The proposal for a breakaway European Super League has drawn a storm of protest from Uefa, the Premier League, La Liga, former players, fans and even prime minister Boris Johnson. Sir Alex Ferguson has condemned the plan in his first public intervention since retiring as Manchester United manager in 2013.
12 clubs have signed up to a plan backed by $6bn in debt financing from JP Morgan which would supersede the Champions League. It is claimed that another three clubs will sign up this week (thought to be Bayern, PSG and Borussia Dortmund). Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have now issued a statement saying they will not join the Super League.
The breakaway clubs include England's top six; Barcelona and Real Madrid; and AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus. PSG and Bayern Munich have not signed up so far: PSG are said to be concerned that the initial novelty of the Super League would wear off after a couple of seasons. Real Madrid, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are thought to the biggest drivers of the proposal.
The new league would include 15 teams on a permanent basis with five places awarded on merit, effectively a franchise system. There is no settled plan for how the five places would be awarded. It is anticipated that participants would receive a fixed payment of €264m a year.
The tournament, which would start in August, would feature
two groups of ten, playing home and away fixtures, with the top three
automatically qualifying for the quarter-finals. Those who finish fourth and
fifth then compete for the remaining quarter-final places, before a two-legged
knockout format is employed for the final eight, ahead of a single fixture
final at a neutral venue.
In the past Super League proposals have been forward to extract more money for top clubs from the Champions League. Uefa's conference today is set to approve a new format for the Champions League which would include more money-spinning ties between top clubs.
However, leading clubs wanted more assurances over a new joint venture that would control all media and sponsorship rights for European club competitions.
Major broadcasters are prepared to enact legal action
against clubs who break away or devalue national competitions, as the
broadcasters believe the product they’ve invested in would be fundamentally
different without the involvement of leading sides.
The clubs have hired InHouse Communications as a British
public affairs agency to promote the launch. Katie Perrior, the chair of
InHouse, was formerly head of communications for Theresa May during her period
as prime minister, while she also worked on Boris Johnson’s 2008 mayoral
campaign.
During the 2018-19 season, the live match audience for Champions League football dropped from an average of two billion during the previous three-year cycle to 1.3 billion in the last campaign. In a single year under the current operators, therefore, the Champions League experienced a traditional television audience fall of 35 per cent. The Europa League also experienced a 17 per cent drop.
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