European Super League

Do you want the ESL to happen?


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  • Poll closed .

DomesticTadpole

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For now....?

If this goes ahead and works, they've already said they'll invite teams. What's to stop them inviting a few teams each year and changing the format and ending up with a league system, just a European one (with founder members obviously exempt... you've got to have some perks for being one of the Judas 12).

That could end up with leagues (The Euro All-stars and the Euro Challengers). Could have one up, one down (caveated by original ones being exempt).

Sounds awful.



The Glazers will probably do it
They will have an All Star game like the US sports. Can definitely see that.
 

Sentient Meat

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Because it's not every week. You might have a "big" game every 4-6 weeks at the moment. If it is literally every single week it will burn out, interest won't be as high, fans won't care about missing one.
This is like saying Mr. Spock is better off than Captain Kirk because he has sex every 7 years (I'm not a Trekkie, so I forget the exact time span) while Kirk gets it on the regular.
 

VorZakone

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When the dust settles we'll have some requirement at some point. Like I said previously, if for some reason Southampton go on to become one of the most successful and most viewed PL teams over the next few years, you think they won't be extended an invitation?
What makes you think this? Why would they not disclose right now that such a thing can happen from a PR perspective? So far there is 0 indication of this potentially happening.
 

crossy1686

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Jesus, if you wanted a pat on the back because Manchester United has achieved things in the past I'm sure they could have come up with some kind of lifetime achievement trophy. Competitions have value because you have to win games to get into them and you have to win games to stay in them. Life is no fun if everything just gets handed to you on a plate.
No, competitions have value because people want to win them, not because they're scared of not playing in them.
 

Mike Smalling

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Football hasn't been equal for decades, and if any of those clubs were going to become elite, they would have done so already. The CL has been going for decades, guess who keeps winning it?
Pretty sure it's not Spurs, City and Arsenal.
 

vidic blood & sand

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I envisage these types of games will become pay per view world event where regular punters are completely priced out. They'll probably take it on the road as well playing in huge stadiums around the world.
The top sides in europe are basically now saying we've grown to big for simple domestic football. We're now global brands with a global market to try and appease.
 

groovyalbert

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This is going to end up being a league comprised of us, the soon-to-be Tampa Bay Bucaneers Soccer Sledgehammers, our new Aussie partner, and Spurs isn't it.
 

cyberman

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It does happen. In the sense that clubs must qualify for the tournament to be eligible to actually enter. Today Arsenal and Tottenham have a god given right to participate every year despite league performance.

If the big money and prestige is in the Super League, it will affect the priority of the domestic league as a product. There are so many games with the suggested 10 team divisions + cup play that there won't be space for the domestic cups on top of the domestic league.

Financial disparities between the "big 12" and the leagues will be enormous.

It's not as simple as one competition replacing another.

This replaces tradition and a mode of competition through qualification that we've been used to since the inception of the game.

The truly upsetting thing is that no one asked for this. The fans didn't ask for this, and literally every official supporter group of the club has come out AGAINST this, strongly.

The driving forces behind this project are the American club owners that are introducing a American style of cup competition similar to the Stanley Cup and NBA playoffs.

Removing merit from competition ultimately renders the competition hollow.

Theatre of Dreams, just not the fan's dreams.
Thats a very localised argument to England and the competitiveness for CL places though. The vast majority of the sides involved are more or less guarenteed CL football every year due to the hold they have over their leagues.
Is it a bad thing if Bayern does leave Germany, for example? Why is their hold over German football less dangerous than this?
Im in a weird spot, I dont want to see this happen but we are in a world that has the prime minister try to circumvent PL judgment and laws by handing Newcastle over to Saudi Arabia. With City being the financial monster that it is, we are basically living the Super league dooms day scenario. Our league is only kept alive by a top 4 race unless a non oil rival can suddenly reach 100 points seasons.
 

groovyalbert

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I envisage these types of games will become pay per view world event where regular punters are completely priced out. They'll probably take it on the road as well playing in huge stadiums around the world.
The top sides in europe are basically now saying we've grown to big for simple domestic football. We're now global brands with a global market to try and appease.
This is probably behind Sky's outrage. Any rights will surely go to Amazon/something similar.
 

