The European Super League Thread

[rsw626]

So we are just waiting on Bayern, Dortmund and PSG to confirm?

Not sure if Bayern and Dortmund would seeing as how the German model is that teams are basically fan owned and ran. except for Leipzig I believe, and I'm not sure the German fans would stand for it. I'm not surprised by the likes of Arsenal, Man U, City, Liverpool, Juventus etc, even AC Milan and Inter they all have greedy owners.

I am a bit surprised when it comes to Real Madrid and Barcelona, considering they are owned by their members i.e. socios, and from reading several sites neither of their fans are happy about it and can vote out Perez (Real Madrid) and Laporta (Barca) and all the people running the teams.

And call me a cynic, but I'm not fully believing UEFA or FIFA when they talk about punishing these teams etc, I have a feeling they are just playing hardball to make sure they get their substantial cut.

 

[Tharvot]

so basically this crap would replace Champions league?

More than that. These teams no longer in their domestic leagues either I believe.

It's the biggest moneygrab in the world. I totally understand it from Spurs perspective. They're trying to guarantee themselves "champions league" money every year when recently they haven't been quality enough to get there on the field.

Superleague would be mid-week, and supposedly would not interfere with domestic competitions. HOWEVER, when the domestic leagues threaten to kick out any club that participates in SL...well that's kinda interfering a lot.

 

[Tharvot]

Not sure if Bayern and Dortmund would seeing as how the German model is that teams are basically fan owned and ran. except for Leipzig I believe, and I'm not sure the German fans would stand for it. I'm not surprised by the likes of Arsenal, Man U, City, Liverpool, Juventus etc, even AC Milan and Inter they all have greedy owners.

I am a bit surprised when it comes to Real Madrid and Barcelona, considering they are owned by their members i.e. socios, and from reading several sites neither of their fans are happy about it and can vote out Perez (Real Madrid) and Laporta (Barca) and all the people running the teams.

And call me a cynic, but I'm not fully believing UEFA or FIFA when they talk about punishing these teams etc, I have a feeling they are just playing hardball to make sure they get their substantial cut.

In the end, i really think they're helpless to do much to stop it.

 

[Tharvot]

It would be like if college basketball had the top 20 teams break away from the tournament and have their own "super tournament" every year. Not quite the same thing as this is a much bigger deal but somewhat comparable.

I think the best comparable in the US is college football. If the blue bloods broke off and did their own thing with a few rotating spots for "new bloods" to step in.

 

[MrFlyingV]

It's the biggest moneygrab in the world. I totally understand it from Spurs perspective. They're trying to guarantee themselves "champions league" money every year when recently they haven't been quality enough to get there on the field.

Superleague would be mid-week, and supposedly would not interfere with domestic competitions. HOWEVER, when the domestic leagues threaten to kick out any club that participates in SL...well that's kinda interfering a lot.

Yeah guaranteed money and no need to improve club. Keep the shit product out there and finish at the bottom of the Super League. No regulation. David Luiz can play til he is 50 at Arsenal. Who cares. Kronke can use this to fund the Rams, like the Glazers and Bucs.

 

[MrFlyingV]

No fans are happy about this. Might see violence at some Premier League games e.g. Arsenal at Wes Ham if West Ham not invited.

Liverpool fans to remove flags from the Kop

Liverpool fan group Spion Kop 1906 have announced that they will remove their flags from the Kop as a protest against the European Super League.

www.espn.com

 

[MrFlyingV]

It's the biggest moneygrab in the world. I totally understand it from Spurs perspective. They're trying to guarantee themselves "champions league" money every year when recently they haven't been quality enough to get there on the field.

Superleague would be mid-week, and supposedly would not interfere with domestic competitions. HOWEVER, when the domestic leagues threaten to kick out any club that participates in SL...well that's kinda interfering a lot.

They are interferring with FA Cup and Carabao Cup and Champions and Europa Leagues. So they should be kicked out imo.

