🚨🏆 Super League potential format announced.

🔢 64 teams.
📊 3 divisions (Star, Gold and Blue) with promotions and relegations.

⚽️ 14 games each season per team.
🏡 7 at home.
🛫 7 away.

🔓 It will be an open competition
⚔️ Two phases: League and playoffs. pic.twitter.com/onKZ5vVq09

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 21, 2023

This sounds so terribly fake and I don't know how they'll expect the bigger clubs to add 14 games to an already congested schedule

❗️The Super League would not be a closed tournament but a meritocratic one. The plans are more or less made already and will be known soon.

It can be underway from the 2025-26 season.

The promoters are convinced that the English clubs will return.

Via: @JoanPoquiEraso [md]

— Barça Buzz (@Barca_Buzz) December 21, 2023

EU court says league banning clubs from joining is unlawful

I still think it makes sense on a few levels.

-How do regular clubs compete with sovereigns?
-How do they decrease schedule congestion?
-How do they make compelling matchups (as we've seen discussed about this years latest CL knockout draw)?

Edit: perhaps replacing the CL entirely which cuts out UEFA…

AGC said:

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I still think it makes sense on a few levels.

-How do regular clubs compete with sovereigns?
-How do they decrease schedule congestion?
-How do they make compelling matchups (as we've seen discussed about this years latest CL knockout draw)?

Edit: perhaps replacing the CL entirely which cuts out UEFA…

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I generally like it, if they do it well - and #1 on my list for "doing it well" is promotion/relegation into the league.

To your questions:
- They probably can't. Maybe strict financial rules would help, but sovereigns could do a lot under the table.
- This would absolutely cut out the UEFA competitions…at least under their current format. No way teams could do this and CL/EL/etc and their domestic leagues/cups. And it's clear from the format that they aren't using this to replace the domestic leagues (yet).
- I think their promotion/relegation between 3 divisions fixes this, and IMO, it is brilliant. While we all love a good Cinderella like Copenhagen… they'd be better suited in a 3rd tier European competition. Your top division is going to be high-quality from top-to-bottom.

The bigger question to me is how you can make the domestic leagues stay relevant… and for me that seems impossible if they're unwilling to change their formats to meet this new challenge. It will no longer be important to finish 4th (or whatever). So if you're say last-years Chelsea and you're clearly not doing well domestically - you're going to go all-in in the Super League. And if you're shielded from promotion/relegation out of the Super League by the 3 levels within the Super League structure (I assume if there's pro-rel into SL, it would happen at their bottom level), then you can focus on SL and not worry so much on the domestic season because your spot in SL is secure. And then even that's even more the case if you slip to the middle SL division… you're gonna fight hard there to get back to the top-division gravy train.

I think a potential avenue for domestic leagues would be to trim their numbers a bit (or restructure into two "conferences") and then have a playoff at the end, which would add some excitement and incentive to perform domestically.

deadbq03 said:

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AGC said:

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I still think it makes sense on a few levels.

-How do regular clubs compete with sovereigns?
-How do they decrease schedule congestion?
-How do they make compelling matchups (as we've seen discussed about this years latest CL knockout draw)?

Edit: perhaps replacing the CL entirely which cuts out UEFA…

---

I generally like it, if they do it well - and #1 on my list for "doing it well" is promotion/relegation into the league.

To your questions:
- They probably can't. Maybe strict financial rules would help, but sovereigns could do a lot under the table.
- This would absolutely cut out the UEFA competitions…at least under their current format. No way teams could do this and CL/EL/etc and their domestic leagues/cups. And it's clear from the format that they aren't using this to replace the domestic leagues (yet).
- I think their promotion/relegation between 3 divisions fixes this, and IMO, it is brilliant. While we all love a good Cinderella like Copenhagen… they'd be better suited in a 3rd tier European competition. Your top division is going to be high-quality from top-to-bottom.

The bigger question to me is how you can make the domestic leagues stay relevant… and for me that seems impossible if they're unwilling to change their formats to meet this new challenge. It will no longer be important to finish 4th (or whatever). So if you're say last-years Chelsea and you're clearly not doing well domestically - you're going to go all-in in the Super League. And if you're shielded from promotion/relegation out of the Super League by the 3 levels within the Super League structure (I assume if there's pro-rel into SL, it would happen at their bottom level), then you can focus on SL and not worry so much on the domestic season.

I think a potential avenue for domestic leagues would be to trim their numbers a bit (or restructure into two "conferences") and then have a playoff at the end, which would add some excitement and incentive to perform domestically.

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Surely there's a mechanism in the domestic leagues to keep teams in the super league. For example, top 3-5 finish required to stay in the top tier with reshuffling of the super league if you fall out. I don't think it has to be antagonistic towards the domestic leagues.

I do think the CL needs to change and decrease participation because only a sovereign and a few majors can face the physical challenges of the calendar. Newcastle is burning right now because of it. I think that's the real shuffle and why they brought on Qatar to such a powerful position last year. He doesn't care about FFP or the health of the general French league, just the money from Europe. Why else do they want arms dealers in sherif tirasapol competing on a regular basis?

