European Super League

[Seadragon76]

Are these teams that desperate to get away from the Champions League and Europa League and avoid potential embarrassment in the form of losing to some no name club or something?

[Rockstar Matt]

No, it’s purely financial. Literally just to make even more money than they already do. 

[Digby]

9 hours ago, sportsfan7 said:

Only silver lining for me is that West Ham would be one of the top teams left in the Prem.

 

With that being said, I hate this very much.

Wouldn’t replace the domestic leagues, its Champions League that would be done for. Though presumably the domestic leagues would very much play second fiddle so you’ll have Liverpool and United fielding League Cup rosters for EPL games.

 

Even if it’s just a dramatic bluff, it does so to remake the CL game into a similarly closed-off, worse competition.

 

No matter what they call it it’s a power play by (mostly American!) owners who would prefer the tank-friendly safety net. It’s horrible for fans of the game. And what business does Tottenham have calling themselves a European superpower??

[BC985]

1 hour ago, Rockstar Matt said:

No, it’s purely financial. Literally just to make even more money than they already do. 

Honestly it will become so boring. The fun of the pool and knockout draws is seeing who you’ll get to see your club play and then educating yourself about a club if you aren’t up on them. I don’t see this being the great entertainment spectacle they seem to be selling it as, and as a fan I won’t consider this silverware a great honor. They are basically creating an award for themselves. It’s pathetic. 

[Digby]

2 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

I recognize the talent in European leagues, but a lot of the maneuvering reinforces my love for MLS. Our American league isn't as good as the European leagues (or Liga MX), but that's okay. It's good enough for a television product and the in-person experience remains affordable and fun.

MLS innovated shielding poorly run clubs from competitive accountability, so IDK.

[BC985]

5 minutes ago, Digby said:

MLS innovated shielding poorly run clubs from competitive accountability, so IDK.

I think a lot of informed fans could get behind a promotion/relegation system, but I don’t think it would have played in the United States. Europe has the benefit of it being part of their history. The thought of dropping down a league and losing the revenue that would come with that would likely drive American investors and casual fans away. 
 

Edit: The USL could be a test ground for a relegation system with the championship and League 1. I have no idea what they’re doing there as the Championship keeps growing. 

[DEAD!]

57 minutes ago, Digby said:

. And what business does Tottenham have calling themselves a European superpower??

 

Hell, I'd rather have Leicester City in there instead of Tottenham. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

57 minutes ago, Digby said:

MLS innovated shielding poorly run clubs from competitive accountability, so IDK.

 

You're taking about promotion and relegation?

 

It's a conversation we're a generation away from legitimately having.

[Digby]

I’m not one of those weirdo pro/rel Twitter jihadists but I do think the MLS model is closer to closed-off superclub league than it is to the current Euro club model. It’s nice that MLS clubs are doing well in CCL for once but our own continent’s moneymakers want to nuke that one too.

[Rockstar Matt]

Speaking of money, JP Morgan is funding this European Super League by pledging $5 billion dollars to the 12 founding clubs.

 

If anyone had any delusional thought that this venture wasn’t about purely about money, there you go. 
 

Disgusting level of greed.

[Digby]

1 hour ago, BC985 said:

Honestly it will become so boring. The fun of the pool and knockout draws is seeing who you’ll get to see your club play and then educating yourself about a club if you aren’t up on them. I don’t see this being the great entertainment spectacle they seem to be selling it as, and as a fan I won’t consider this silverware a great honor. They are basically creating an award for themselves. It’s pathetic. 

 Part of me agrees with this, part of me hates two thirds of the UCL group stage because who needs Barcelona beating up on Malmo? There are a lot of real snoozer games early on. But the answer to that sure isn’t this glorified-friendly-tour. 

[The_Admiral]

It's an absolute travesty of sports business, I hate it, I hope FIFA does the right thing and muscles them out of this. 

[GDAWG]

I sort of want to see pro/rel in MLS just for Anthony Precourt's reaction if Austin FC ever gets relegated.

 

[DEAD!]

3 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

I sort of want to see pro/rel in MLS just for Anthony Precourt's reaction if Austin FC ever gets relegated.

 

"How to lose the MLS in ten years"

[DG_ThenNowForever]

25 minutes ago, Digby said:

I’m not one of those weirdo pro/rel Twitter jihadists but I do think the MLS model is closer to closed-off superclub league than it is to the current Euro club model. It’s nice that MLS clubs are doing well in CCL for once but our own continent’s moneymakers want to nuke that one too.

