European Super League ban unlawful

Quoted from Poojah

The reality is, this was written on the wall the moment the PGA Tour merged with LIV Golf. Ultimately, we are living in a world increasingly motivated by money, and there are parties out there with effectively infinite quantities of it and seemingly a point to prove. Quite what that point is I’m not sure, but they seem determined to try and prove it nonetheless.

For context, the combined net worth of the royal families of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE is something like $6 trillion US dollars. That’s such an astonishingly large amount of money it’s hard to grasp, but 1 trillion is in effect 1 million million (making 6 trillion 6 million million). Put in other words, it’s double the size of the entire UK economy (the UK being the 6th largest economy in the world). It would take a military jet flying at the speed of sound, reeling out a roll of dollar bills behind it, 84 years before it reeled out 6 trillion dollar bills. Yes, I Googled that.

With that kind of cash on the table, anything goes, and concepts like tradition and sporting integrity fly out the window. It’s a sad, cynical reality, and one I don’t like, but it’s reality nonetheless.

Is there a market for it? Perhaps not in England, or in Spain, or in Germany, but in the vast and rapidly growing economies of the middle and far east, you can bet there is. As depressing as it is, it’s now simply a case of “when” and not “if”.

The way I try to understand the difference is by using a timescale:

1 million seconds is 12 days
1 billion seconds is 31 years
1 trillion seconds is 31,688 years

Quoted from Poojah

The reality is, this was written on the wall the moment the PGA Tour merged with LIV Golf. Ultimately, we are living in a world increasingly motivated by money, and there are parties out there with effectively infinite quantities of it and seemingly a point to prove. Quite what that point is I’m not sure, but they seem determined to try and prove it nonetheless.

For context, the combined net worth of the royal families of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE is something like $6 trillion US dollars. That’s such an astonishingly large amount of money it’s hard to grasp, but 1 trillion is in effect 1 million million (making 6 trillion 6 million million). Put in other words, it’s double the size of the entire UK economy (the UK being the 6th largest economy in the world). It would take a military jet flying at the speed of sound, reeling out a roll of dollar bills behind it, 84 years before it reeled out 6 trillion dollar bills. Yes, I Googled that.

With that kind of cash on the table, anything goes, and concepts like tradition and sporting integrity fly out the window. It’s a sad, cynical reality, and one I don’t like, but it’s reality nonetheless.

Is there a market for it? Perhaps not in England, or in Spain, or in Germany, but in the vast and rapidly growing economies of the middle and far east, you can bet there is. As depressing as it is, it’s now simply a case of “when” and not “if”.

There is no doubt about it, a Euro Super League will happen. The driving force is the Broadcasting View that Man City v PSG, Barcelona R Madrid, and Arsenal etc is sellable whilst West Ham V Fulham, or indeed Grimsby V Harrogate is not. It gets worse, with FIFA in 2030 having 48 teams at the World Cup, with Euros to follow. And why have WC and Euros every 4 years? Why not every 2 years as the Africa Cup of Nations does as it's the only income they get?  Yes, the "football fatigue " will set in.
In the meantime, stupid season ticket prices in these clubs are just killing the atmosphere. How many Posties or Bus Drivers buy season tickets and one for their son/daughter at £1,500 each for Arsenal.? Do Bankers, Surgeons an KC's sing and chant? Roy Keane 20 years ago mentioned the "Prawn Sandwich Brigade" It's quite embarrassingly "quiet" at Old Trafford, and some teams pipe chanting. Ordinary seat income might be a big thing at GTFC and other clubs, but are nothing to the 6/8 clubs. The atmosphere is slowly dying in some clubs, this in turn will kill "the viewing experience which will eventually kill the selling power of these clubs. How on earth does this effect GTFC?
So in some ways it might be a blessing that the 6 prem teams (could be eight if Newcastle and W Ham can get in) do go as the Viewing rights for the rump Prem League will collapse. Currently £1.5 Billion a year, the rump Prem League will be lucky to get 10% (just a guess) of that after the big 6/8 go. That will make the other Prem Teams either implode or realism will set in with smaller wages. That's bound to percolate down the divisions and might be of a blessing to the 3 leagues below as the ever-spiralling wage could slow down.   I say bring it on.

Noticed that after the fan’s protest when this league was initially announced that FIFA & EUFA thanked the fans for protesting and said that they would not be forgotten, well since then fans at the last 2 champions league finals have been well screwed, the FIFA announce a World Cup in both  South America and Europe, basically these organisations only care about their own financial position so in some ways I hope the league goes ahead and FIFA,EUFA both suffer.

