Most football fans out there will be aware of the proposal to form the European Super League. The league, which has been founded in part to rival UEFA competitions, has created a lot of strong opinions and unrest in the football scene. What exactly is this league, and will it challenge the Premier League as we know it?
What Is The European Super League?
The European Super League is a proposed football league created by the A22 Sports Management body. Also known as the ESL, it has been created to be an alternative to the current Premier League, and offer more autonomy to teams that join.
There has been talk of creating such a league all of the way back in the 1960s, where a super league could be created for European clubs, to replace the European Champions Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup. At the time, the concept was never seriously considered but the idea has stuck around ever since. It was again brought up in the late 1980s, and then in 2009.
However, serious conversation about creating a super league began to happen in 2018. Florentino Perez, the president of Real Madrid, began discussions with other European clubs about creating such a league. These discussions happened in secret, and nothing else came of them until 2020.
Of course, in 2020 we saw the Coronavirus pandemic, and that had a serious economic effect on many industries, including football. With many clubs having ongoing debts, the lack of income from matches and other forms of income meant that they began to struggle. While some clubs gained sponsorship from some of the bigger betting companies, the betting experts at Scs report that not all managed to reign in deals with the likes of bet365 and Coral. Real Madrid was hit especially hard, and so Perez began to float the idea of a super league once again.
Why Create A Super League?
What is it that makes the idea of a super league tempting to football clubs across Europe? As we saw above, the lack of income during the pandemic had a serious impact on clubs, and has made many managers consider what they get out of being part of the current UEFA system.
Under current proposals, the idea is that the super league would bring more financial resources to football clubs, allowing them to invest more in the game and the experience for fans. As well as this, the hope is that there will be higher quality matches, which would appeal to the younger generation of fans.
Who Is Involved In The European Super League?
When the European Super League was announced, there were several current Premier League clubs that had originally signed up. They included Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool as well as many other European clubs.
At time of writing, all of the above clubs have pulled out of the agreement for now, although several European clubs do remain on board.
The Reaction To The European Super League Announcement
When the super league was announced, it did prove to be highly controversial. Football governing bodies including the UEFA, the Premier League and others came out strongly against the idea. They overall condemned the concept, and declared that any club participating in the league would be banned from competing in all other domestic and worldwide competitions.
There was also large backlash from fans as well, with a pole conducted after the league’s announcement showing that 79% of British football fans were opposed to the league. In fact, some fans were so opposed to the idea that there was a protest staged outside Elland Road, on the 19th of April 2020, despite COVID-19 restrictions.
Other corporations involved in football, such as media companies, also decried the launch of the league. BT sports noted that it “could have a damaging effect to the long-term health of football in the United Kingdom.”
Is The European Super League A Challenger To The Premier League?
So despite all of the pushback from those involved in football, is the European Super League still a good idea and a valid challenge to the Premier League? As noted above, the COVID-19 pandemic had a serious effect on most football clubs across Europe, thanks to the loss of revenue. With a new league which has different restrictions and rules on earnings, this could have a real positive effect for its members.
As for football fans, despite the backlash it could be a positive for them as well. With the ESL promising higher quality games, they will be able to get more out of the sport they love. This can be true of tangential football entertainment too, such as sports betting. With the ESL, you could see more football betting markets being made available to you.
Overall, while the announcement of the European Super League has generated a lot of negative press, there’s no denying that they could be the challenger that the sport needs to shake things up.
Read More: click here
