European Super League

Do you want the ESL to happen?


  • Total voters
    1,921
  • Poll closed .
Let's say the minimum you could make by finishing bottom of the SL is £350m, and lets say the maximum you could make is £1.5b for finishing first. What do you think the summers investment will be like?

Where did you pull those figures from? As reported yesterday the winners would get approx. 30m extra in terms of direct reward, with the bulk of the money gained being awarded just for competing in the group stages. As opposed to the CL, where the difference is 120m. In other words winning has directly been devalued and there's no consequence to finishing bottom.

How would that translate into winning the SL suddenly being worth an extra 1.15 billion?
 
The correct analogy would be - can't understand why popular/important teams have to play no-marks.

No, not that either. NA sports are not dominated by big, rich teams (in the sense of relatively big and rich within the closed shop - say, the New York Rangers compared to the Winnipeg Jets). Their leagues are designed to make it almost impossible for anyone to dominate year after year, and big, popular clubs are often not very good. It's a highly regulated corporate franchise, geared to make all participants profitable. There aren't any "no marks" - every club has a realistic potential to win a title in the next decade.

But, there is an absolute division line between being in the cartel and not being in the cartel. If you're not, you're not. And if you are, you can be as bad as you like.
 
What does that help? Those clubs will then just go and create the league anyway.
You can't imagine the players and staff would be too happy about being unceremoniously dumped out of the current most prestigious club cups, because the owners are greedy cnuts.
 
Vice President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas speaks against The Super League
 
If the players end up being prevented from participating in internationals does that mean we'll see a complete breakaway from "football" altogether?

These clubs won't play football anymore, they'll play soccerball or goalblitz. They'll have their own International Planet Cup, EuroContinental Trophy, Incontinent Trophy etc. Change the player names while they're at it to Krusty Rimaldo and Linoleum Messy. Like a real life version of those unlicensed football games in the early 00s but with shitter graphics.

ISS Pro 98 was and is the GOAT of all football games.
 
American Salary Cap keeps getting brought up. It is not an end all cap on spending for players. If you exceed the cap, you pay a dollar for dollar fine to the league but keep your shiny new player. Wealthy clubs just factor in the cost of the fine as a part of acquiring a needed player. It really only punishes the less wealthy clubs who cannot afford the cap fine.

the rich still get richer.
 
No, not that either. NA sports are not dominated by big, rich teams. Their leagues are designed to make it almost impossible for anyone to dominate year after year, and big, popular clubs are often not very good. It's a highly regulated corporate franchise, geared to make all participants profitable. There aren't any "no marks" - every club has a realistic potential to win a title in the next decade.

But, there is an absolute division line between being in the cartel and not being in the cartel. If you're not, you're not. And if you are, you can be as bad as you like.
Actually it is that. In this instance, the entirety of their big leagues - NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB are the popular/important teams. Then you have the plebs of the G-League, Minor leagues, NASL etc.

Who they never have to play.
 
This has nothing to do with merit. This is Americans stealing the most recognizable brands in the game and franchising them. One step away from "New Trafford" being built away from Manchester.

The FA needs to work with the government to shake up the whole system. There are laws to prevent oligopolies - where the market is dominated by small group of large organizations who collude to prevent market competition. This is now what we have in football and a forced sale of shares is the only option in my opinion. All clubs must now be owned 50% by the fans.
Agree with this, a 50% +1 fan ownership requirement is the way to go not this nonsense of football clubs being playtoys or ATMs for private investors.
 
Its not a competitor league though is it? It is a cartel. Ban them I say. I wonder if there is a way of stopping the TV contract through Ofcom.

Why don't we bring in the army while we're at it.

Just because you don't like something doesn't mean you should go crying to daddy to make it stop.
 
Personally, I don't know what the fuss is?

It's literally replacing the European Football Competition with another Group of people running it.

In my lifetime I have seen Premier League clubs leave the Football League and set up their own league, I have seen the Champions League evolve from the European cup.

