{"id":4954,"date":"2021-04-28T10:32:18","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T09:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tfg.rldbhg96-liquidwebsites.com\/?p=4954"},"modified":"2022-06-17T16:23:38","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T15:23:38","slug":"resisting-a-closed-shop-super-league-a-vision-for-european-mens-football-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/resisting-a-closed-shop-super-league-a-vision-for-european-mens-football-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Resisting a closed-shop super league: a vision for European men\u2019s football"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-first  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><div  style='padding-bottom:10px; ' class='av-special-heading av-special-heading-h2  blockquote modern-quote  avia-builder-el-2  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  thought-leadership-heading '><div class ='av-subheading av-subheading_above  ' style='font-size:15px;'><p>Thought Leadership<\/p>\n<\/div><h2 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Resisting a closed-shop super league:<br \/>\na vision for European men\u2019s football<\/h2><div class='special-heading-border'><div class='special-heading-inner-border' ><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-3  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-4  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_three_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='color:#80808a; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><h4><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\"><\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 7<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">MIN READ<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock thought-leadership-author '   itemprop=\"text\" ><h3><strong>By Omar Chaudhuri<\/strong><\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Dec 12, 2019<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<div  style='height:5px' class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-7  el_after_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-last '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><\/p><\/div><div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-8  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><p><div  class='avia-image-container  av-styling-    avia-builder-el-9  el_before_av_hr  avia-builder-el-first  avia-align-center '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"  ><div class='avia-image-container-inner'><div class='avia-image-overlay-wrap'><img decoding=\"async\" class='wp-image-5074 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-5074 avia_image' src=\"https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-31-at-15.38.31.png\" alt='' title='Screenshot 2021-03-31 at 15.38.31' height=\"858\" width=\"1502\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-31-at-15.38.31.png 1502w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-31-at-15.38.31-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-31-at-15.38.31-1030x588.png 1030w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-31-at-15.38.31-768x439.png 768w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-31-at-15.38.31-1500x857.png 1500w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-31-at-15.38.31-705x403.png 705w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1502px) 100vw, 1502px\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\n<div  style='height:5px' class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-10  el_after_av_image  avia-builder-el-last '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-11  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-12  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_three_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock thought-leadership-share '   itemprop=\"text\" ><h3>Thought Leadership<\/h3>\n<p>Inspired by what you&#8217;re reading? Why not subscribe for regular insights delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<div  class='avia-button-wrap avia-button-left  avia-builder-el-14  el_after_av_textblock  el_before_av_textblock ' ><a href='https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/contact\/news-signup\/'  class='avia-button  avia-color-theme-color   avia-icon_select-no avia-size-small avia-position-left '   ><span class='avia_iconbox_title' >Subscribe<\/span><\/a><\/div><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><hr \/>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<div  class='av-social-sharing-box  avia-builder-el-16  el_after_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-last  '><div class='av-share-box'><h5 class='av-share-link-description av-no-toc '>Share this story<\/h5><ul class='av-share-box-list noLightbox'><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-facebook' ><a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Share on Facebook\" href='https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/resisting-a-closed-shop-super-league-a-vision-for-european-mens-football-2\/&#038;t=Resisting%20a%20closed-shop%20super%20league%3A%20a%20vision%20for%20European%20men%E2%80%99s%20football' aria-hidden='false' data-av_icon='\ue8f3' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share on Facebook' rel=\"noopener\"><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share on Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-twitter' ><a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Share on Twitter\" href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=Resisting%20a%20closed-shop%20super%20league%3A%20a%20vision%20for%20European%20men%E2%80%99s%20football&#038;url=https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/?p=4954' aria-hidden='false' data-av_icon='\ue8f1' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share on Twitter' rel=\"noopener\"><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share on Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-linkedin' ><a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Share on LinkedIn\" href='https:\/\/linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&#038;title=Resisting%20a%20closed-shop%20super%20league%3A%20a%20vision%20for%20European%20men%E2%80%99s%20football&#038;url=https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/resisting-a-closed-shop-super-league-a-vision-for-european-mens-football-2\/' aria-hidden='false' data-av_icon='\ue8fc' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share on LinkedIn' rel=\"noopener\"><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share on LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-17  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock thought-leadership-main-content '  style='font-size:20px; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p><strong>Ajax\u2019s run to the 2018-19 Champions League semi-finals was widely described as a \u2018fairytale\u2019; a feel-good story about an underdog that beat the odds not through luck but bravery, spirit and no lack of skill. On the European stage, it\u2019s rare for a club to so quickly become everyone\u2019s second team, but was testament to the joy Erik ten Hag\u2019s team brought to the field both in their style of play and in their commitment to youth.