 

What do you mean about MLS wanting to pull out of CCL?

 

The MLS is far closer to a traditional American sports league than it is any kind of super league. Yes, the American soccer tradition isn't the same as the European soccer tradition, but that's okay. As long as MLS continues to participate in Open Cup, CCL, Campeones Cup and whatever else comes up, that's fine by me! 

[Digby]

9 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

What do you mean about MLS wanting to pull out of CCL?

 

The MLS is far closer to a traditional American sports league than it is any kind of super league. Yes, the American soccer tradition isn't the same as the European soccer tradition, but that's okay. As long as MLS continues to participate in Open Cup, CCL, Campeones Cup and whatever else comes up, that's fine by me! 

MLS and Liga MX have telegraphed their own Super League intentions, and built these closed, “supplemental” (for now) competitions on that road. The logistics are different when the league office and the clubs are actually the same. But it’s the same effect in terms of taking an axe to the idea of soccer-as-interconnected-pyramid, and robs us of those beautiful and uniquely-soccer moments of elites playing at podunk stadiums by luck of the draw.

 

Most of the big Euro clubs are crying poverty because they’re nine figures in debt. Between that and FIFA/UEFA crying foul, there’s really a lot of getting consumed by the monster you created, going on here.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Changed the topic title because it was bugging me.

 

I've been reading reaction on Twitter to the Super League -- outside of some bots and the principals it's pretty overwhelmingly negative, including by FIFA, UEFA, and French and UK PMs.

 

It's a really interesting dynamic that is very much emblematic of the new Roaring 20s, in that big money -- like really, really big money -- is trumping all else, including millions of voices in opposition.

 

Should the Super League be canceled, it'll be a huge win in stopping monied overreach. And yes, I see the irony in FIFA and UEFA appearing to be the "little guys" in this particular situation. It's absurd.

[MJWalker45]

23 hours ago, LMU said:

From what I’m reading UEFA may consider barring players on the breakaway teams from international competition altogether as a sanction which may be a huge roadblock to this actually happening.  The plus though is that it may bring a bunch of the Americans back to MLS and give us a better chance to get out of the World Cup group stage.

I think that this would be challenged by federations outside of UEFA, because it limits the movement of players. As far as players coming back to MLS, if Germany and France are still available I think that's where you'd see men's team players go to because they can get better paydays than in MLS, unless MLS adjusts tehir  rules, especially after the issues with Miami this year.

16 hours ago, Lights Out said:

Ehh, I'd say North American sports are more akin to franchised businesses (think McDonald's or Planet Fitness) than socialism. And soccer is just anarchy. I don't know how people accept something as ridiculous as the loan system, which makes building a team nearly impossible for most of the sport while the richest teams get to play rotisserie league all year. Imagine if the Nets could just borrow Embiid for the playoffs. The NBA would be a complete farce.

 Or if they played the Sixers and a player had to sit out because their rights are owned by the Sixers. 

 

17 hours ago, Lights Out said:

This is another perfect illustration of why I just don't see the appeal of soccer. Even modern college football isn't this shameless in its lack of parity.

 

Soccer has teams all over the world, yet it seems hopeless and pointless being a fan of any of them besides this small handful of teams in Europe. There's no draft, the marquee franchises can just swoop in and borrow your best players whenever they want, and your team not getting demoted to the minor leagues is like winning the Super Bowl for most fanbases. What a crappy business model.

 

This "Super League" just reeks of hubris. What these big-name teams don't seem to realize is that they can't all win the championship every year. Some of these teams are going to start losing a lot more often than they're accustomed to. How long will the bandwagon fans stick around for that? I think this is why we haven't seen the Alabamas and Clemsons leave the NCAA - they're smart enough to know they still need the rest of their sport.

Danny Kanell said college football needs a Super League this morning. My response is they already do. It's called the College Football Playoff. 

[Digby]

That’s not really how the loan system works....

 

More like the Dodgers have a hot prospect OF who can’t get playing time, so they send him to Oklahoma City... except in this scenario OKC is an independent club and may even potentially be an opponent for a game or two this season. 

[nickp91]

the European Super League is like the power 5 schools in college basketball leaving the NCAA to form their own league