As news of the proposed breakaway European Super League emerged on Sunday, the initial line of thinking was that the 12 clubs would leave their national leagues to play each other over and over again.
The loss of the Premier League’s so-called ‘big-six’ Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham would create a gap at the top of the multi-billion pound competition. Spanish and Italian clubs AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid complete the dozen.
As it stands two of the six, Arsenal and Tottenham, are not in the Premier League top-four spots and for other clubs, including Manchester United, their grip has in recent seasons been a little tenuous.
The new competition, or circus as some have observed, is more aimed at the Champions League, which currently plays on selected Tuesday and Wednesday nights, with UEFA already holding a spot in the diary for an announcement on revamping the competition from 2024.
In the UK, Sky retains the bulk of the Premier League rights, while BT Sport concentrates on the Champions League and Europa League. The latter competition is surely of note, as it’s effectively for the runners up in the national leagues, and bizarrely those who fall out of the early Champions League rounds.
A new European Super League would surely hit the Europa League more. We’re already making a number of assumptions here and its safer not to second guess the lawyers.
But one consideration has to be a knock-on effect on the value of rights that may have already been purchased and another round of court action, spanning the globe, if the top clubs that the rights holders were expecting are still in the changing rooms.
Pundits on Sky and BT were both vocal in their opposition to the Super League. But what about their bosses?
In Italy, Sky has been left without any Serie A football, so what better way to restore its fortunes.
Then there is the role of DAZN, which has scooped an exclusive on the Serie A rights and been linked with involvement in the Super League, something it has denied.
Whatever happens, it will be more than the football clubs that get the shake-up.
