Intro
Aaaannnndddd we’re back. The European Super League has returned to global headlines following the European Court of Justice Ruling on December 23rd, 2023, deeming that UEFA and FIFA are “abusing a dominant position” regarding the current structure for proposing changes to European football (soccer) competitions and that the existing rules contradict EU laws. To be honest, under my understanding of the existing rules, any proposed changes to European competitions or structures must be reviewed and approved by… UEFA and FIFA, so maybe they have a point here (why would UEFA and FIFA ever approve something that could threaten their status as the overarching global authority in the sport even if it could improve an existing problem; I tip my hat to the lawyer that managed to slip that into the bylaws).
That said, the court did not officially approve the competition either, so we may be jumping the gun here. In reality though, the concept of a European Super League isn’t going anywhere as the game becomes increasingly more influenced by commercial and financial forces, and UEFA was even planning on adopting a similar format for its competitions beginning in the 2024 season, so it’s likely not far off within in the next decade in some capacity. Let’s break it down.
Via Daily Sabah
The History of the European Super League
In case you’re new to the sport or you’ve been living under a rock, the European Super League has long been touted as a concept for restructuring European football. The idea first went officially public in April 2021 when 12 of the biggest clubs in the world (i.e., the big 6 English clubs, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, etc., but NOT Bayern, Dortmund, or PSG lol) came together and backed a proposal to create a new European competition that is ‘league-based’ and incorporates the biggest teams in the world every year regardless of domestic performance. The league would also be invite-only for the founding teams and a semi-closed structure for the rest, meaning that the biggest clubs will always qualify year after year, and other clubs have the opportunity to qualify via domestic performance, albeit a pretty limited one. Sounds a bit problematic, right?
Via Sky Sports
Well, the idea lasted all of two days after fans, teams, leagues, football governing bodies, and even certain government officials shut that shit down ASAP, for obvious reasons. A few of these reasons can be seen below:
Threatens Domestic Competitions: If the best teams in each league will automatically qualify for a more important and lucrative league every year, why would they continue to prioritize league competitions? What is the reward beyond finishing 1st? Smaller clubs depend on revenue from the bigger teams to stay alive. A Super League blows this to hell and opens the door for bigger clubs to abandon a domestic competition altogether down the line. The concept threatens the relevancy and survival of every domestic European pyramid and league in the long run.
Lack of Sporting Merit: A closed or semi-closed, ‘invite-only’ structure for big clubs does not abide by equitable sporting rules and gives ‘smaller’ clubs a significantly reduced chance of qualifying for European competition, once again threatening significant financial losses for many clubs that could’ve played in Europe in some capacity. Year-over-year assurance of European competition regardless of domestic finish based on club ‘size’ goes against every principle of a league that claims to be competitive.
Ownership Structure: While there are many criticisms with the structure of both UEFA and FIFA and how they govern the sport, shifting to a model that gives the 12 biggest clubs and their owners almost complete autonomy in decision-making as well as financial and sporting guarantees sounds like a terrible idea. Like should Fiorentino Perez and the Glazers really be in charge of a competition that Real Madrid and United are competing in? Surely not.
Via CNN
A22 Super League (V2)
Following the European Court of Justice ruling on December 23rd, 2023, a company called A22 Sports Management was tasked with restructuring the Super League to be more “merit-base” in response to the backlash received after the first attempt. A22 did make some amendments to Super League V1, notably offering an improved structure and free streaming globally for the games, a smart move to get the youth onboard. Overview below.
Super League V2 Overview:
64 teams - 3 Divisions (Star, Gold, Blue)
Promotion/Relegation structure between each league
14 games a season from September to March (7 away; 7 home for the Star and Gold divisions)
Star (Current Equivalent: Champions League)
16 teams split into two groups of 8
Top 2 teams from each group qualify for the semi-final knockouts (home and away legs); Winner from each goes to the final
Bottom team from each group is relegated into Gold divisions (2 teams)
Gold (Current Equivalent: Europa League)
16 Teams split into two groups of 8
Top 2 teams from each group qualify for the semi-finals (home and away legs); Winner goes to the final
Finalists are promoted to the Star division
Bottom team from each group is relegated to the Blue division (2 teams)
Blue (Current Equivalent: Conference League)
32 Teams split into two groups of 16
Top 2 teams from each group qualify for the semi-finals (home and away legs); Winner goes to the final
Finalists are promoted to the Gold division
Bottom 10 Teams from each division are knocked out of European club competition (20 teams) and replaced by teams based on performance in domestic competitions
Can also watch here:
Problems with the New Structure
While there may be improvements to the structure of A22’s latest version of the Super League, there are also inherent similarities to the first iteration that are impossible to ignore. Beyond the criticisms highlighted earlier, the fundamental issue with the new Super League remains around sporting and financial guarantees.
