This past week was the most insane week for soccer fans across the world, as massive European soccer clubs announced the formation of a “European Super League”. On Sunday, April 18, 12 massive soccer teams announced that they would be forming a breakaway soccer league that would be known as the “Super League” or the “European Soccer League”. This announcement sent shockwaves throughout the soccer world and fans around the world were stunned to hear this crazy new league. However, in less than a week, the majority of teams pulled out as a result of fan backlash and it seems like this league is all but gone. However, for a short period of time, it looked like that the rich soccer club owners were going to forsake the fans in exchange for a lucrative soccer league.
The person at the helm of this new “super league” was Florentino Pérez, President of Real Madrid. In the new proposed plan, Pérez was set to be the president of the new league and has already been a vocal supporter of the league. Perez said that this new league was necessary to keep soccer relevant. “”We are doing this to save football at this critical moment,” Perez told Spanish TV show El Chiringuito de Jugones” (1). Perez’s loud support for this new league came with both backlash and support. However, before understanding the super league itself, we must be familiar with the soccer institutions it comes at odds with.
First, allow me to familiarize you with the current structure of European soccer. Currently, in Europe, each nation has its own soccer “pyramid” with teams competing on different ranks, allowing for teams to be promoted and relegated based on their standing in their own league. At the top of each pyramid is the pinnacle of the soccer pyramid in each nation. On top of this “premier league,” there exists another competition known as the Champions League. Based on the place they finish, teams across Europe can qualify to take part in this competition. Because of its competitive and prestigious nature, the Champions League draws a lot of revenue and spectators from across the world. This new league that was proposed was a closed-door system that directly opposed the open free-flowing pyramid style of soccer that Europe has had for decades. As ABC reports, “Under the new proposal, 15 ‘Founding Clubs’ from Spain, the U.K., and Italy will compete every year in a “franchise-style” competition with only five places to be allowed for teams to enter on merit each year” (1). This close-door system angered many fans of the sport, and following the announcement, European soccer fans began protesting the proposed change.
In much of the world outside of the United States, soccer, (better known as football outside of the U.S.) is ingrained in the culture, similar to how the NFL is so deep in American culture. So, some may not understand the ramifications of completely changing the structure of the European soccer league. In order to give some perspective, imagine if 10 NFL rich teams created their own league, and attempted to draw spectators, revenue and fans away from the NFL. Although the parallel is not perfect, it does shed light on how absurd the new proposal from these teams was.
Following the widespread backlash, one by one, clubs began announcing that they were going to withdraw from the super league. ESPN writes, “the European Super League is ‘on standby’ after eight of the 12 clubs involved announced their withdrawal…” (2) This withdrawal comes days after public disapproval from the fans, the U.K. government, and the overall public, with protests even causing delays to a team bus that postponed the starting time of a game. As it currently stands, it looks like the plans for this new “Super” league ended as quickly as they were announced and fans across the world are excited to see some normalcy return to soccer news. As sports, in general, becomes more and more lucrative, it won’t be long before more people want to come and make more money off of soccer again.