 

[Tharvot]

Yeah guaranteed money and no need to improve club. Keep the shit product out there and finish at the bottom of the Super League. No regulation. David Luiz can play til he is 50 at Arsenal. Who cares. Kronke can use this to fund the Rams, like the Glazers and Bucs.

No fans are happy about this. Might see violence at some Premier League games e.g. Arsenal at Wes Ham if West Ham not invited.

Liverpool fans to remove flags from the Kop

Liverpool fan group Spion Kop 1906 have announced that they will remove their flags from the Kop as a protest against the European Super League.

www.espn.com

I wonder if UCL will provide come concessions and expand dramatically in an effort to appease the big boys. Not sure it matters at this point. The big clubs are trying to break off so they have more monetary control and less money goes to the governing bodies.

 

[Tharvot]

They are interferring with FA Cup and Carabao Cup and Champions and Europa Leagues. So they should be kicked out imo.

I'm going to be spending much of the day trying to read up on all this craziness, so I'm super behind on all the details right now. My understanding was that SL was basically a replacement for european competitions. In theory, that doesn't impact domestic cup competitions. It does completely remove incentive for big clubs to risk their top players in those cups though.

 

[rsw626]

I wonder if UCL will provide come concessions and expand dramatically in an effort to appease the big boys. Not sure it matters at this point. The big clubs are trying to break off so they have more monetary control and less money goes to the governing bodies.

That's the crux of it, money. But here's the thing, in order for this SL thing to work and bring in money, it needs A) fans, and I haven't seen many fans in support of it, and B) TV money, they would need a TV deal like the CL, which they don't have, and I'm not sure they would get.

 

[MrFlyingV]

I wonder if UCL will provide come concessions and expand dramatically in an effort to appease the big boys. Not sure it matters at this point. The big clubs are trying to break off so they have more monetary control and less money goes to the governing bodies.

Moving to 36 clubs UCL...but Super League allows teams with money to no longer need to pursue talent. Guaranteed money. For some owners (Kronke) it means their team is just there to generate money to fund the Rams. Kronke 5.5 billion dollar stadium in LA and pay Mathew Stafford. Arsenal an irrelevant money pit.

 

[Tharvot]

That's the crux of it, money. But here's the thing, in order for this SL thing to work and bring in money, it needs A) fans, and I haven't seen many fans in support of it, and B) TV money, they would need a TV deal like the CL, which they don't have, and I'm not sure they would get.

Oh that one is a certainty. This is all about TV money. Playing midweek games just means they own the primetime TV slots, or maybe more importantly, they will own a ton of streaming subscriptions.

JPMorgan has supposedly already agreed to underwrite the operation at $6Billion.

The fans in the stadium is an issue, but if COVID has taught the owners anything its that fans in the stadium provide the atmosphere, but the money comes from eyeballs and screens. And you're spot on, this is all about the money

 

[MrFlyingV]

I'm going to be spending much of the day trying to read up on all this craziness, so I'm super behind on all the details right now. My understanding was that SL was basically a replacement for european competitions. In theory, that doesn't impact domestic cup competitions. It does completely remove incentive for big clubs to risk their top players in those cups though.

Super League is midweek games. I know English Clubs play midweek games often domestically

 

[Tharvot]

Super League is midweek games. I know English Clubs play midweek games often domestically

They do, but that's a concession around cup competitions and european competitions. With the exception of the holiday schedule, midweek games only appear in league play if the normal saturday/sunday game has been moved to a later date.

Hard for me to imagine the PL would want to help work around the schedules of the 6 clubs playing in SL. More likely, it would be a "show up or forfeit" if they are allowed to compete at all.

Further, the financial windfall for these clubs puts them at an unfair advantage to all the other clubs in Premier League. How in the world could the other teams hope to compete on even terms? The arrogance of the 12 (so far) clubs thinking they can break off and do this but still be welcomed to play in their domestic leagues is pretty astounding...unless of course those owners would prefer to leave the domestic leagues all together.