Of the 16 teams that are originally placed into the Star division, roughly 10-12 of them are essentially guaranteed European competition for the next 10ish years? While the estimate is speculative, this structure makes it categorically easier for teams to remain where they are as opposed to domestic performance dictating European competition. While there will be some fluctuation in the pyramid structure, unless you finish bottom of your group, you will stay in the league by which you currently reside regardless of domestic finish, guaranteeing a certain degree of financial and sporting security year over year for the biggest teams. Even if a big team were to drop down, they would be well-suited to maintain or come right back up, whilst completely ignoring domestic success (or lack thereof). Let’s run through some scenarios to contextualize these gaps:
Scenario A: A team wins the Premier League for the first time in their history (say Leicester 2015/16). Instead of the opportunity to make it to the Quarter Finals of the UCL and losing to Atletico Madrid in the knock-outs, they would only be able to play in the Blue division of the Super League. While any European competition would have likely been appreciated by Leicester fans, the revenue difference is stark, particularly for a club of that size and circumstance. Cinderella stories like this in the absolute top (Star) division will be few and far between, if ever.
Scenario B: A team that starts in the first 16 of the Star division struggles domestically the following year (think Girona or Union Berlin). This team could theoretically be in the first division of European football, and the second division of their domestic league if relegated. I love an underdog as much as the next guy, but this just doesn’t make sense.
Scenario C: A team (think Chelsea recently) finishes 10th in a Premier League season. In this same scenario, another team (think Aston Villa) unexpectedly wins the league or finishes second in the division. The consequential year, the team that won or finished second is playing in the second (Gold) or third (Blue) divisions, while the team that finished 10th is still in the first (Star) division because they finished 6th/8th in their UCL group and not last. It rewards mediocrity for the biggest clubs and punishes the smaller teams by giving them fewer sporting, commercial, and financial opportunities.
Via New York Times
Conclusion
While I’m certainly not going to sit here and act like I have all the answers, the latest version of the Super League still has glaring issues and does not seem to be ready for implementation. To me, it is a poorly masked attempt for the biggest clubs in the world to horde wealth, status, and superiority in the game irrespective of on-field performance. While there may be a case for a more even distribution of wealth to clubs under UEFA’s existing guidelines, a bad situation does not necessarily mean a proposed alternative is a good idea. Luckily, a few big obstacles still stand in the way of the implementation any time soon.
12 of the biggest teams in the world unanimously supported the concept during in the first coup, and Barcelona and Real Madrid (among a handful of other major European clubs) once again headline the newest push. From Barcelona and Real Madrid’s point of view, they likely feel to be losing their status as top dogs to the Premier League in terms of viewership, revenue, performance, etc., and this to me is their way of making that ground up. I believe similar clubs across Europe are in a very similar position, join the alliance of big teams, or face the existential threat of being left out altogether.
Interestingly enough, Manchester United (didn’t see this one coming given the recent decisions at the club), Arsenal, Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, and multiple other major clubs across Europe have already spoken out against the idea in addition to mainstay Super League haters like PSG and the entire Bundesliga. Shoutout to these teams for not giving this thing the slightest bit of daylight, although I’m not sure I entirely trust PSG’s (or really any team for that matter) motivations for opting out as most decisions are influenced by the bottom line, ownership ties, or optics rather than the “right” thing to do for the game. It will be interesting to see how other clubs across Europe respond as the elites are divided.
Some see the Super League as the first step in uniting club football into a unified, global league with participants from across the world. Others see it as a necessary evil for Europe to fend off other rapidly growing leagues outside of Europe as the game continues to see capital investment at staggering levels. I do not know what the future of the Super League holds, but I do believe it will exist in some capacity someday, and hopefully in a carefully regulated and equitable context that prioritizes domestic performance as the primary driver of European qualification.
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