OT: European Soccer Super League

[bendm]

Yeah World Cup is more like March Madness. People root for the laundry and it's a short term spectacle. You may still have a breakout mainstream star like Mbappe or whatever, but in general it's more about the countries than the players.

i agree with the first part but it's not really short term. qualification for the world cup includes continental tournaments like the EUROs and Copa America, which are going on every four years as well, meaning there are huge tourneys every two years, which national teams are also needing to play games in order to qualify for. it's essentially always going on.

 

[djct1999]

And not just this point - but if you are an elite soccer talent, you have like 100 teams you can play for and make roughly the same $$. Its kinda like what we are seeing in the NBA the last 10-15 years where the players have a huge amount of power. The talent drain to these 15 clubs if they actually get banned from FIFA/UEFA tourneys is immense. Any of these guys can just go to PSG or Bayern and still play for the flag in their side time.

The elite players will go where they are paid the most, which will inevitably be this super league. The impact will trickle down and weaken every club beneath it. So the elite player will probably pick from these twelve clubs and possibly 5 more.

 

[auror]

If you take the top 250+ players from March madness it would be a weakened product and in general people would care less. If England, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Italy and the likes are all sending their b and c teams, you lose the David vs Goliath storyline and it becomes more ordinary. Just knowing the best players in the world wouldn’t be participating weakens the entire meaning of the tournament.

Casual fans that watch March Madness and fill out brackets often don't even know a single player in the whole tournament to begin with. They root for their alma mater or the coolest mascot or the school that their niece goes to or the local team or just the trendy pick to win it all.

 

[bendm]

If you take the top 250+ players from March madness it would be a weakened product and in general people would care less. If England, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Italy and the likes are all sending their b and c teams, you lose the David vs Goliath storyline and it becomes more ordinary. Just knowing the best players in the world wouldn’t be participating weakens the entire meaning of the tournament.

the countries that won would be celebrating just as crazily and they would have the added joy of calling the other countries players' sell outs. you expressing a very American viewpoint on this

 

[upstater]

Some of the greatest moments will be lost however. Those upsets have been dramatic in the past. Ajax, Roma, Atalanta, just some of the teams that have made the Final 4 last couple of years.

 

[djct1999]

Casual fans that watch March Madness and fill out brackets often don't even know a single player in the whole tournament to begin with. They root for their alma mater or the coolest mascot or the school that their niece goes to or the local team or just the trendy pick to win it all.

International soccer fans aren’t that casual. I get country over club, but not when the majority of your top players are ruled ineligible. The argument is most likely moot anyway. FIFA will never take it that far. They are playing hardball to try and get a piece of the pie.

 

[djct1999]

the countries that won would be celebrating just as crazily and they would have the added joy of calling the other countries players' sell outs. you expressing a very American viewpoint on this

Actually, I am thinking as an Italian American and how my family in Italy will view it. I am assuming the English and Brazilians will think similarly.

 

[bendm]

Actually, I am thinking as an Italian American and how my family in Italy will view it.

apparently you havent spoken with them in quite sometime or ever watched a world cup with them

 

[djct1999]

apparently you havent spoken with them in quite sometime or ever watched a world cup with them

are you my cousin? My uncle?

 

[bendm]

are you my cousin? My uncle?

football is religion throughout most of the world so you're talking blasphemous nonsense

 

[djct1999]

football is religion throughout most of the world so you're talking blasphemous nonsense

No one is arguing that. The point is, if you relegate the traditional powers to playing their third string, the whole tournament changes. You are so convinced it doesn’t. I will take the under on a billion people viewership.

 

[LIuconn]

Thought I saw no German or French club is in this (yet)? I’m sure PSG will be in

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I genuinely don’t understand why anyone who professes to love the game would be in favor of this. It’s nonsensical.

 

[djct1999]

I genuinely don’t understand why anyone who professes to love the game would be in favor of this. It’s nonsensical.

Pay attention. No one is. We are discussing the ramifications. Outside the 12 club owners, no one likes this idea.

