Re: The European Super League Megathread

by M99 Mon Apr 19, 2021 11:56 pm

Florentino Perez wrote:First time I'm here at El Chiringuito TV and maybe the last time too.

The big clubs of England, Spain and Italy have to find a solution to tackle the bad situation that football is experiencing.

We've come to the conclusion that by replacing Champions League with the Super League, we'll be able to alleviate the lost income due to the pandemic. You have to make profitable income by producing more competitive games.

When you have no income other than the broadcasting rights, you come up with a solution of producing more attractive games that enable fans from all over the world to watch the big clubs play against each other.

Real Madrid in two seasons have lost 400 million euros, and that's just Real Madrid. At Real Madrid we're in a very bad economic situation. The ESL will save the clubs financially.

Football has changed...interest was being lost as audiences were going down, and the TV rights also being reduced. Something had to change. And the pandemic told us, ‘do it now’, We are all close to bankruptcy. 40% of young people aren't interested in football, because there are too many games of low quality. And we had to adapt.

Football needs to change to be more attractive globally. Instead of making the Champions League because it lost interest as he had in 1950, change comes and even at the time FIFA and UEFA were against it. But that's how football changed.

The attractive thing in football is playing between big clubs, the value for television increases and more income is generated. It's not just the rich who want the Super League, we're doing it to save football because it's at a critical moment.

t will become like a pyramid because we big clubs will have more money and we will be able to invest it by buying players... if the big clubs lose their money as is happening, the whole football system crashes as with the Champions League

The Super League is NOT a closed league, it's absolutely not true. Whoever wins the five available spots will be able to play with the other best teams in the world.

All I do is for the good of football.

by Perucho21 Mon Apr 19, 2021 11:56 pm

Perez saving Barca again from financial peril :bow:

Barca fans should be grateful. Think of all that money he's giving you guys so you can give it all to Messi and extend his contract for a year :bow:

by sportsczy Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:00 am

The comparison to the franchise model in the US is a false one btw.

There's full revenue sharing and a salary cap.

So the NBA and NFL have equity in terms of spending across all the teams. The fact that players want to live in a particular city or play for franchise that is more focused on winning has nothing to do with the money they get from them.

Also, you have teams in Oklahoma City, Cleveland, Utah, etc that have competed for championships. Tampa Bay isn't exactly a big city. So the franchises are spread geographically to offer the product to everyone, both in cities and rural areas.

Finally, you have to win in the regular season to get into the playoffs. There is no free pass. It's true you can't get relegated... but without the playoffs, you don't participate in the playoff media payouts which are big.

Most importantly... the pure meritocracy of an open system in European football is what makes it great. The only thing it needs is some sort of salary cap CALCULATED based on projected club revenue so that you don't get such inequities.

You don't need a superleague. You need a salary cap structure.

Just my two cents.

by sportsczy Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:02 am

Flo pulling stats out of his ass and, more importantly, out of context.

Revenues are down during the pandemic? You don't say! 40% less people interested in football? I would want to see that statistic because it's contrary to every single one I've seen.

Football has never made more money or been more popular than today. The issue is that these elite clubs can't outspend everyone anymore... let's be clear. It's about elitism.

Fuck Flo

by rincon Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:11 am

Nishankly wrote:Milner the first ESL player and VC of a club to speak out

JAMES FUCKING MILNER pic.twitter.com/7mtdWkxROO
— The Redmen TV (@TheRedmenTV) April 19, 2021

I think Bruno Fernandes said something this morning on social media, or another United player iirc. Great to see.

by rincon Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:19 am

S wrote:
Florentino Perez to El Chiringuito: "This #SuperLeague is not for the rich, but it's to save football. If this continues, football will disappear and by 2024 we would already be dead. This is the only way to save everyone: big, medium and small clubs".
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 19, 2021

"It's not for the rich"... yet its a closed circle for the richest to stay rich

by Kaladin Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:20 am

️| Florentino Perez: "We will take actual steps to fight Racism, So people like Leonardo Bonucci and Pep Guardiola are not Welcome" #rmalive
— Madrid Zone (@AlessioTackle) April 19, 2021

LMFAOOOOOO rofl

by Zagadka Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:22 am

Robespierre wrote:
Nishankly wrote:
Robespierre wrote:Hap used the proper word : nightmare

Sadly I feel we fans are impotence on it, it's as if we don't exsist, at the end clubs care more about disposable fans that guarantee big market to be expended

But football players can change something if they move on

I declare the Save Football Commitee - James Milner Column

There are only two things that can change this.

A) The Players - who can put a stop to this upto a point, if the fans accept, who are they do stop anything?

