Why is the new football ESL so controversial?

[00100001]

Can some explain like I'm 5?

Why are all the fans, the government, UEFA etc up in arms?

Sorry.... Just not sure what the problem is?

so, what is happening with the premiership womens and e-sports teams?

I saw that ESL want to make a women's league at some point?

Just joining in to agree that it's a terrible idea, elitist, and not in the spirit of the game at all.

It'll be interesting to see if it does indeed go ahead (I'm not sure that it will) and if it does what sanctions are imposed by the FA/Premier League etc.

The most obvious candidates for the 'other 3' are PSG, Bayern & Dortmund, although unless they're already legally tied in, they might be right to distance themselves as I literally can't find one person who thinks that this is a good idea.

If, and it's a big if, it goes ahead then it'll also be interesting to see what the likes of Jurgen Klopp do as I can't believe that this is the sort of thing that he would want to be involved in. Either way, it further exposes those who own these clubs to be only in it for the money.

Yes, unlikely German clubs will sign up. They actually uphold financial fair play unlike the other money grabbers.

DH just told me an unnamed club owner of one of the new ESL clubs made a reference to traditional supporters being "legacy fans".

Legacy fans!! Unreal.

I'm reading on Twitter now that Jose Mourinho has gone, not sure what's happened, the current form, or a protest at the Super League heads back to Twitter to find out!

I know many see football players (the men anyway) as over-paid prima donnas, but I hope a few at least from the so-called big 6 come out against this proposal.

If it goes ahead, I expect Klopp will leave Liverpool, wonder if any other managers would follow?

It is globalisation like Google, Amazon, etc. They want to be free of controls (by nations or conglomerations like Europe) so they can write their own rulebook and evade things like tax.
It's all about money. Which means parting you from your money.

Oh 'sacked' apparently...

@TokyoSushi

I'm reading on Twitter now that Jose Mourinho has gone, not sure what's happened, the current form, or a protest at the Super League heads back to Twitter to find out!

Seriously!! He's laughing all the way to the bank! That's 10% of Spurs £300mill blood money gone already...

@Horizons83 that's really interesting, thanks!

I was watching something about this last night and they said PSG, Dortmund and Bayern have declined to join.

Maybe the ESL fixtures will be played on grounds befitting of their new outlook.

Quatar, Beijing, Singapore, LA...

Plenty of time to travel with no other domestic/international fixtures to play.

Ooooh yay Jose has gone! Perhaps not such a bad day for Spurs after all!

The one good thing about lockdown is that I've not had to pay to watch his awful brand of football ruin my beloved club for the last year.

1. As there is no relegation, there is no true sporting reason, only financial reasons
2. Football has traditions: local derbies, FA cups, the charity shield, traditional rivalries. This ignores all of that
3. Football clubs are associated with local areas and although those ties are weakening, having games away
4. The European clubs play a different kind of football. It's interesting but it's not quite as exciting as UK football
5. These clubs are interested in the football tourism. So a Chinese tourist who wants to pay £500 for a one off experience watch Barcelona v Manchester United. They will pay above the odds for the ticket and buy a piece of nylon for £75 while they were at it. Football is a way of life to season ticket holders and that will disappear for these clubs.
6. It ignores the great strides clubs like West Ham, Everton and Leicester have made. They have invested heavily but they will only ever be guests at the top table.
7. It sucks away money from all the other premier league and lower division clubs
8. The 6 clubs will syphon off footballing talent and leave them sitting on the bench as "spares" rather than entertaining us all and gaining experience for their national side.
9. Many of these big clubs have won by amassing huge debts (ie cheating). Now they want all the fans to pay off these debts.

Great summation, @mellicauli

Excellent summary @mellicauli.

The League Cup final between Spurs and Man City is next weekend, with a few fans allowed into the stadium. It will be interesting to hear the comments from those fans. I would not be surprised if the teams are greeted by boos. That's what I would do if I was going!