 

[djct1999]

Thought I saw no German or French club is in this (yet)? I’m sure PSG will be in

Yeah, Bayern and Dortmund reportedly turned it down.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Pay attention. No one is. We are discussing the ramifications. Outside the 12 club owners, no one likes this idea.

easy junior.

 

[navery12]

Pay attention. No one is. We are discussing the ramifications. Outside the 12 club owners, no one likes this idea.

There's people in this thread supporting the idea

 

[djct1999]

I really doubt this happens. The
Co-dependence is too strong. The only way the 12 clubs see this through is if they don’t get the bigger cut from domestic leagues, champions league, and Europa that they have been asking for. This time, they took the threat farther and surely will get their way.

 

[Adios]

If they didn't have permanent members, it could work.

 

[Adios]

Bayern Munich has a strong interest in this league, they don't oppose it. If anything, they're trying to figure out how to get around FIFA.

Documents Show Secret Plans for Elite League of Top Clubs

A coalition that includes FC Bayern Munich spent months working on plans to create a private league of elite teams behind the backs of associations and other teams. By DER SPIEGEL Staff

www.spiegel.de

Minor league baseball here is now so stale.

 

[CTBasketball]

I’m honestly surprised it took this long.

 

[uconnsouth]

Going to be fascinating to watch this play out

 

[djct1999]

Thought I saw no German or French club is in this (yet)? I’m sure PSG will be in

 

[djct1999]

Wasn't sure if I should put this in the stock trading thread?

 

[navery12]

If rumors of this league happening were all it took to get rid of Mourinho I wish this happened a year and a half ago

 

[ColchVEGAS]

I get the feeling the German and French clubs are waiting to see how this plays out. If the league does go forward you better believe the top clubs will be looking to be apart of this, the money will be too much to turn down.

The interesting thing will be the 5 teams that can be relegated. How will this be decided? If FIFA and the domestic leagues begin banning teams for participating in the Super League and the 5 teams are rotating in and out will the domestic leagues accept them back if they are relegated? What will happen if they do not? Another league will have to be formed for the teams that cannot play domestically and have been relegated from the Super League.

 

[hardcorehusky]

I like the hybrid idea of permanent teams and teams that could get relegated. Problem is, there needs to be minimum criteria to be met in order to stay in the league. Arsenal can't finish bottom 4 years running and stay in(for example). I think it gets opened up a little bit more to 24 teams with 9 open spots and it becomes a bigger version of Champions League.

I would rather see this than keep what is but add a competition below Europa League which is coming next year.

 

[SubbaBub]

Fans will get over it because they may not have a choice. So Liverpool fans will stop going to Anfield because they are playing Barcelona or Juventus instead of Leiscester or Aston Villa? That is total bs. Sure, there will be initial pushback by traditionalists but soccer fans are extremely loyal and that won’t change w better competition. like Aburks said previously, this is a power play by the top clubs. The epl and la liga will get destroyed without it’s top clubs. The World Cup will get destroyed without the top players from the top clubs. There will be some sort of compromise but these 12 clubs are about to get paid!

What happens if players from Liverpool are never allowed to play in the FA or any other FIFA governed match.

Imagine if playing in the USFL barred a player from the NFL for life. It's bot just about fans. And yes, FIFA and the governments of soccer loving nations would absolutely do this. It is that much of a threat to them.

Where would teams relegated from this new league play? Their home FA's wouldn't take them back.

A super league of 12 teams would be just that, a league of only 12 teams and a finite pool of players. It'd be the WHA combined with Nebraska going to the Big 10. An idea doomed to fail and forever damage the legacy of the teams involved.

 

[SubbaBub]

Btw, you'd think after our AAC experience, that a UConn board would understand the impotence of having historic ties to your opponents. Your brand as a team is a perishable item.

 

[djct1999]

I am trying to wrap my head around why any player would be banned from playing for his country because of league affiliation. Feels like FIFA wants another kickback. Honest question, would that even hold up in court?