The Super League

[CosbehFox]

21 minutes ago, DJ Barry Hammond said:

That’s fairly equitable compared to each team arranging individual TV deals and is a vast difference to the money distribution in La Liga.

Okay maybe it is. Maybe I’m misguided in thinking that clubs getting selected more due to their relative size and therefore more of a slice is poor  - but I honestly don’t think having clubs in charge of policing competition is a good thing. 
 

Yeah I can’t deny the PL works as an organisation to get its money worth but I think it’s caused far more damage to the wider football pyramid within England. 

[Gamble92]

Just now, Wymsey said:

It's going to be created, isn't it.

They want it that much, but the protest against it was unlike anything we have seen. So much so that the shift in public opinion would need to be huge. 

 

It makes you wonder if they'll turn to politics and try and out anyone they can from the likes of UEFA to try and shift that opinion. 

[tinpot_fox]

4 hours ago, AKCJ said:

The Premier League is probably the second best run sporting competition in the world after the NFL in terms of viewership, funds, sponsorships, fan engagement and prestige.

 

Every young footballer in the world wants to play in the Premier League. I would say it's disingenuous to say that the Premier League is a concept that doesn't work.

 

Premier League is actually funded quite evenly and fairly.

*college football

 

😉

[Vlad the Fox]

59 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

It long ago stopped being about the football itself, tourists follow brands, not style, results or tables. 

Possibly true, and there will be those within the big clubs that believe they should have the lions share because they have the biggest viewing figures. However first and foremost it is a sport, strip everything else away it is 22 men competing on the field, it is the duty of the governing bodies to strip away all the bullshit that surrounds the game and remember it’s core and keep the integrity of sport in check. Will they, probably not as they have been bullied and pushed to relent in the past. 
 

However it is possible that this will add strength to the ruling bodies and there is evidence with clubs pulling out that there is people within these clubs that do believe in sporting integrity, how far that goes though is debatable. 
 

Listening to sky sports it’s good to see that the government does have some power in stopping this too.

[DJ Barry Hammond]

1 hour ago, Wymsey said:

It's going to be created, isn't it.

 

Not how they’ve presented it, no.

 

There’s obvious balancing issues and areas that need completely fleshing out.

 

For example, in their explainer they state the top teams from each group of the league stages gain promotion to the above tier… but that begs the question, what is the knockout stage for? 
 

Equally the suggestion is for 20(!) relegation spots from the lower tier, alongside 20 promotions from domestic leagues.

 

However, they’ve given absolutely no idea on how that would work and it is a clear problem. 

 

To expand, how can you promote and relegate teams to a national domestic league into a combined nationality league?

 

You can’t guarantee that the 20 bottom teams of the Blue League would be one from each nation that you’re promoting from, so how does the competition decide who stays, who goes and who joins in that instance? 
 

Additionally, there are more than 20 nations represented across UEFA at the moment - suggesting some domestic leagues could be left with no route to qualification whatsoever.

Edited 21 December 2023 by DJ Barry Hammond

[AKCJ]

1 hour ago, CosbehFox said:

Dunno a £50million advantage over everyone else is handy isn’t it?

Who has a 50m advantage over everyone else? 

 

The chart you've posted shows the most supported team in England earning 6m more than West Ham

[CosbehFox]

2 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Who has a 50m advantage over everyone else? 

 

The chart you've posted shows the most supported team in England earning 6m more than West Ham

Man City given £150m and the lowest club given £100m

[Grebfromgrebland]

Like it or not this will happen and I imagine will be funded by oil states eventually with more money than is imaginable. Wouldn't be a massive leap for this to become a world super league with Saudi teams being the best. 

[bmt]

3 hours ago, Wymsey said:

It's going to be created, isn't it.

I don't think so. No way Man City go for this. 

[bmt]

Also are we convinced that people follow players to the detriment of teams?

[ClaphamFox]

The UK government will prevent any English clubs taking part, according to the Times. Because of Brexit, the UK is not bound by the European Court of Justice’s ruling.

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/5430026e-bbf4-496b-8e17-b47351d37318?shareToken=a5965c110139b94f5ba1715b84e12136

[Mushtaq]

It seems to me that people claiming that “fans” will support it don’t know what being a fan involves.  At best they’re talking about the casual fan and TV viewer.  But they’re not the ones with the power to paralyse clubs who get involved in this.