AGC said:

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I still think it makes sense on a few levels.

-How do regular clubs compete with sovereigns?
-How do they decrease schedule congestion?
-How do they make compelling matchups (as we've seen discussed about this years latest CL knockout draw)?

Edit: perhaps replacing the CL entirely which cuts out UEFA…

---

I think it makes little sense based on your questions. Its still feels like Madrid/Barcelona/Juventus trying to get more income because their leagues don't make anything compared to PL.

1) It changes nothing because I assume all clubs will be getting equal cuts. It doesn't fix issue of competing with sovereigns and if anything, complicates it by bring Arabian clubs into the competition allowing them to again buy off players by offering insane salaries.

2) It either adds 14 games to the already insane congestion or maybe the clubs leave CL which really makes no sense. CL is already established and highly rated. Its what most fans love.

3) As for the compelling matchups, I think part of what makes the CL work so well is that you only see the big players match up a few times a year. SL oversaturates the market by those rare, highly sought after matches occurring every week. The product gets stale after awhile.


Its already very obvious that local fan support across all the clubs involved last time was massively against this. Lessening the value of the domestic league is a surefire to piss them off even more. Having domestic leagues trim their numbers is basically telling smaller clubs in those league to **** off. You'll see the bigger teams forced out of their leagues before that happens, especially in every league besides the PL where to 1-3 big teams are already hated for controlling the entire league

Already looks like most of the teams are saying no so far. These are the clubs that have made statements already

🚨 Clubs that have publicly rejected the new Super League format:

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Manchester United
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Manchester City
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Celtic
🇪🇸 Sevilla
🇪🇸 Valencia
🇪🇸 Atletico Madrid
🇪🇸 Real Sociedad
🇪🇸 Villarreal
🇩🇪 Bayern
🇩🇪 Dortmund
🇨🇵 PSG
🇨🇵 Monaco
🇮🇹 Inter
🇮🇹 AS Roma
🇮🇹 Pescara
🇳🇱 Feyenoord

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) December 21, 2023

Quote:

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3) As for the compelling matchups, I think part of what makes the CL work so well is that you only see the big players match up a few times a year. SL oversaturates the market by those rare, highly sought after matches occurring every week. The product gets stale after awhile.

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The CL has already taken a step towards that anyways with the new round robin format and expanding the knock-out rounds, there are going to be more big club matchups. And lots of meaningless group games.

Unless they don't

🚨🚨| BREAKING: UEFA are considering 'ditching' the new Champions League format in favour of and sticking to the current format. They see it as a way to beat the European Super League.

[@voz_populi] pic.twitter.com/yX6V3Do4vc

— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) December 21, 2023

Quote:

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Its still feels like Madrid/Barcelona/Juventus trying to get more income because their leagues don't make anything compared to PL.

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Of course that's what it is. Real Madrid and Barcelona have been operating their clubs like FIFA manager mode for years. They're the Cosmo Kramers of Europe, their whole existence is a fantasy camp and they aren't going to just sit around and give up that lifestyle.

wangus12 said:

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Unless they don't

🚨🚨| BREAKING: UEFA are considering 'ditching' the new Champions League format in favour of and sticking to the current format. They see it as a way to beat the European Super League.

[@voz_populi] pic.twitter.com/yX6V3Do4vc

— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) December 21, 2023

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I'll believe that when I see it happen

wangus12 said:

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AGC said:

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I still think it makes sense on a few levels.

-How do regular clubs compete with sovereigns?
-How do they decrease schedule congestion?
-How do they make compelling matchups (as we've seen discussed about this years latest CL knockout draw)?

Edit: perhaps replacing the CL entirely which cuts out UEFA…

---

I think it makes little sense based on your questions. Its still feels like Madrid/Barcelona/Juventus trying to get more income because their leagues don't make anything compared to PL.

1) It changes nothing because I assume all clubs will be getting equal cuts. It doesn't fix issue of competing with sovereigns and if anything, complicates it by bring Arabian clubs into the competition allowing them to again buy off players by offering insane salaries.

2) It either adds 14 games to the already insane congestion or maybe the clubs leave CL which really makes no sense. CL is already established and highly rated. Its what most fans love.

3) As for the compelling matchups, I think part of what makes the CL work so well is that you only see the big players match up a few times a year. SL oversaturates the market by those rare, highly sought after matches occurring every week. The product gets stale after awhile.

Its already very obvious that local fan support across all the clubs involved last time was massively against this. Lessening the value of the domestic league is a surefire to piss them off even more. Having domestic leagues trim their numbers is basically telling smaller clubs in those league to **** off. You'll see the bigger teams forced out of their leagues before that happens, especially in every league besides the PL where to 1-3 big teams are already hated for controlling the entire league

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Florentino reads the tea leaves better than most whether everyone likes the idea or not. You can keep the current system where sovereigns outbid everyone and take over domestic leagues like they're currently doing (with their farm system of owning multiple clubs) or inject some capital into other teams to help and reduce the risk. That's where the super league adds something. FFP is toothless outside of Spain.

