Now for a more balanced view of the proposed Super League, effectively gutting England's Premier League along with the equivalents in Spain and Italy. There are positives and negatives as I see them, first I'll deal with the positives.
Fans going to see their favourite team play are not guaranteed to see the best of that team. Due to the busy schedule the teams regularly play their extended squad. Want to see Lionel Messi? You're not guaranteed to see him turn out. You're watching the team, not the players. That's fair enough but these games and merchandise are expensive and so fans should be guaranteed something. What the super league does is better provide for that market. Fans will more likely see the big names.
However, bad is that these big teams looking to break away have disrespected their opponents. What made these big name teams? They didn't get to the top on their own, they needed fans and players but above all opponents. Clearly, over 100 or so years these big teams have won more than they've lost. But they needed those opponents, without them they'd be nothing. So wanting to walk now is a low blow, they're cherry picking and forgetting their roots.
The new proposal can be compared to the NBA which has 30 teams and no promotion or relegation. The teams persist, with only the city that hosts them, the players, management and ownership changing. They don't promote a team from minor leagues to replace the bottom NBA team as that would destroy brand value. It makes sense, so why is this not credible with the current proposal as it relates to European football?
The answer is simple and I've hinted at it above. The NBA teams were created from nothing, they're inventions in effect (let's not get carried away with how the NBA was formed, I'm generalising here). But hang on, these European teams already exist as big names in their respective competitions. We're not comparing apples with apples.
If the owners of Manchester United and Real Madrid want to set up a new super league, then do so by creating new brands, new teams, and buy the players for the league. Start from scratch as the NBA did. Do the job honestly. There are other examples in sport, in Cricket we had World Series Cricket launched by Kerry Packer which revolutionised the one day game, and right now the Indian Premier League is making big money. They use new teams for these competitions, they're starting from scratch.
I notice divided opinion on this subject. Andre Walker is one conservative voice on YouTube who backed the super league, resulting in a backlash against him. No doubt he's looking at the positives and there are many. But the way I see it, the backers have to start from scratch, do it the right way, and then there is hope.
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