Recently, a group of European football clubs, 12 in number, made a major announcement. These 12 football clubs have decided to establish the European Super League, a new midweek competition. They would be governed by “Founding Clubs.”
According to the announcement, the clubs have proposed to form their own competition with the aim to rival UEFA Championships League.
The announcement has kicked off a major controversy and power struggle that has threatened the economic balance of European football. The league’s 12 founding teams counted amongst the richest in the world owned by the billionaires, and the biggest Wall Street banks are pitted against nearly everyone else.
Participating Clubs
The participating clubs include the Premier League’s big-six clubs. These are Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Manchester United. The clubs that have joined as the ‘Founding Clubs’ include Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur. The others are Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, and AC Milan.
Three more clubs are likely to join ahead of the inaugural season. The clubs that are not included are French champions Paris Saint-Germain, apart from German giants Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.
What do the Critics Say?
The idea of the European Super League has failed to enthrall the fan groups. Even the UK government and experts have condemned the idea. According to the critics, the emergence of the European Super League would guarantee the ‘founding clubs’ a place in the league in every season. In other words, the pursuit of financial gain and self-interest would sacrifice the spirit of competition.
Why the Decision Now?
According to the clubs, the Super Leagues comes about at a time when the global pandemic has enhanced the instability in the current economic model of European football. The Founding Clubs have been trying to improve the quality of European competitions for several years. Their goal has been to create a format where top players and clubs may compete regularly.
The pandemic is a pointer to the need for a sustainable commercial approach and strategic vision for the European football pyramid.
The Money Factor
According to Kaveh Solhekol, Sky Sports News reported the sole reason for the European Super League to have come into existence is money. Covid-19, the global pandemic has hit the finances of the biggest clubs across Europe. The European Super League promises to lift even the poorly performing clubs with meager finances. For instance, a club like Man Utd, playing the Champions League, according to Kaveh Solhekol, barely makes £40m to £80m when they win on a good year. This new competition will transform their fortune if they play. They would get a check of £250m-£300m, to begin with. Their future would be further secured with three times more money per season in comparison to the Champions League. In addition, they can look forward to garnering £200m-£250m in TV rights.
Fuelled by Greed
According to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) President Aleksander Čeferin, the breakaway clubs are driven by nothing except greed.
The founding clubs as ESL members will have a structure like the National Football League, or Major League Baseball with eye-popping funds from merchandising and media rights.
However, this format runs counter to the European tradition of football rooted in neighborhoods of the industrial working class. Here the sporting talents alone decide the tide in fortune. In other words, the poorest clubs can rise to the top based on their sporting performance. The richest clubs, on the other hand, could never hope to salvage their reputation on the strength of money, if they lost.
Damage to the Champions League
The founding clubs have been accused of insulating themselves off from competition to conveniently orchestrate a massive cash grab. An unfortunate consequence of this would be the harm caused to smaller competitors. It may potentially destroy the Champions League, which attracts the top competitors from across Europe.
Club Owners
If we look at the background of the club owners, the real reason behind the emergence of the Super League – money – becomes evident. They are all billionaires driven by the predominant greed factor.
At the helm of Liverpool is the Fenway Sports Group held by American billionaire John Henry, who owns the Boston Red Sox. Stan Kroenke is another American billionaire. He holds franchises including the Denver Nuggets and the LA Rams.
There are other billionaires like Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch, and the Emirati royal Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed. Abramovich owns Chelsea, while Mansour bin Zayed is the owner of Manchester City.
Chinese investors hold inter Milan. Elliott Management, owned by the US billionaire Paul Singer is the driving force behind AC Milan. The well-known Agnelli family that made money from several ventures, including carmaker Fiat, have been the long-time owners of Juventus.
Manchester United is owned by the Glazer family. This family also owns Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The clubs that are absent from the ESL include Bayern Munich and the teams in Germany and France. In Germany, commercial investors are forbidden by law from controlling more than 49% of the major clubs. President Emmanuel Macron of France is clearly against the new league.
It is not known if the League can survive the opposition and the backlash. The protesting fans outside the stadium continue to demonstrate their resistance holding a banner that reads, “Created by the poor, stolen by the rich”. If they survive the opposition, the founding clubs will make several hundred million dollars every season selling off their broadcasting rights. While Disney and Facebook are likely bidders, the other powerful media houses have distanced themselves from the show. The three potential contenders amongst them include BT (BTGOF) Sport, Amazon (AMZN), and Comcast (CMCSA) -owned Sky.
The media response is probably the outcome of the political outcry. Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister in a statement clarified that the British government was looking for possible options including legislative to stop the League. Since the League has powerful financial backers such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM), it is not known which way the outcome will tilt.