European Super League

[No1newts]

http://uk.soccerway.com/news/2013/O...t-wants-to-start-a-euro-super-league/n241694/

Putting aside the fact Galatasary are not good enough for such a league what are people's opinions on this? Good idea or bad?

They were discussing it on talksport and most seemed to be against it. Personally I like the idea. Let the clubs who most others cannot compete with have their own private playground and let us have a good competitive premier league again.

In addition could have a nice offshoot of helping the England team as the foreigners would only want to play for super league teams allowing English talent to come through.

Don't get me wrong I enjoy the premier league as it is, but having a league on a more average footing would be nice to see.

Thoughts?

 

[The Running Man]

Basically he's saying they don't make enough money on their Turkish TV deal and need a collective bargaining agreement with the likes of Real Madrid and co which will see them cream a lot of money in TV rights that is otherwise unobtanium for them.

 

[drunkenmaster]

Well firstly it would be cack as while the champs league is worth decent money it's worth a lot less to the big clubs than the normal league is. It only works because fans support those teams at 39-what 50-55 games in country every year.

After a few years of a superleague they would start dropping fans by the bucketload, fans getting irked at half the matches costing craploads more to get to, not feeling the team is theirs or local anymore.

Also there would be no average footing, Gala aren't suddenly going to match Utd's commercial or stadium income. Also like with Real/Barca in La liga, which teams who currently make a mint will sign up to a 20 team super league where they give up the massive TV income they have around and watch that money go to Galatasaray and multiple other teams that currently make far less money.

I think if it happened it would be an abject failure and after a few years support for most teams in it would drop off quickly. The advertising money would start to drop along with the viewing figures.

A full season length intercontinental league is simply not doable, you'll alienate the majority of your fanbase by turning half the games into long haul expensive trips.

Also again, less foreign players in the premier league will without question, without any doubt whatsoever make the England national team worse.

England internationals have been dire for 20 years, we should ruin the premier league and 38 games a season for every team so that 5 internationals a year would get better(which they absolutely wouldn't anyway)?

Foreign players will go where the money is and as the super league crumbled as people stop caring about the teams they don't feel a part of any more, as the clubs get less games, as the advertisers get less tv time and advertising... the money will end up in the premier league anyway.

 

[Fulax]

This is one of those ideas that gets thrown out every now and then by some eccentric chairman; the media takes a brief interest, but no one who matters really cares and it soon dies down. According to SSN, the European Club Association have issued a statement saying the idea has never been discussed.

More interesting is what they have discussed:

Meanwhile, the conference also saw another European league idea put forward - but this time one for nations, with the idea that friendlies could be disposed of.

The idea would see all 54 members nation compete in up to ten mini-leagues, with the hope it would improve interest around international games away from the two major tournaments - the World Cup and European Championship.

The Norwegian FA president, Yngve Hallen, who sits on UEFA's national committee for international tournaments, told The Guardian: "It is true that a series of games is one of the models being discussed.

"The success of the Champions League has already inspired the Europa League. This is also something they are trying to look at in connection with the Nations League - how this can sharpen the market. That's what this is largely about.

"But there have been very clear political guidelines from all 54 federations that the focus needs to be on the football/competitive aspect. All countries should have equal opportunities.

"No-one should have to qualify for this tournament - everyone plays from the first game. And then there is also a recognition that tournament form should be easy to understand for most people. All this we need to work out."

http://www1.skysports.com/football/...says-it-is-happy-with-champions-league-set-up

This seems far more likely to actually happen, as everyone hates international friendlies.

The main problem with this (assuming it is feasible) is the 'equal opportunities' nonsense he hints at. If no one can get relegated or promoted, then once it's clear you're not going to win your mini-league, every game will be like one of those drab end-of-season middle-of-table affairs where no one really cares about the outcome. Which is hardly going to make non-tournament international football compelling.

 

[No1newts]

snip

Not that I want to get sidetracked but only in your world could making it more possible for young talent to break into first teams and play at a high standard make an England team worse.

98 was probably the best English side in a long time and that was a league made up of English with good imports. At the moment everyone fills the team with average foreigners to stay up and it stifles development.


On topic I don't think the idea would work personally, I'm just not against it as seeing a premier league without a few mega bucks teams playing their own mini league would be interesting.

 

[HangTime]

you'll alienate the majority of your fanbase by turning half the games into long haul expensive trips

The majority of the fanbase of these type of clubs don't go to away matches as it stands. It strikes me as the sort of thing that would get a disproportionate amount of negative publicity i.e. media and fans spokespersons having a rant about it because the 'hardcore' fans can't go to so many matches anymore but without massively impacting on attendances (assuming the league doesn't stipulate too high an allocation for away fans). In the modern game I think away support is massively overrated when you consider what tiny percentage of fans actually partake in it and that alienating them won't significantly impact on tv revenue, gate receipts, merchandise sales etc.

One issue could be the fact that domestic TV deals are actually pretty lucrative for some clubs in some countries nowadays; I think if a european super league was to have been brought in it should have been 10+ years ago or so. Furthermore, the big clubs tend to sell out for domestic competitions anyway so they don't need the added attraction of superleague matches.