B) The fans - I don't trust the fans since most of us are so so so emotionally invested in our clubs, we'd even watch if these clubs were run by Hitler until proven guilty. They will be the ones who will just accept it like the norm and allow the sport to be redefined and changed for fun. These owners have proper mgmt teams behind them making these decisions and they have incorporated the fact that most fans are helpless and will follow the Shepard onto a highway.

As I said, this is literally the last chance for fans to be fans and make some noise, else they are now just customers considering these clubs can now change the paradigm of a sport rather than just choosing how to spend on an investment without question.

Football will not be the same if this comes to play.

ESL clubs are lucky that fans can't protest because stadiums are closed due to pandemic.

Otherwise I think we could 've witnessed towards harsh protests.
It's impossibile now.
When stadium will open again .. .I fear we'll already have this crap.
Internet protest haven't same effect. We live in a period where you can't protest concretely.

there was literally worldwide protest in USA and Western Europe last June in the absolute height of pandemic with no vaccine over Floyd and BLM.

If fans want to protest, they can. Lockdowns aren't an excuse.

by Mr Nick09 Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:24 am

It doesn’t matter how Florentine justifies it at the end of the day. Elite clubs staged a power grab to filter most of the revenues they generate through the CL and they will succeed. Change is always uncomfortable but PSG will join and that sly raccoon of a president named Rummenigge will enroll Bayern in ad well at the last minute.

The Super League is the new CL. The champions league will become what the Europa league is lol, Uefa can keep that

by sportsczy Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:31 am

Will never happen Nick. Europe is not a pure capitalist economy. It's social democracy. All the politicians need to do is make the case that this is socially not beneficial, introduce law to make this impossible and pass the law. Lawsuits will fly... but the judicial system is very slow and everything will be blocked. In the end, the judges can only act if a law was broken. Since the politicians are the lawmakers... well, we know where this will go.

Also, FIFA and UEFA run the european cups and world cups. They can ban teams/players. Same with the domestic leagues... they can ban teams/players.

Flo and co do not have the power to win this fight. Not even close.

Imo, it's a scheme to get a better deal out of UEFA. A way to gain leverage. I think it was miscalculated.

by RealGunner Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:33 am

Tottenham pic.twitter.com/eNIWU9qPXu
— Renato (@rehnato) April 19, 2021

lmaoooo

by M99 Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:36 am

sportsczy wrote:Flo pulling stats out of his ass and, more importantly, out of context.

Revenues are down during the pandemic? You don't say! 40% less people interested in football? I would want to see that statistic because it's contrary to every single one I've seen.

Football has never made more money or been more popular than today. The issue is that these elite clubs can't outspend everyone anymore... let's be clear. It's about elitism.

Fuck Flo

I know right Laughing

Here he is crying about losing matchday revenue, bitch there are lower league teams whose ONLY revenue is matchday revenue. They don't have tournaments hosted for them in neutral ground during a pandemic which got broadcast to millions. Hell, the pandemic didn't end and teams still travelled around Europe for the Champions League.

These assholes see one year of their income statement being in the red and they pull this shit. F off.

by Mr Nick09 Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:38 am

The moment I heard the UEFA président have a press conference talking as if he was on Twitter, I knew he had no legal ground. They will not ban players from playing the Euros or the World Cup. Legally I don’t think they can and it’s not in their best interest as well.

What will happen at the end of the day and UEFA and FIFA will come at the table of this new pie and get what they can get.

Social democracy can only go as far as the rich are making money. When they start losing it, or feel like they are not getting as much as they should be, as it is the case, they become more aggressive and push more capitalistic reforms.

I think they have used the idea of a SuperLeague as a bargaining power for as long as they could. I don’t think there is a step back. These clubs have UEFA on the ropes one way or another, they stay as is with the control and the money; or they return and make the UEFA their bitch

by CBarca Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:39 am

Yeah sports is such a shame because there are ways to improve these leagues and to take good ideas from American sports, from the NBA. A salary cap like you mentioned.

The fact that they've somehow decided this is the model is insane. I guess not tho, it gets what they want -- insulation and money

by Mr Nick09 Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:42 am

M99 wrote:
sportsczy wrote:Flo pulling stats out of his ass and, more importantly, out of context.

Revenues are down during the pandemic? You don't say! 40% less people interested in football? I would want to see that statistic because it's contrary to every single one I've seen.

Football has never made more money or been more popular than today. The issue is that these elite clubs can't outspend everyone anymore... let's be clear. It's about elitism.