[Dahnsouff]

8 hours ago, Vlad the Fox said:

Possibly true, and there will be those within the big clubs that believe they should have the lions share because they have the biggest viewing figures. However first and foremost it is a sport, strip everything else away it is 22 men competing on the field, it is the duty of the governing bodies to strip away all the bullshit that surrounds the game and remember it’s core and keep the integrity of sport in check. Will they, probably not as they have been bullied and pushed to relent in the past. 
 

However it is possible that this will add strength to the ruling bodies and there is evidence with clubs pulling out that there is people within these clubs that do believe in sporting integrity, how far that goes though is debatable. 
 

Listening to sky sports it’s good to see that the government does have some power in stopping this too.

Yes, this may well be the watershed moment, where finally money is not the deciding factor. It would be fabulous to see the footballing world, backed by Governments, state a position of such finality that the repercussions of trying to continue this greedy crusade would become self defeating. 

[tinpot_fox]

20 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Yes, this may well be the watershed moment, where finally money is not the deciding factor. It would be fabulous to see the footballing world, backed by Governments, state a position of such finality that the repercussions of trying to continue this greedy crusade would become self defeating. 

Government may see the potential for (tax) money being taken away from them somehow, if so it’s unlikely to happen for English clubs. They might let Celtic and Rangers go though 😉

[ClaphamFox]

4 hours ago, Mushtaq said:

It seems to me that people claiming that “fans” will support it don’t know what being a fan involves.  At best they’re talking about the casual fan and TV viewer.  But they’re not the ones with the power to paralyse clubs who get involved in this.

They are definitely focused on the commercial opportunities with the global ‘fans’ of the big clubs who watch on TV - the real fans who actually attend games are a minor consideration. To me that seems a perilous path to take - clubs are nothing without the fans who actually show up. But the owners of many of these clubs don’t seem to get that. 

[fuchsntf]

I haven’t got long,but..

If this superleague is created,

then teams leave their own nations traditional competitions.

 

I turn the lights out on football…

 

What some power people don’t understand..The basic ground root format..

There is nothing wrong.   
Nothing wrong in modernisation,but going down to your own local ground,and building that relationship,no matter then where one goes can’t and will never be replaced…TV-tourists,plastic Asian/African imitations,nothking wrong,

S.Americans,Europeans went ot to these countries and spread The traditional game.

Those youngsters and children’s aspiration,were pulled along when then first villagers,had a chance to watch profi football from afar on shared TVs

Asians preferred to stay by their love for the European/S.American football teams and chose then built their alliance. Sat.tv/ reading new football themed magazines local /TV broadcasting week old games,then going out to play, in, poorer settings,schools,colleges gave that outlet that brought people together…

If these greedy incompetent,soulless ppeople want to grab hold of the main essence of the game,then whore our traditional (top) out, away from their natural

traditional regions,then not for me thank you.

 

 

[sishades]

There are only two things that would make me turn my back on LCFC. The first is if they are taken over by a despotic regime like Saudi  and the second is if they joined (unlikely I know) the Super League. The club is the heartbeat of our city, not some faceless money men who's only interest is stuffing their already full pockets with even more cash. I love my club but I am unable to see them live due to ticketing difficulties and this would be the final nail in the coffin for me.

[urban.spaceman]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/12/17/new-european-super-league-launched-unity/

 

European Super League re-launched as the ‘Unify League’

Sam Wallace17 December 2024 12:03pm GMT

 

Florentino Perez remains closely bound to the project Credit: AP Photo/Manu Fernandez

The European Super League is back, rebranded as the “Unify League”, and ready to challenge Uefa’s Champions League pre-eminence with a claim that it will be free to watch.

The new proposal, which follows on from the original bombshell Super League proposals in April 2021, have scrapped the notion that certain clubs qualify automatically every year. Instead there is a proposed annual qualification for all four leagues within the Unify League by the organisers behind it, A22 Sports. A22 is the Madrid-based company established to advise the original European Super League with close links to Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez.