People say it's not fair, it's all about money, well sadly that is what football has become, Teams desperate to qualify for the Champions League because of the money we make.

Out of the top 6 in England, how many of those clubs in the rest of the league have qualified for the champions league over the past 20 years, about 4-5 other clubs?

Even this year Manchester United is on the verge of winning the Uefa cup when we didn't even win qualify for it, our placement is based on Uefa trying to keep the big elite clubs in European Competition when knocked out of the Champions League.

Football was ruined when we started allowing Billionaires to start buying up clubs as toys.
 


There's no going back from here. United are all in.

We'd best get used to the idea of an ESL.

Mother of god.

I’m not happy United are involved in this and it’s looking quite real now
 
Obviously shit project but I`m honestly more laughing at most reactions and from what direction they`re coming from. It really is a depressing picture of the current football world.
You have a bunch of white collar sports journalists, TV broadcasters, politicians (fecking Boris Johnson of all people haha) and football officials scrambling and complaining that no one has asked their commercial interest, ehm I mean, *checks notes*, "the fans".

TV broadcasters trying to charge crazy sums during a pandemic, all the Sky and BT hounds sticking together, congratulating each other on great journalism when they were winding Klopp up in November on the scheduling matter, the different associations and political authorities not giving a feck for years on dubious owner- and sponsorships. But hey, suddenly professional football is a matter of solidarity and inclusion!
Good thing is that I don`t support a top club so I can just sit back and enjoy the show. Maybe its actually for the better in the end if it comes down to a big shake up instead of a continous slow transition of even more money and power to the big dogs.

However, one thing surprises me, why is PSG not amongst the 12? Bayern and Dortmund I can understand, the backlash they`d get from their fans would be insane and through membership they actually have some sort of power so I reckon Bayern will hope to maneuvre into the ESL without the opening drama. But PSG? Whats stopping them?

From what info has been released the Super League will basically have a version of FFP involved. But I assume one that will actually be enforced as opposed to the symbolic one UEFA peddled. That and Qatar based BEIN sport being one of the main sponsors of the CL.
 
UEFA will suspend the clubs and their players who won't be able to play with their national teams.
 
Yeah thats it, the super league is great because it is for some reason going to end discrimination. #ForTheFans #BLM #AbuDhabiCup2024

Embarassing people actually fall for that corporate nonsense. If yelling racial slurs was profitable these teams would have all the players doing it. There's no morality here.
Well said. This is a complete disgrace, it's weird seeing some in here backing proposals from rich corporate suits who don't give one solitary shit about football. It's all just about money.
 
........and probably City, Inter. Spanish League winners won't be given the title either.
 
UEFA is already moving away from the old cup format with the swiss model. 36 teams, you play 10 group stage games against new opponents every game. More games, more fodder. On top of that the teams that make the knockout stages are automatically qualified for the next season. The CL will go to shit whether or not this super league happens, it's basically just a question of what shade of shite will be going forward.
Well that’s up to UEFA to get that right. The ESL definitely does not. So turned off right now
 
I’m hoping all this is just a bluff to get better terms for the top teams... but the longer this goes on I’m feeling we’re committed in being on the wrong side of history
 
You can't imagine the players and staff would be too happy about being unceremoniously dumped out of the current most prestigious club cups, because the owners are greedy cnuts.

But they are already leaving the UCL? That is the whole point.
 
UEFA is already moving away from the old cup format with the swiss model. 36 teams, you play 10 group stage games against new opponents every game. More games, more fodder. On top of that the teams that make the knockout stages are automatically qualified for the next season. The CL will go to shit whether or not this super league happens, it's basically just a question of what shade of shite will be going forward.

UEFA have decades-long experience tweaking their competitions to retain viewers' interest. Their Lisbon Final 8 last season was a model in execution amidst a global pandemic.

Club owners who already struggle to manage their club's finances now want to rival that expertise ? There is actually a conflict of interest between running a club and running the competition where that club competes.

