Yesterday it was formally announced that 12 of the top teams in European Football would be breaking off to form their own European Super League. The proclamation comes after years of rumors and speculation as to whether or not the move would actually take place. Now, on the heals of a season and half of financially fraught football due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, these clubs have officially started secession.
Reactions were unsurprisingly panicked - Twitter went ablaze, UEFA and the Premier League condemned the actions, and FIFA proclaimed that any players who partake in the new league will be banned from the World Cup. Even heads of states like Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron came out against it.
Here in the states I think the scale and weight of the whole situation is a bit muddled. Imagine if Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame decided to start their own conference. Or if the Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, and Cardinals one day announced that they would automatically make the playoffs every year. That's essentially what's happened here. They aren't perfect parallels but that's the level of cultural impact this will have if it goes through.
I don't see any way a genuine fan of sports and competition can support this decision. To me, it's a blatant money grab by these massive global brands - a way to sure up TV/ad revenue without having to earn the right to a share of the pot. Now that's not to say that UEFA and FIFA and the current European format is perfect. And neither are the domestic leagues. But to further enrich the big clubs in Europe is not a solution by any means. In my opinion that's the exact opposite of what should be done. More parity would be better for the fans of the sport, but parity brings increased risk to these giants and their boardrooms don't want that.
In the grand scheme of things this development goes hand in hand with the age-old tale of multinational corporations trying to monopolize their respective industries in any way they can. We've seen it booming in big tech the last decade or so: Amazon now dominates our streets with delivery trucks, Facebook continues to gobble up subsidiaries, and Google marches on in it's quest to mine every piece of data it possibly can. And much like those companies, these clubs are an everyday part of millions of peoples' lives. But beyond that, these teams are socio-cultural touchstones that people identify with and cherish. These organizations are among the most important institutions in each city they hail from, and to see these billionaire owners shamelessly go against their fan's wishes is a sad site indeed. Like the big tech battle, this Super League is yet another form of deindustrialization that will line the pockets of the mega rich at the expense of average people. People who have been fans of this sport and their respective clubs for generations.
The question is: Are fans/consumers and the governing bodies that represent those people strong/organized enough to stop this? We shall see.
- ZB James