Nani Nana

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Of all the founding members who should hang their head in shame, MUFC and Liverpool are certainly up there. Chelsea, City, I can understand. Inter and Milan are broke. Real Madrid and Barcelona have debts piling up.

MUFC and Liverpool have the PL's worldwide exposure and plenty of improvement needed to win the Champions League.

The current framework is good enough and the Superleague brings little added value as it stands. You lose the PL's local feeling of derbies played against neghbouring clubs. You also lose the UCL's elite feeling of being there only when you beat domestic competition.
 

crossy1686

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What makes you think this? Why would they not disclose right now that such a thing can happen from a PR perspective? So far there is 0 indication of this potentially happening.
The SL is basically founded on the premise that if you have a global following then you're entitled to play in a competition that taps into global funds. The more well followed the teams are in the competition, the wider reach the interest in the competition and therefore the more successful it becomes. It wouldn't last very long if the teams in it weren't hugely popular, and that also works for teams not in it
 

roonster09

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4 of these founder clubs have won 0 CL/European cups :lol:
 

Fox outside the box

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You seem to be completely missing the point. These 15 clubs should not get to decide they're above the rest.

It is fundamentally unfair to all other clubs.
I haven't missed the point at all. Champions league and Europa League would still exist and the likes of Everton and Southampton would actually qualify for that, at least some what regularly.

Those clubs would actually get European games. You may look down on the quality but that's a seperate point.

Everton vs Dortmund
West Ham vs Roma
Southampton vs Ajax

You telling me the fans of those clubs would boycott that because they've don't qualify for a different competition? Would they not receive more TV money and gate revenue as a result? Even if its less than what the cl currently pays, it's still more than those clubs currently recieve, is it not?

They may not play in the super league, but they will actually be playing European competition, with far, far more regularity than they ever have a chance to currently.

When did Everton last play in Europe? How many European nights has Goodison seen in the last 20 years? What if Everton now play in the champions league for 3 out of the next 4 years?
 

smi11ie

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Might help German, Spanish and Italian football because their teams will get more coverage and thus the might be able to generate more income from an increased support. Can"t see how it will help the English clubs who have great global support and huge income already. The whole thing feels a bit American. I hope the ESL plans get squashed.
 

Drifter

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For now....?

If this goes ahead and works, they've already said they'll invite teams. What's to stop them inviting a few teams each year and changing the format and ending up with a league system, just a European one (with founder members obviously exempt... you've got to have some perks for being one of the Judas 12).

That could end up with leagues (The Euro All-stars and the Euro Challengers). Could have one up, one down (caveated by original ones being exempt).

Sounds awful.



The Glazers will probably do it
German clubs unlike us have fans that hold 51% stake in their clubs. This is the way it should be.
 

crossy1686

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Of all the founding members who should hang their head in shame, MUFC and Liverpool are certainly up there.

Chelsea, City, I can understand. Inter and Milan are broke. Real Madrid and Barcelona have debts piling up.
Liverpool have lost a feck tonne of money over the pandemic and United fans wanted the Saudi Royal family to take over last year so we could be state owned rich and compete. That wasn't a problem but this is?
 

Ixion

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When Inter are 10th playing Arsenal in 12th, with neither team able to be relegated, both coasting in their domestic leagues because it doesn't matter, the games will be completely meaningless. No one will flood to watch that just because its Inter Milan vs Arsenal. It will be a completely nothing affair. Games against the biggest teams usually have something important on the line, this will ensure you get a bunch of pointless games and that is how you devalue something.
 

Adam McNeill

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At the end of the day cash is king.

UEFA have diluted the champions league by being greedy fecks over the years and adding more crap teams just for more revenue.

I want to watch the elite play the elite, not watch filler games that include the dross of Lokomotiv Moscow, Olypiakos, Atlanta, Midjyland, Krasnodar, Rennes, Ferencvarosi (no offense). The champs league only gets going in the knockout stage and even then, there can be some dross left over.