The competition would be streamed via a branded “Unified” platform, via an app, with a similar model to Netflix. Subscribers could watch the games free with a relatively high level of advertising content, or pay for a subscription that would eliminate the advertising in much the way that the music streamer Spotify operates.

The European Super league company and A22 will now ask Uefa for permission to operate the competition. A22 believes Uefa is obliged to do so under the Dec 2023 ruling from the European courts.

The proposal is for 96 clubs to compete – fewer than the 108 that qualify for the group stages of Uefa’s three competitions including the Champions League. The Unify League champions would eventually come from the top two tiers, the Star League and Gold League. Both would feature 16 teams divided in both cases into two groups of eight. Those eight would play each home and away – 14 group stages fixtures. The top two clubs from each of the four groups would go through to a final eight.

The final stages would begin with two-legged quarter-final followed by single game semi-finals played at a neutral venue in the same week as the eventual final. That would mean 18 games in all for the winner. The Blue and Union leagues would play a similar knockout format.

The original breakaway involved 12 clubs, including six from the Premier League. The current version only has the explicit support of Real and Barcelona

John Hahn, co-founder of A22, said: “We have listened intently to a broad group of clubs, leagues and fans and with these changes believe we have a lot of support. We are not expecting the public support of clubs at this time, logically that will come following the official recognition of the Unify League.” He added that the subscription would be “meaningfully cheaper than it is [to consumers] today”.

[teblin]

Persoanlly think this is how Man City get around all the charges etc...

 

New league where none of that matters, it'll happen in the end whether it right or wrong.

[Scotch]

13 minutes ago, teblin said:

Persoanlly think this is how Man City get around all the charges etc...

 

New league where none of that matters, it'll happen in the end whether it right or wrong.

That doesn't make any sense though. The super league was never suggested to take over from their league place. It would run alongside it, in place of the Champions league. The would still be in the PL so still subject to its rules. 

[sylofox]

4 minutes ago, Scotch said:

That doesn't make any sense though. The super league was never suggested to take over from their league place. It would run alongside it, in place of the Champions league. The would still be in the PL so still subject to its rules. 

It will never work and the prem and other leagues can make sure it don't along side sky.

 

If the league is not recognised they play Monday night on sky and Saturday in the league. No fixtures allowed to be moved to Sunday for a breakaway league that will impact on our own league.

 

Uefa and all other leagues stick to it. No dispensation given for league and FA cup. If you don't play in them you can't be in the prem.

 

Go have your super league and fvck off.

 

Like the last time the fans won't want it either.

[Scotch]

29 minutes ago, sylofox said:

It will never work and the prem and other leagues can make sure it don't along side sky.

 

If the league is not recognised they play Monday night on sky and Saturday in the league. No fixtures allowed to be moved to Sunday for a breakaway league that will impact on our own league.

 

Uefa and all other leagues stick to it. No dispensation given for league and FA cup. If you don't play in them you can't be in the prem.

 

Go have your super league and fvck off.

 

Like the last time the fans won't want it either.

What's to stop them buying an entire squad to play in this breakaway league? If there are enough fixtures and money in it then they could register 2 separate squads and play back to back nights if they want to...

 

I'm not sure if it'll happen but if it doesn't, it won't be because of the FA, it'll be because of the fans. 

[Chrysalis]

On 21/12/2023 at 23:44, Grebfromgrebland said:

Like it or not this will happen and I imagine will be funded by oil states eventually with more money than is imaginable. Wouldn't be a massive leap for this to become a world super league with Saudi teams being the best. 

The main motivations seems to be from the American owners, and Spanish clubs.

[Dahnsouff]

19 minutes ago, Scotch said:

What's to stop them buying an entire squad to play in this breakaway league? If there are enough fixtures and money in it then they could register 2 separate squads and play back to back nights if they want to...

 

I'm not sure if it'll happen but if it doesn't, it won't be because of the FA, it'll be because of the fans. 

Start with u21’s (good ones) and squad players, and transition over time to more and more seniors as the new Uber competition grows, slow moving the u21s to the EPL as it becomes the competition with less money prestige.

[Saxondale]

Perez is a nut job. It doesn’t matter what the courts say. His project is dead.

 

If something similar recurs in the future, then they can all naff off to Saudi. I don’t care anymore.