 

[rsw626]

Another thing I don't like about this is that IMO it would be boring. One of the great things about the UCL is the unknown, the surprises etc. Much like the FA Cup, Pokal etc, one of the great things is seeing the "little guys" get their shot and pulling upsets over the "big" teams. Also it's seeing matchups that don't happen often like Real Madrid/Liverpool, or Barca/Juventus etc. If they start playing each other all the time, it becomes commonplace and boring.

Personally, I like seeing teams like Porto, Ajax, Roma etc having a good run, or even winning it, instead the usual suspects.

More and more I've been turning my attention to South American Leagues. IMO even now, the Copa Libertadores is more exciting and unpredictable than the Champions League. Not to mention the atmosphere at matches in Argentina and Brazil are much better than in Europe. And on that note, Paramount+ now has the rights and will be showing the Brazilian Serie A and Argentina Super Liga starting this season (they are already showing the Argentina Copa La Liga Profesional (League Cup), and Bein Sports has the Copa Libertadores now.

 

[Tharvot]

Another thing I don't like about this is that IMO it would be boring. One of the great things about the UCL is the unknown, the surprises etc. Much like the FA Cup, Pokal etc, one of the great things is seeing the "little guys" get their shot and pulling upsets over the "big" teams. Also it's seeing matchups that don't happen often like Real Madrid/Liverpool, or Barca/Juventus etc. If they start playing each other all the time, it becomes commonplace and boring.

Personally, I like seeing teams like Porto, Ajax, Roma etc having a good run, or even winning it, instead the usual suspects.

More and more I've been turning my attention to South American Leagues. IMO even now, the Copa Libertadores is more exciting and unpredictable than the Champions League. Not to mention the atmosphere at matches in Argentina and Brazil are much better than in Europe. And on that note, Paramount+ now has the rights and will be showing the Brazilian Serie A and Argentina Super Liga starting this season (they are already showing the Argentina Copa La Liga Profesional (League Cup), and Bein Sports has the Copa Libertadores now.

The counter argument is the US sports model where all the top franchises stay in their respective leagues no matter how bad they get. The only changes in the lineup are if a team moves cities or if the league expands.

Personally, I really like the relegation model much more. There so much more to play for at the end of the season. Tanking for draft picks doesn't exist. But I guess if you are stuck in the big middle in soccer leagues there's also no real hope to play for much most years. Occasionally you might have a magical run (West Ham this season).

 

[rsw626]

And lost and overshadowed by all the Super League hoopla, Jose Mourinho was fired by Spurs.

 

[MrFlyingV]

And lost and overshadowed by all the Super League hoopla, Jose Mourinho was fired by Spurs.

Want to get their hands on Nagelsmann before Bayern.

 

[MrFlyingV]

Another thing I don't like about this is that IMO it would be boring. One of the great things about the UCL is the unknown, the surprises etc. Much like the FA Cup, Pokal etc, one of the great things is seeing the "little guys" get their shot and pulling upsets over the "big" teams. Also it's seeing matchups that don't happen often like Real Madrid/Liverpool, or Barca/Juventus etc. If they start playing each other all the time, it becomes commonplace and boring.

Personally, I like seeing teams like Porto, Ajax, Roma etc having a good run, or even winning it, instead the usual suspects.

More and more I've been turning my attention to South American Leagues. IMO even now, the Copa Libertadores is more exciting and unpredictable than the Champions League. Not to mention the atmosphere at matches in Argentina and Brazil are much better than in Europe. And on that note, Paramount+ now has the rights and will be showing the Brazilian Serie A and Argentina Super Liga starting this season (they are already showing the Argentina Copa La Liga Profesional (League Cup), and Bein Sports has the Copa Libertadores now.

It would be boring. I agree.

 

[Tharvot]

And here we have it. Really all that needs to be said on Super League (via SkySports):