Euro soccer teams intending to form a breakaway league (1 Viewer)

Wow, a shakeup for sure. That image is a bit misleading as to membership. Apparently it's still a fluid situation but:

Agreed members:
Real Madrid, Barca
Man. United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs
Juventus, AC Milan, Inter

At least two others, with a host of other clubs interested but not yet invited. I see a report that the plan is for 20 teams.

Invited but not yet agreed:
Man. City, PSG, Bayern, Dortmund






 
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So a super league of sorts but not sure how this will play out
 
Wow, a shakeup for sure. That image is a bit misleading as to membership. Apparently it's still a fluid situation but:

Agreed members:
Real Madrid, Barca
Man. United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs
Juventus, AC Milan, Inter

At least two others, with a host of other clubs interested but not yet invited. I see a report that the plan is for 20 teams.

Invited but not yet agreed:
Man. City, PSG, Bayern, Dortmund







This is really interesting. I'm not sure if it's good or bad. On the good side, you would see got matchups every week in this league. On the other side, you would loose some of the magic of the underdog winning a championship. I also found this interesting:

"The new league represents the American takeover of elite European football, which will become a closed shop run by its founder members. It is bankrolled by US banking giant JP Morgan and is the brainchild of Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and the American owners of three leading English clubs."

I'm not at all surprised that guys like Stan Kronke, John Henry, and the Glazers are behind this. The idea of relegation and not having their investment guaranteed is not something American team owners are used to or would put up with for long.
 
Not happy:



 
So a super league of sorts but not sure how this will play out

Yeah, I'm not clear if this super league would just replace the Champions League or if it would replace these teams' participation in their domestic leagues. If it's just a replacement for Champions League, I think it's probably a good thing and I can see why big teams want to get more of the money they generate in the Champions League and want to guarantee participation.
 
Not happy:






" As previously announced by FIFA and the six Federations, the clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams."

So, anytime FIFA is against something, I immediately think it's probably a good idea. They start of talking about how competition has to be open and then conclude with if you choose to play like this and not play in our league, we will ban you from all other competitions? What a corrupt bunch of gangsters. This is not about sporting competition. It's about FIFA wanting to keep the money and payoffs.
 
Yeah, I'm not clear if this super league would just replace the Champions League or if it would replace these teams' participation in their domestic leagues. If it's just a replacement for Champions League, I think it's probably a good thing and I can see why big teams want to get more of the money they generate in the Champions League and want to guarantee participation.

One source I saw said it was a summer league.
 
See that makes me even more suspicious of the response from the leagues. If it's just a summer league then why do they care?

Perhaps they fear incremental loss of their brand at ECL?

I can’t actually find that summer info, so not sure about that right now.
 
See that makes me even more suspicious of the response from the leagues. If it's just a summer league then why do they care?

Player exposure (injuries) would be one reason. The very real possibility of the league becoming popular and actually expanding would be another.

FIFA is as corrupt an organization as there is (maybe even moreso than the NFL) but I do believe they hold the cards here. For better or worse I don't think this league has a chance of happening....we will see...
 
Player exposure (injuries) would be one reason. The very real possibility of the league becoming popular and actually expanding would be another.

FIFA is as corrupt an organization as there is (maybe even moreso than the NFL) but I do believe they hold the cards here. For better or worse I don't think this league has a chance of happening....we will see...

I'm pretty sure that any opposition from the leagues and FIFA is all about their own loss of money and power. And, any statements about integrity of the game and keeping it an open competition are just posturing and spin to try to take the moral high ground over what in the end is all about money.

Anyway, like I said, I'm really not sure if this would be a good thing or not, but I think there are ways in which it could be a good thing. If it's basically a separate league that they play alongside their domestic leagues, I don't see an issue with it. And the only reason the English FA or Spanish equivalent would have an issue with it is because it would interfere with money going to FIFA and EUFA. I mean, if it's just a Champions League replacement, what's the difference other than that FIFA and EUFA aren't in control of it?

Obviously their will be legal battles, but I wonder if the EPL, EUFA, or even FIFA can risk destroying their own product by banning the biggest and most popular teams and players in the world from their competitions? I mean, I certainly can't see the EPL playing without Man U, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal. Same with La Liga without Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Athletico, and Serie A without Jerventus, AC Milan, and Inter Milan.

I mean, I guess I can see how non-Americans can see no good in this, but Americans know that sports without relegation can work. But, I guess I always thought that relegation would come to MLS before the end of relegation came to European soccer.
 
I also wonder if this is delaying a deal being made for the U.S. rights to the EPL for next season. The NBC deal is expiring, but no new deal has been done. Maybe the U.S. networks had information from the American owners that this was coming and don't want to negotiate that deal until this European Super League issue is settled?
 

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