Europe’s Failed Super League Got One Thing Right
Protests may have fended off an immediate threat. But soccer’s business model remains hopelessly broken.
Not-so-happy customers.
Photographer: Rob Pinney/Getty Images
European soccer has survived its greatest crisis: not the coronavirus, but commerce. The attempt last month by 12 of the continent’s biggest clubs to create a U.S.-style Super League quickly collapsed, to hoots of derision from fans and much relief from administrators. But short-lived as it was, the proposal brought attention to the dysfunction at the heart of European soccer — and suggested a reform that could well save the sport in the long term.
Because Europe’s leagues impose minimal restraints on spending, clubs effectively must spend larger sums each year to acquire and retain top talent and win trophies. That forces them to pursue every avenue of profit, even at the risk of undermining the sport’s traditions and institutions. In addition to inducing bankruptcies and encouraging corruption, the system all but ensures that a small handful of wealthy clubs dominates year after year.