When he was president of Madrid the first time he saw global money flowing in and realized what would happen if we were left out. The legacy on the field was mixed but off it we're a powerhouse.

I think the domestic leagues in non-English countries are dead/dying anyways but they don't see it. They'll wind up with PE firms and sovereigns owning everything if they don't change. UEFA gets paid either way though so they have little interest in stopping it.

Perez was early to global marketing and foreign preseason tours. He re-did the sports city to make training facilities elite. He's just redone the Bernabeu. He's done all this before other clubs (Paris, Barca, ManU, etc.). I agree it benefits us but he's not going to rush into this if it just extends the lead for sovereigns. That's who he's competing with. If Laporta is in board too despite their enmity, it's worth more than a cursory glance.

AGC said:

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I think the domestic leagues in non-English countries are dead/dying anyways but they don't see it. They'll wind up with PE firms and sovereigns owning everything if they don't change. UEFA gets paid either way though so they have little interest in stopping it.

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I don't see the Bundesliga ever going that route due to the 50%+1 rule they have. Leipzig is the closest thing they have and I believe the Bundesliga closed that loop hole afterwards.

Legal Custodian said:

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AGC said:

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I think the domestic leagues in non-English countries are dead/dying anyways but they don't see it. They'll wind up with PE firms and sovereigns owning everything if they don't change. UEFA gets paid either way though so they have little interest in stopping it.

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I don't see the Bundesliga ever going that route due to the 50%+1 rule they have. Leipzig is the closest thing they have and I believe the Bundesliga closed that loop hole afterwards.

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The loophole they recently closed was for an exception for clubs "significantly" funded by a person/company for 20+ years. The rule had been a concession to allow old factory clubs to stay in. After closing this exception, 3 clubs got grandfathered in and are allowed to stay, but no more exceptions will be granted. Wolfsburg is wholly owned by Volkswagen, Leverkusen is owned by Bayer, and Hoffenheim was wholly owned by a private billionaire who grew up in the town, but he just recently gave controlling interest back to the club.

Leipzig is technically owned by the club (now). The lower divisions have no ownership rules, so Red Bull bought a 5th tier club, got them promoted, and then spun them off as a "club" after pumping about 200 million Euro into them. But it just so happens that all 21 members of the club are rich Red Bull executives and membership is closed. But this evidently meets the Bundesliga's legal requirements, and this also allows Leipzig and Salzburg to play in the same UEFA competition.

But your overall point remains. You can't really own a Bundesliga club anymore.

Perez is one of the reasons La Liga is suffering. He looks out for Madrid and Madrid only. La Liga is one of the worst leagues in terms of how they divide league income, especially tv revenue. Madrid and Barcelona each got 160m last year. Atletico got 130m and Sevilla got 87m. The other 16 teams averaged 55.5m (ranging from 69.9 to 45.9.

Thats why their league has always been so terribly top heavy. Madrid and Barcelona have had the biggest hand in destroying their own league. Barcelona are so cash poor that they'll do anything for a dollar.

wangus12 said:

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Perez is one of the reasons La Liga is suffering. He looks out for Madrid and Madrid only. La Liga is one of the worst leagues in terms of how they divide league income, especially tv revenue. Madrid and Barcelona each got 160m last year. Atletico got 130m and Sevilla got 87m. The other 16 teams averaged 55.5m (ranging from 69.9 to 45.9.

Thats why their league has always been so terribly top heavy. Madrid and Barcelona have had the biggest hand in destroying their own league. Barcelona are so cash poor that they'll do anything for a dollar.

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Separate issues. FFP has more teeth in la liga than anywhere else which is why they don't have the same foreign billionaires pouring in. You don't get to pay to break the rules like PSG or ignore them with no consequences like man city (and Chelsea formerly). Barca mismanaged player acquisition before covid hit and are having their comeuppance right now. If it was enforced everywhere else like it was in la liga the super league wouldn't be necessary. Arsenal will eventually get left behind too, it's just a matter of time. Not a coincidence Al khelaifi is rotating into power with UEFA.

AGC said:

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Separate issues. FFP has more teeth in la liga than anywhere else which is why they don't have the same foreign billionaires pouring in. You don't get to pay to break the rules like PSG or ignore them with no consequences like man city (and Chelsea formerly). Barca mismanaged player acquisition before covid hit and are having their comeuppance right now. If it was enforced everywhere else like it was in la liga the super league wouldn't be necessary. Arsenal will eventually get left behind too, it's just a matter of time. Not a coincidence Al khelaifi is rotating into power with UEFA.

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I was going to applaud you on your use of understatement and sarcasm, but it appears you actually appear to be serious. L. O. L.