losing Klopp to Bayern job that is now open (and never got linked to this mess)

Less than a year ago I thought we might reel off 3 or 4 trophies in a row. Now we're here.
 
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say the top 4 teams in the power 5 and AAC (in terms of success and brand power) broke away to form their own league apart from the NCAA
 
say the top 4 teams in the power 5 and AAC (in terms of success and brand power) broke away to form their own league apart from the NCAA
I don't like this league but they wouldn't be breaking away.....they would still play in their domestic leagues (if allowed given that the leagues would punish them by not allowing them). They want to play a midweek "Super league" tournament and get rid of the champions league so they don't have to share with all these teams the money. But they still want to play in their domestic leagues.

They just don't want to give a ton of the champions league revenue to UEFA who then gives some to small teams around various smaller leagues to support them. In essence killing tons of very small teams that mean alot across the world.

Now the EPL and others have said they are greedy......which is pot/kettle given that EPL was started as a 20 team breakaway to get more revenue and keep it for those teams, even if some are relegated yearly. Some of the folks crying about the beauty of fair competition and risk of losing (like Pep Guardiola) will never face relegation cause they are in big teams with big money......so they are acting like they give a ****.

Lots of greed over money on both sides. But having to on UEFA and FIFAs side of something feels dirty, or it should.
 
Not much more to it than its much needed guaranteed money to big time clubs that are getting destroyed with Covid lockdowns. Real Madrid is completely f*cked right now. Apart from the insane debt they have taken on, the cost of renovating Bernebeu could double with rising construction cost in Europe. They just announced that they will make part of the stadium a casino now to help pay for rising costs. Supposedly FC Barcelona is also in very bad shape as well and cannot pay their debts (or their players lol), one club they owe money to being Liverpool. I'm sure the Prem teams are also desperate for the money.

A big L for fans because European soccer is quite ideal as all domestic league matches have consequence because of the pressure to qualify for Champions League, Europa League, or to not get relegated. Champions League is the greatest competition in the world and Europa is the greatest consolation tourney in the world and also has great consequence as the winner automatically qualifies for Champions League.

A big L for many players as Champions League is the big dream with many, and a dream that is attainable with smaller clubs.

But just LOL at a "SuperLeague" without Bayern. And no German teams would join because all Bundesliga teams are owned 51% by the fans. PSG will also not join because the prez is an UEFA exec and a big influencer in getting the world cup in Qatar.
 
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I don't like this league but they wouldn't be breaking away.....they would still play in their domestic leagues (if allowed given that the leagues would punish them by not allowing them). They want to play a midweek "Super league" tournament and get rid of the champions league so they don't have to share with all these teams the money. But they still want to play in their domestic leagues.

They just don't want to give a ton of the champions league revenue to UEFA who then gives some to small teams around various smaller leagues to support them. In essence killing tons of very small teams that mean alot across the world.

Now the EPL and others have said they are greedy......which is pot/kettle given that EPL was started as a 20 team breakaway to get more revenue and keep it for those teams, even if some are relegated yearly. Some of the folks crying about the beauty of fair competition and risk of losing (like Pep Guardiola) will never face relegation cause they are in big teams with big money......so they are acting like they give a ****.

Lots of greed over money on both sides. But having to on UEFA and FIFAs side of something feels dirty, or it should.

well this was on the assumption that domestic leagues would ban them from competing which was their initial threat
 
well this was on the assumption that domestic leagues would ban them from competing which was their initial threat


I think he's confused and using the term "domestic leagues", when he's trying to say "national teams".
 
I think he's confused and using the term "domestic leagues", when he's trying to say "national teams".
No......the super league teams don't want to leave domestic leagues....they are being banned if they go to the super league. FIFA then wants to ban super league players from playing in world cup. Seems dead anyway now.
 
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