@Ifailed

I know many see football players (the men anyway) as over-paid prima donnas, but I hope a few at least from the so-called big 6 come out against this proposal. If it goes ahead, I expect Klopp will leave Liverpool, wonder if any other managers would follow?

It's not the players. They love football as much as the fans. It's the owners.

The UK government could intervene in a simple way, with a viewing tax for watching the games on any tv or internet platform of £20 per game. It would kill off tv revenue in the UK for such a project.

The other one would be to prohibit fans at such matches, on the grounds that there could be protests and disorder. The loss of 40,000 fans income for 10 matches a season would make it much less attractive.

5. These clubs are interested in the football tourism. So a Chinese tourist who wants to pay £500 for a one off experience watch Barcelona v Manchester United. They will pay above the odds for the ticket and buy a piece of nylon for £75 while they were at it. Football is a way of life to season ticket holders and that will disappear for these clubs.

Tourists will pay that for any game already so I dread to think how much it’d cost for the European ‘elite’. Me and my son are Man Utd season ticket holders and regularly see tourists seated near to us who have zero interest in what’s happening on the pitch. Multiple selfies are taken, backs to the pitch with the game being played behind them. We’re in the stand near to the away supporters and a tourist in front of me spent much of the second half of one game recording the away support on his phone on one occasion. All this while surrounded by bags of souvenirs from the club shop.

Bold fail there

Professional top flight British and European (men's) football is all about big business and maximising revenues. This new self proposed "competition" system may facilitate more revenue streams. From a sporting competition perspective it is essentially a closed competition whereby new up and coming teams cannot gain entry. Traditionally English and European football has and we continue to be dominated by a small number of clubs (businesses) and I gathered it is these usual suspects who are formulating the new closed competition format to further control their business revenue streams to the potential detriment of other smaller up and coming teams. As for all sports - open entry competitions from grass roots upwards will allow potential talents to reach the top tiers.

I gathered the overwhelming Chinese televised and sports gambling market may be shaping European men’s football. Previously it was domestic satellite television and media only.

@MadisonAvenue Yes it's the same at Spurs. Every single game I have tourists next to me, mainly Korean, screaming at Son for 90 minutes and taking selfies. No actual interest in the game.

And if the Spurs owners think that same fan base will remain supporting Spurs when Son leaves, they are deluded.

@Comefromaway

There is such little interest in European football that Man City regularly offer bulk tickets to European matches to local schools for £5 each.

That's rubbish. The Champions League is a big deal and Manchester City are desperate to win it. They sell their tickets cheaply because they have plastic fans who want to watch from home or live too far away to travel on a weekday night. Liverpool and Manchester United could sell their grounds out multiple times over on a home CL night

Borussia Dortmund have released a statement that they will not be joining the superleague.
Apparently Bayern, Leipzig and Porto are deciding soon.

Interesting from Dan Roan on twitter

Am told by well-placed source;
*Man Utd & RM “ringleaders”
*3 US-owned PL clubs “really mean this”, sold on the NFL model of closed league with star clubs/players driving value
*others see it more as leverage over UEFA - unhappy new CL format means £ shared among more clubs..
*Big clubs from struggling leagues (Spain, Italy) agitating because their domination of has produced boring football outcomes.
*All hurting due to Covid. Want control of the competition structure and of revenue distributions.
According to source, some of those involved in ESL call traditional supporters of clubs “legacy fans” while they are focused instead on the “fans of the future” who want superstar names
*ESL insists modelling shows solidarity payments will be boosted £10bn Euros over 23 seasons)According to source, some of those involved in ESL call traditional supporters of clubs “legacy fans” while they are focused instead on the “fans of the future” who want superstar names
*ESL insists modelling shows solidarity payments will be boosted £10bn Euros over 23 seasons)..ESL clubs insist they negotiated in good faith with UEFA over new CL, but really dislike new 36 team format which they feel is quantity over quality.
They want consistency in the competition & feel pre-Xmas the current system doesn’t work with too many predictable matches.

are there any other equivalents to this league? eg in American Football?