This new league is exactly the elite level of teams I want to see play each other frequently, so I believe its a positive change!

Even if they broke away from the PL I would support it, I would rather watch United play any of the teams in the elite league than United vs Burnley (for example).

I know you guys have a massive passion for football in general and I understand your arguments, but for me football will be more entertaining with these changes.

As for the damage it will cause... what do you think the premier leagues formation did to the football league all those years ago... things change!

<3
 

Gio

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The difference is that while very few know that Burnley exist Inter and Milan has huge fan bases. Inter has 55m and Milan has 95m. A game between Manchester United and Milan would attract thousands of fans world wide something both clubs would benefit from. They won't be piggy banking on our popularity to attract the ££££ needed for their club to thrive/survive.

I understand and in certain ways I share your concerns/anger. However I am also trying to see the other POV as well. When I started following United, the EPL was nowhere near as being the best league in the world. However it was certainly entertaining. Smaller sides would throw caution by the wind and play attractive football to keep football entertaining. By doing so they kept their side of the bargain. Can you say the same now? All these teams care about is that extra point needed to remain in the EPL or making it in the Europa league so that they can keep on piggybanking on the money the big guns generate. So if these clubs can be allowed to be greedy then what's so tragic in us doing the same?
I'm not really buying it. Every league will have the same dynamic between the best and the rest. And the more money involved, the better the top teams will become, and the more likely the chances will be of teams playing defensive football in order to eek out points.

Let's fast forward 5 years. For argument's sake, City and Barcelona have dominated the league. Meanwhile, the likes of Arsenal and Spurs are struggling and "piggybanking on the money the big guns generate". All they care about is staying in the superleague. So what do we do then? Get rid of half the league that aren't contributing much and stinking the place out with their defensive style of play. Now we are left with 8 teams. And so on, the cycle never ends.

If we diagnose the problem here - lack of competitiveness within domestic leagues - it has actually gotten worse as the elite clubs have become richer. When you started watching the EPL in the 1990s, teams did not need 90-100 points to win the title. Teams had a go because the gap between them was not as wide. So the solution is to make that gap less wide, not make it as wide as possible through a separate superleague.
 

crossy1686

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When Inter are 10th playing Arsenal in 12th, with neither team able to be relegated, both coasting in their domestic leagues because it doesn't matter, the games will be completely meaningless. No one will flood to watch that just because its Inter Milan vs Arsenal. It will be a completely nothing affair. Games against the biggest teams usually have something important on the line, this will ensure you get a bunch of pointless games and that is how you devalue something.
What's the basis for this happening? Because you want it to be true? Why would the players and manager not want to win the league anymore? Why doesn't this happen when teams qualify for the CL now? Where is this complete reduction of ambition coming from?
 

Nani Nana

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Liverpool have lost a feck tonne of money over the pandemic and United fans wanted the Saudi Royal family to take over last year so we could be state owned rich and compete. That wasn't a problem but this is?
Every single club lost money during the pandemic. The Superleague is twelve clubs taking money off the other clubs.
 

LARulz

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Will this go every single week or be similar to the CL and have a gap in between?
 

Sentient Meat

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When Inter are 10th playing Arsenal in 12th, with neither team able to be relegated, both coasting in their domestic leagues because it doesn't matter, the games will be completely meaningless. No one will flood to watch that just because its Inter Milan vs Arsenal. It will be a completely nothing affair. Games against the biggest teams usually have something important on the line, this will ensure you get a bunch of pointless games and that is how you devalue something.
When is the last time any of the so called big teams in any of the leagues actually faced relegation? They all have too much money to fail... I don't get this argument at all because Real, Barca, ManUtd, City, Arsenal haven't been close to relegation anyway.
 

Rightnr

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Who cares? Everything is made for consumer consumption these days, not sure why you're so anti American all of a sudden. If the model works then what does it matter?

The reason people are getting upset by this is getting wilder by the second
First, the model doesn't work for football.

