The failed European Super League proposal of October 2021 will always be remembered as an attack on soccer’s soul. 12 of the biggest clubs in the sport attempted to siphon themselves off from the rest of European soccer for their own benefit with fans and even players afforded no consideration in their greed.
Two years on, the European Super League’s rotten corpse continues to stink out elite level soccer with today’s ruling by the European Court of Justice giving some life to the idea it could be revived. Within hours of the ECJ claiming UEFA and FIFA are abusing a dominant position, a revamped proposal was launched.
This new proposal tabled by the company behind the original European Super League plan would see the creation of a 64-team eco-system split over three tiers called the Star League, Gold League and Blue League. Promotion and relegation would be included, but clubs would also initially selected upon an index of transparent, performance-based criteria.
Crucially, only Barcelona and Real Madrid have remained attached to the European Super League since its spectacular collapse two years ago. This proposal might have had slightly more thought paid to its format and how it would actually operate as a sporting competition, but it’s not clear how it will ever get off the ground.
Barcelona and Real Madrid see the European Super League as a route to closing the financial gap on the Premier League which has become the continent’s dominant division over the last two decades or so. This was the sales pitch to other clubs in Spain, France, Germany and Italy who have been left behind.
If the Premier League is a golden goose for the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, why would they choose to kill it? There might be a case to do so if the European Super League promised more cold, hard cash, but that has yet to materialize.
Instead, the new plan includes a free streaming platform for fans to match European Super League matches – would ad-supported broadcasting really form a solid enough basis to tempt Premier League clubs to turn their back on their own division which recently secured a £6.7 billion TV deal until 2029?
It’s possible continental European clubs could band together to create a rival division to the Premier League, but that wouldn’t be a Super League in the true sense – the best teams and players currently play in England. What would be so super about it? The European Super League needs Premier League clubs involved and the revamped plans do nothing to change how unlikely that is to happen.