Fuck Flo

I know right

Here he is crying about losing matchday revenue, bitch there are lower league teams whose ONLY revenue is matchday revenue. They don't have tournaments hosted for them in neutral ground during a pandemic which got broadcast to millions. Hell, the pandemic didn't end and teams still travelled around Europe for the Champions League.

These assholes see one year of their income statement being in the red and they pull this shit. F off.

well I think you are looking at things as if it’s just one odd year… if it was the case ok, but it’s not and COVID has profoundly changed society in a way that even with vaccines we don’t know how fast society will return to what it used to be.

I think they are looking at the situation a bit differently projecting that is is more than a one year in a red type of situation, and trying to adjust.

by farfan Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:42 am

sportsczy wrote:

Imo, it's a scheme to get a better deal out of UEFA. A way to gain leverage. I think it was miscalculated.

Gain leverage? they've had the leverage all along and now they're exercising it.

UEFA has been trying to placate the top 12 for years now to prevent this. They introduced rules to protect them from new money (financial fair play), they proposed new CL formats, they gave executive positions to the loudest ESL proponents (Agnelli)

Evidently, none of this worked.

by sportsczy Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:46 am

Trust me Nick... politicians are interested in votes first and foremost. Beating the shit out of this super league is a lay up for them. The people will love it. They'll eat Flo up and spit him out.

Money only talks when it's a means to get votes and win elections, which is the business that they're in. There are plenty of other ways to make money.

by sportsczy Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:47 am

@farfan... yeah, but they still want more those greedy bastards. So they thought this would get them even more. Gross miscalculation.

by Mr Nick09 Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:54 am

sportsczy wrote:Trust me Nick... politicians are interested in votes first and foremost. Beating the shit out of this super league is a lay up for them. The people will love it. They'll eat Flo up and spit him out.

Money only talks when it's a means to get votes and win elections, which is the business that they're in. There are plenty of other ways to make money.

I have never seen a politician elected in France at a level that matters because of football. Politician will continue to play their own scummy game and the SuperLeague is not changing that. Of course they will answers questions here and there and then what will they do? Nothin because they have 0 power.

Like I said people already against the SuperLeague are not open for a debate. This is another problem of our society where people take positions and are never interested in discussing they other side’s merit. No amount of interview will convince people, they will just accept it because it’s happening and teams are playing games.

How many bullshit reforms UEFA and FIFA tried to pass, first with the Nation League and then the club World Cup? The lesson here is that you either push your idea through or you don’t. Football fans are also some of the most allergic to change I have ever seen. There are still debates about whether VAR is good for the sports, when it should be about the rules of the sports which are prehistoric in some ways. Sometimes football fans deserve nothing good lol.

by M99 Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:01 am

Florentino Perez wrote:Players banned from international competitions and National teams according to UEFA? Don't worry, this will NOT happen.

Real Madrid, Manchester City and Chelsea as the other clubs of Super League will NOT be banned from the Champions League or domestic leagues. 100%, I'm sure. Impossible.

PSG were NOT invited, as of today. We haven't even spoken to German clubs. We are now 12 clubs, we want to become 15 clubs. If PSG and Bayern Munich refuse, the Super League competition will not be canceled. This is a bullshit.

The new UCL Format is economically suicidal. Without the Super League, football will die before 2024. Big and small clubs will die.

They (UEFA) believe we're their property and they can do whatever they want with us, and they're wrong. Monopoly must come to an end.

It's RIDICULOUS that the UEFA president can allow himself to insult the president of a huge European club. We don't need these type of people in football. Disrespectful and unacceptable.

This Super League is not for the rich, but it's to save football. If this continues, football will disappear and by 2024 we would already be dead. This is the only way to save everyone: big, medium and small club. You will hear other voices (Laporta and others) in the next few days defending this. The ones that have a right to have their say are fans and they want more competitive leagues.

Boris Johnson said he will do everything to cancel the Super League because they explained to him that the Premier League would disappear: it's false, it's not true. Everything will go back to normal.

We owe this change to the fans.

If I had to, I would leave my post as Super League president for Joan Laporta (Barcelona President) tomorrow. Because of 20 years of experience, I was selected as Super League's president.

The contract of the Super League is binding. Nobody can leave, we will work all together. All the clubs signed the contracts last Saturday.

We want to start the Super League next season, that's why we announced.

I believe in transparency. Why aren't UEFA and La Liga salaries public? Why haven't salaries been reduced like everyone else during the pandemic? We need more transparency. We know the salary of LeBron James but we don’t know the salary of the UEFA president.

by farfan Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:04 am

Mr Nick09 wrote:
sportsczy wrote:Trust me Nick... politicians are interested in votes first and foremost. Beating the shit out of this super league is a lay up for them. The people will love it. They'll eat Flo up and spit him out.