The super league thing will probably happen  in some form because it would generate revenue for the TV companies and the top clubs, which seems to be the sole criteria these days. But looking at what we have already its almost there anyway:-

Loads of teams that did not win their championship in the 'Champions' league.
A group stage to ensure they all get at least 6 matches.
Teams that finish third out of four in their group then transferred to the Europa League along with the also-rans in their domestic leagues.
Then there is the Europa Conference League for teams that finish even lower down their domestic pecking order.  It virtually guarantees that the big clubs will have some European competition even if they have a poor season domestically.

        

Meanwhile we get Spalding away and play a weakened team

But we love it…..

Quoted from Gaffer58

Noticed that after the fan’s protest when this league was initially announced that FIFA & EUFA thanked the fans for protesting and said that they would not be forgotten, well since then fans at the last 2 champions league finals have been well screwed, the FIFA announce a World Cup in both  South America and Europe, basically these organisations only care about their own financial position so in some ways I hope the league goes ahead and FIFA,EUFA both suffer.

Fifa Eufa aren't particularly organisations that can suffer....and regardless of if they did or didn't the individual decision makers and influences within won't give a sh1t as they will be lining their pockets as per.

Quoted from IlkleyMariner

Frankly I’m past caring
I don’t watch Champions League.
I don’t watch the 100 at cricket
I don’t watch LIV golf
I don’t watch Saudi Soccer
I don’t watch American Football

Anything driven by money stinks.
I watch sport, not bankers

If I have to I’ll end up following Northern Premier League…..

I agree in general, but not about American football. I’m a big fan, and whilst the razzmatazz isn’t for everyone, it’s the same sport it was in the 1930’s - it hasn’t had any disgusting overhaul by overseas money. All the others sports have been ruined by greed. American football is just Americans being American.

Quoted from GrimRob

They can have the ESL as long as there is relegation and promotion. Grimsby v Barcelona must be theoretically possible as a fixture.

With the new format, a competitive game against Barcelona is still theoretically possible.

Football is not about being in the Bayern Arena  watching the team proceed to a 10th championship in a row as the fans yawn. It is about struggle and kinship and shared misery and shared hopes and thwarted dreams and miserable nights getting grubbed 0-3 in the rain in front of 3,000 hardy souls in February when you could have been at home in front of the fire.  Its about everything that this crappy idea is not.   Let the Man Utd and Chelsea (HTF did they still remain on this list) play meaningless, soulless games against PSG.  Everyone else ... the true fans... will either go along and die a little inside as they watch this junk or maybe those fans watching online will compensate (financially at least) for the loss of atmosphere, the lack of connections of the abscence of pure visceral nature of watching live football.

Watching an game of football on tv when the stadium is empty or the fans are seperated from the pitch by running tracks (Stadio Olimpico etc).  Even on tv it ripples through to the audience - it means nothing without a live audience -. people want full stadiums and the ephemeral things that money cannot buy - chanting, feeling, atmopshere, belonging.

Fans of the big clubs dont want it. But they mean little to these big clubs.

Thank fk I support Grimsby and thank fk we are playing in a crappy little league where we dont have to put up with this rubbish.

Quoted from Yossarian

Football is not about being in the Bayern Arena  watching the team proceed to a 10th championship in a row as the fans yawn. It is about struggle and kinship and shared misery and shared hopes and thwarted dreams and miserable nights getting grubbed 0-3 in the rain in front of 3,000 hardy souls in February when you could have been at home in front of the fire.  Its about everything that this crappy idea is not.   Let the Man Utd and Chelsea (HTF did they still remain on this list) play meaningless, soulless games against PSG.  Everyone else ... the true fans... will either go along and die a little inside as they watch this junk or maybe those fans watching online will compensate (financially at least) for the loss of atmosphere, the lack of connections of the abscence of pure visceral nature of watching live football.

Watching an game of football on tv when the stadium is empty or the fans are seperated from the pitch by running tracks (Stadio Olimpico etc).  Even on tv it ripples through to the audience - it means nothing without a live audience -. people want full stadiums and the ephemeral things that money cannot buy - chanting, feeling, atmopshere, belonging.

Fans of the big clubs dont want it. But they mean little to these big clubs.

Thank fk I support Grimsby and thank fk we are playing in a crappy little league where we dont have to put up with this rubbish.

On the Chelsea bit, I do agree, but my immediate thought when this was first invented was “who do spurs think they are?!!!”. I mean, they’ve literally never won anything!

And Man City were nobodies until about 10 years ago. Without money they’d still be in a rotting Maine road in the championship!

If spurs are in there as the top clubs, then Newcastle, Leeds, Aston Villa, Everton, Celtic and rangers should be too.

Anyway, let’s hope it either dies a death, or actually DOES happen and the fans reject it mid-competition. The greed of these scum is abhorrent.

The one positive seems that somebody, at least, is questioning the status quo that football has due to uefa and fifa. They definitely shouldn’t be allowed to own football unless the my can prove they’re actually good at it…….