For all the damage UEFA have inflicted upon themselves, keeping the Champions League entertaining has definitely been an achievement of theirs.
 
As a Manchester United fan, I honestly don't care what happens to Leeds, or MK Dons, or Bromma Pojkarna. Do you think they'd give a shit it we went into administration? Why is it our responsibility to pay them?
How can you obsessively follow football but not give a single shit about the clubs that make football what it is? Such a weird way of being a football fan. Incredibly selfish way to engage with the world.
 
The players are our only chance.

Throwing them out of international competition will force a confrontation between owners and players, and its one the owners can't win.
 
If we get booted out of the Premier League it would be the worst idea in the world.

Also, it seems we will never be able to beat Liverpool's 6 Champion's Leagues now.

6-3 it is, written in history till the end of time.
 
So, for people who can remember, this is like Konami's original Master League set-up. First dibs on Miranda.
 
Actually it is that. In this instance, the entirety of their big leagues - NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB are the popular/important teams. Then you have the plebs of the G-League, Minor leagues, NASL etc.

Who they never have to play.

Well, if you prefer to make a valid point with weird terminology. The major league teams aren't major league teams because they're "the popular/important teams". That's a european way of thinking about it. The division between major and minor leagues are absolute, not a sliding scale, and it's not a question of big teams and small teams. The notion of a major league team playing against a minor league team is preposterous, absurd - they don't exist in the same sporting universe. That's not just how Americans see it, it's the logic of the system. The notion of an AHL team playing an NHL team is absurd to me too. Whereas the notion of Liverpool playing Watford obviously isn't absurd.
 
Not the idea obviously.

But your idiotic rhetoric that is basically just trolling at this point as you stopped making any semblance of sense last night.

But no, the attitude you display, the arrogant ramblings of an entitled boy. The fact that you can't see anything past United and quire clearly don't give a feck about football on the whole.

And perhaps even more alarmingly, you quite clearly don't give a shit about the history of the club you claim to support.

I'd never noticed you around the forum before, I miss those days.
Just remember that when the SL kicks off that you’re not allowed to watch it or enjoy it in any capacity, otherwise you’ve been morally corrupted and sold out.

That’s a strong stance to take but can’t say didn’t expect a holier than thou perspective from some
 
This is the problem with global fanbases. They have figured out how to cash in. They can literally spit in the face of season ticket holders and lifelong supporters and real fans who go to games in favour of neutrals and people paying for subscriptions in thailand.
 
The players are not keen on what exactly? All of them, from every single club involved in this? They will do their job at the end of the day. I doubt any of them are going to strike because of this

Wait until they are told they won't able to play in the Euros, or the next world cup.
 
Well, if you prefer to make a valid point with weird terminology. The major league teams aren't major league teams because they're "the popular/important teams". That's a european way of thinking about it. The division between major and minor leagues are absolute, not a sliding scale, and it's not a question of big teams and small teams. The notion of a major league team playing against a minor league team is preposterous, absurd - they don't exist in the same sporting universe. That's not just how Americans see it, it's the logic of the system. The notion of an AHL team playing an NHL team is absurd to me too. Whereas the notion of Liverpool playing Watford obviously isn't absurd.
It's exactly the same. You're talking a load of nonsense. The American owners of the big football teams will think playing some Belarus team in the UCL just as absurd. Totally different levels in the same competition, which just doesn't exist in the US.
 


There's no going back from here. United are all in.

We'd best get used to the idea of an ESL.

I’m not sure. There is a gov statement coming at half 5. There is still hope for one of the obstacles to be the stumbling block that will feck this whole thing up.
 
American Salary Cap keeps getting brought up. It is not an end all cap on spending for players. If you exceed the cap, you pay a dollar for dollar fine to the league but keep your shiny new player. Wealthy clubs just factor in the cost of the fine as a part of acquiring a needed player. It really only punishes the less wealthy clubs who cannot afford the cap fine.

the rich still get richer.

That depends on the system. The NHL for example is an absolute cap.