Second , who cares? I and other fans of this club built on a tradition of competitive merit over 100 years. Maybe you need a history lesson about the origins of Manchester United.
 

Mickeza

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Isn't that part of the problem. It is about fans round the world and feck the local fans who have been the base most of these clubs were built on.
Possibly. But not if it’s just a CL replacement which is all it’s been designed to be. Ultimately the PL now has 6 super rich clubs that can compete for the title - it should improve the product not diminish it. People will say they can just take West Ham’s players etc - but that’s been the case for the last 20 years. The media also seemed to have no issue with City being bankrolled by a state and hoovering talent.

I want two things:
1) The huge amounts of money to filter down the domestic football pyramid - 1bn of that infrastructure money split 6 ways would be a good starting Point.

2) A clear way for other clubs to get into the competition. CL winners get 2 years entry or something. Highest placed in domestic leagues have a playoff. A second tier and relegation would also be good but that won’t happen for a few years - these 12 have taken a massive risk so want them guaranteed money first.
 

cyberman

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Are they feck.


I dont see what this is supposed to prove. Go though the seasons of these dates and the vast majority of founding whatever the feck would all be in CL. Nobody has said all of them qualify every year.
 

VorZakone

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I haven't missed the point at all. Champions league and Europa League would still exist and the likes of Everton and Southampton would actually qualify for that, at least some what regularly.

Those clubs would actually get European games. You may look down on the quality but that's a seperate point.

Everton vs Dortmund
West Ham vs Roma
Southampton vs Ajax

You telling me the fans of those clubs would boycott that because they've don't qualify for a different competition? Would they not receive more TV money and gate revenue as a result? Even if its less than what the cl currently pays, it's still more than those clubs currently recieve, is it not?

They may not play in the super league, but they will actually be playing European competition, with far, far more regularity than they ever have a chance to currently.

When did Everton last play in Europe? How many European nights has Goodison seen in the last 20 years? What if Everton now play in the champions league for 3 out of the next 4 years?
Again you are missing the point. The arbitraryness of it all, deciding that these 15 clubs deserve to be in an exclusive group of clubs who get the most money and automatically qualify is scandalous.

These 15 clubs could theoretically not even be the big boys in 50 years but they have completely secured their growth and financial power by establishing this Super League, taking merit out of the future equation.
 

Ixion

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When is the last time any of the so called big teams in any of the leagues actually faced relegation? They all have too much money to fail... I don't get this argument at all because Real, Barca, ManUtd, City, Arsenal haven't been close to relegation anyway.
Not relegation from their home leagues, relegation from this competition. Without it all integrity is lost. How can Spurs be protected from "Superleague" relegation while Leicester routinely finish above them in the PL and win more trophies than them. Spurs should absolutely face possible relegation from this new competition based on their performances, not their wealth. This is designed so they stay wealthy at the expense of clubs performing better than them.
 

RobinLFC

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I dont see what this is supposed to prove. Go though the seasons of these dates and the vast majority of founding whatever the feck would all be in CL. Nobody has said all of them qualify every year.
Tottenham, Arsenal, even Chelsea, Liverpool before Klopp came around, Utd since Fergie left, City before their oil money, Milan, Inter - that's the "vast majority" that actually hasn't been more or less guaranteed entry into the CL in the last two decades.

The teams involved in this ESL thing are not in there on merit but on financial power, that's all there is to it.
 

gorky_utd

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I envisage these types of games will become pay per view world event where regular punters are completely priced out. They'll probably take it on the road as well playing in huge stadiums around the world.
The top sides in europe are basically now saying we've grown to big for simple domestic football. We're now global brands with a global market to try and appease.
Both are true. I am from India and I can easily tell you there are huge number of fans across multiple cities here. Similar for other clubs like pool and arsenal. No wonder the American owners want to maximize their profit across the globe. I will not be shocked if they decide to play their finals in the usa or china in a different time zone just for huge revenue. There will be no shortage of viewers as 'supporting' an European team is more like a fashion now a days. The games will become very costly to watch no doubt for someone like me.