Money only talks when it's a means to get votes and win elections, which is the business that they're in. There are plenty of other ways to make money.
I have never seen a politician elected in France at a level that matters because of football. Politician will continue to play their own scummy game and the SuperLeague is not changing that. Of course they will answers questions here and there and then what will they do? Nothin because they have 0 power.

Like I said people already against the SuperLeague are not open for a debate. This is another problem of our society where people take positions and are never interested in discussing they other side’s merit. No amount of interview will convince people, they will just accept it because it’s happening and teams are playing games.

How many bullshit reforms UEFA and FIFA tried to pass, first with the Nation League and then the club World Cup? The lesson here is that you either push your idea through or you don’t. Football fans are also some of the most allergic to change I have ever seen. There are still debates about whether VAR is good for the sports, when it should be about the rules of the sports which are prehistoric in some ways. Sometimes football fans deserve nothing good lol.

That's a good point Nick.

I've lost count of how many times football was declared "dead" in the past 25 years as a result of some relatively minor change.

by Kaladin Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:13 am

Mr Nick09 wrote:
sportsczy wrote:Trust me Nick... politicians are interested in votes first and foremost. Beating the shit out of this super league is a lay up for them. The people will love it. They'll eat Flo up and spit him out.

Money only talks when it's a means to get votes and win elections, which is the business that they're in. There are plenty of other ways to make money.
I have never seen a politician elected in France at a level that matters because of football. Politician will continue to play their own scummy game and the SuperLeague is not changing that. Of course they will answers questions here and there and then what will they do? Nothin because they have 0 power.

Like I said people already against the SuperLeague are not open for a debate. This is another problem of our society where people take positions and are never interested in discussing they other side’s merit. No amount of interview will convince people, they will just accept it because it’s happening and teams are playing games.

How many bullshit reforms UEFA and FIFA tried to pass, first with the Nation League and then the club World Cup? The lesson here is that you either push your idea through or you don’t. Football fans are also some of the most allergic to change I have ever seen. There are still debates about whether VAR is good for the sports, when it should be about the rules of the sports which are prehistoric in some ways. Sometimes football fans deserve nothing good lol.

Absolutely fantastic post, fully agree

Football fans, pundits, media, are some of the worst of any sport. Bunch of hypocrits.

by M99 Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:15 am

Kaladin wrote:
️| Florentino Perez: "We will take actual steps to fight Racism, So people like Leonardo Bonucci and Pep Guardiola are not Welcome" #rmalive
— Madrid Zone (@AlessioTackle) April 19, 2021

LMFAOOOOOO

️| Florentino Perez: "I watched 10 minutes of a Europa League game the other day and I lost the will to live" #rmalive
— Madrid Zone (@AlessioTackle) April 19, 2021

️| Florentino Perez: "I talked to Cristiano Ronaldo and he told me he wasn't happy at Juventus with just scoring against Crotone and Spezia, He wants better competition" #rmalive
— Madrid Zone (@AlessioTackle) April 19, 2021

LMFAOOOOO GOAT shitposting account.

by CBarca Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:19 am

I'm not sure that abandoning the countries most prestigious competition and making a "good old boys club" with 12 members while saying "fuck you" to every other club is a "minor change", though.

People compare this to the NBA or NFL and I understand it but it's wrong. It's the most fucked up perverse version of the NBA or NFL. Even the exclusivity of it.

I think there is a world where they can spin this in a way I can at least understand where they're coming from in terms of borrowing from American sports. I enjoy the NBA. This is not that though. This is set up exactly for what it is: a cash grab.

And Flo's comments just make that clear as day. He has zero respect or care for teams who aren't part of his plan. He has contempt for the Napoli's or Atalanta's, clearly.

by CBarca Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:24 am

It's fair to call football fans allergic to change, but I also think that can't be used as a way to disregard anyone's thoughts on the super league, either.

It sounds boring as fuck to me and I don't need it to exist for me to know that. I will not watch it. If CL still exists without it, I will gladly watch the CL

by farfan Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:24 am

CBarca wrote:I'm not sure that abandoning the countries most prestigious competition and making a "good old boys club" with 12 members while saying "fuck you" to every other club is a "minor change", though.
.

I'm not counting this as a minor change. I'm just saying football fans are so averse to change that they've reacted dramatically to any form of change, even organic ones.

I vividly remember the late 90's where the emergence of faster and more athletic players was seen as the death of football. Laughing

how silly was that reaction looking back.

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