It’s going to be interesting, as it sounds like everything was done without consultation of the actual players etc. James Milner has come out saying he’s against it, Klopp has stated he’s against it as well. It’d be hilarious if the players refuse to play, or if they go a head, and the managers put out second string squads…
I’m a lifelong Spurs fan and It does make me wonder why they are included. We haven’t won anything in years. I wasn’t born last time they won the league.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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Exactly so it’s hardly a champions league. Money bags league. Fuck them
This tweet gave me a laugh
Benfica, Celtic, Feyenoord, Ajax, Forest, Villa, Hamburg, Steaua Bucharest, Porto, PSV, Red Star Belgrade, Marseille & Dortmund have won 19 European Cups. Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Man City and Spurs have won 0.
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Its purely based on the size of the clubs and their marketability. They’ve only chosen big clubs with huge supporter bases as it allows them to charge a massive amount for TV and sponsorships. The icing of the cake is that apparently they’ll be playing in the US and Dubai amongst other countries…
They are now franchises, they’ll play where their owners are from and where they see the biggest market
I have no issue with the concept but do it like the IPL. Rich people own franchises in cities across the world, players nominate to play rather than in FIFA/UEFA competitions and those franchises can pay for them.
I’m hoping that they will totally shit in their own bed with regards to the product. Namely that they find that punters don’t end up seeing the appeal in more “marquee” fixtures - in exactly the way we’ve found in the A-League. You cannot be pumped for every game in the same way.
And secondly be interesting to see how some of these clubs’ supporters deal with continued mid or lower table mediocrity. I’m sure that the global fan bases will be well and truly mobilised to take in their 8th placed side in their group of 10 come up against 9th.
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Not only the fans, could you see some of the top players in the world wanting to be 9th or 10th? Following on for sponsors, owners etc coming out on the bottom?
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I don’t see this as necessarily new $s, but more the owners of these teams trying to lock in the ‘value’ of their team.
Massive value loss if you get relegated, or even miss out on the UCL for a few years (like Arsenal with 4 yrs in Europa).
Guaranteed position TV $s and merch etc, suddenly makes the team more valuable.
And almost locks out other people (eg the $s going into Everton) from getting to the same position.
But yep. Massive loss of history, of the relegation battles, and the small team surprises.
Im sure theyd be eyeing up a huge broadcast deal slanted in favour of the founding teams on the same type of “derby every week” logic we’ve had here
EDIT: Also JPMorgan have pledged $5 billion USD for financing
I agree.
Strong reports are that Chelsea and City were only approached this week when the whole thing was basically locked in, and probably only because PSG and Bayern said no. Do you do the right thing and say no, but miss out on billions, or join in and profit?
The whole things fucked, but at the end of the day, the owners won’t care. City haven’t even sold 2k tickets for the league cup final this weekend, but ticket sales to your die hards make up a miniscule amount of revenue compared to corporates and TV deals.
I barely watch euro footy besides something on in the background, but I’ll be done after this. I’ll probably watch the bundesliga highlights, but that’s it.
Referring to ticket sales in relation to anything this season is a bit weird.
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Surely the whole thing is a bluff to try and get EUFA to pass on more of the share of the CL broadcast deal income to the participating clubs (appearance fees, prize money etc.)
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Potentially. They timed the announcement for the same day as the Champions League expanding to 36 and going with a really weird format.
It could all be a bluff, but we’re talking about clubs being named in this proposal, so I reckon it’s more serious than some people think. Regardless of whether it’s a bluff or not, all 12 of the clubs will lose a serious amount of goodwill within the game.
If this goes ahead could it actually be good for Euro domestic leagues?
If you take out the biggest clubs that are always at the top it could provide a league with more clubs starting the year with an actual chance of winning? While the clubs involved in this farce fade into insignificance?
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You may have a point. Trying to think of a league that had become a bit stale to the neutral because the biggest team was always so dominant, but they came back to the pack and it led to the most batshit entertaining and competitive season they’d ever had.
Nope, drawing a blank. 
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Related/not related. This got me thinking about Bosman and the changes that he brought about. Anyway to watch the doco Ginola (an ugly 90s Ninko) made with him?