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ajax were underdogs not because of their history &#8211; only five clubs have more European titles &#8211; but because of brutal economics. Ajax are a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">massive<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> club with not-so-massive revenues. In the 2017-18 season, they made nearly \u20ac50m less than the Premier League\u2019s bottom club, West Bromwich Albion. While money isn\u2019t everything in football, it certainly helps &#8211; and Ajax\u2019s finances effectively means they start at least goal down in the market for elite players.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is no surprise therefore that Ajax, among other clubs, are quick to point out that the European football economy isn\u2019t working for them. \u201cThere\u2019s a huge and growing financial gap between those rich five leagues and the rest,\u201d wrote Ajax\u2019s Chief Executive Edwin van der Sar in the Times. \u201cWhen you add the fact that clubs from these leagues are guaranteed places in the group stages of the Champions League each season, you end up with what we have now; a locked system where great clubs on the outside such as Benfica, Porto, PSV, Celtic, Galatasaray or Ajax struggle to get in the door.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These frustrations have catalysed discussions about a more closed-shop Champions League or, at the extreme, a European Super League. However, our view is that these are not sustainable solutions for all clubs across European football. Domestic leagues, with their history and narratives, should remain as the economic engine for the game, but desperately need to innovate to better reflect a globalised, modern world.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The big picture<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is undeniable that Europe\u2019s so-called big five leagues have pulled away from other leagues; both our World Super League rating of teams (where 17 out of the top 20 teams in November 2019 were from the big five) and a simple check of Champions League semi-finalists attests to that. This hasn\u2019t happened by sheer chance. This century, these leagues have successively announced larger and larger broadcast deals as a consequence of more and more people watching their teams. The Premier League has been the most successful, winning huge audiences overseas, but other leagues have also been hugely successful at growing broadcast revenues.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is no coincidence that the big five leagues correlates almost perfectly to Europe\u2019s five biggest economies (our model ranks Russia, whose GDP is larger than Spain\u2019s, as Europe\u2019s sixth-best first division). The more and wealthier the eyeballs you can attract to watch your league, the more broadcasters can attract advertisers and clubs can attract sponsors. Our own analysis shows that the correlation between a league\u2019s aggregate revenues and GDP is over 90 per cent. Leagues in smaller European economies are constrained by an immovable macro picture.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The appeal of European football is therefore understandable in this context. Portugal is only so big for a club like Benfica, but Europe presents a chance to tap into a much wider economy, and therefore compete on a more even-footing with other European clubs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But at what cost are we willing to accept these revenue gains for a small segment of clubs? The vast majority of European leagues are horribly predictable, with repeat winners being fuelled by access to European competitions. Further, more assured access to Europe through semi-closed shop competitions would only exacerbate this issue, to the point that domestic leagues become virtually meaningless. Meanwhile, a breakaway European Super League of course does nothing but harm clubs outside it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Innovation to survive and grow<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For sustainable solutions, it helps to return to the economic drivers of performance: eyeballs on games. But if clubs can only capture a certain audience within their own country, they need to find new ways of capturing new audiences. One remarkably simple way to increase eyeballs is to simply sum two countries together. Belgium and the Netherlands\u2019 GDP sum together to a similar size as Spain. As do Sweden, Norway and Denmark\u2019s. Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary come close. It would be naive to suggest that simply joining these leagues together would suddenly level the playing field in Europe, but it would certainly go a long way. Cross-border leagues would be able to harness a much bigger pool of wealth, and begin to replicate some of the benefits the big five leagues have enjoyed with big domestic markets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These leagues could act as an insertion into football pyramids between domestic and European football, reducing the gap in revenues between these levels outside the big five leagues. While domestic leagues\u2019 position below cross-border leagues might be seen as a relegation of value, they would in theory remain attractive to a number of smaller clubs, and therefore fans, who would have the opportunity to be domestic champions en route to promotion to a cross-border division.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New leagues also present new opportunities to innovate. The concept of a year-long competition, where everyone plays at home and away and the winner is \u2018fairly\u2019 decided by the end, is nearly 150 years old, and has only recently come under scrutiny for its modern-day fit-for-purposeness. The 21st century fan has various forms of entertainment competing for her attention, and formats that mean the winner is often known weeks or months before the end means money is left on the table. Both major and college sports leagues in the US provide a model that has proved hugely successful, and leagues should remain open-minded about competitions that seem less fair but maximise entertainment. We are, after all, happy to accept a World Cup winner every four years over just seven matches.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And how about more radical still? Could 0-0 draws be worth zero points to both teams, to encourage attacking football? Could there be 5 substitutes to be used across both teams on a first-come-first-served basis, to enable variety in tactics and squad-building? Could away teams start with half a goal head start, to cancel out home advantage? What might seem like crazy ideas might actually help draw out the best and most interesting parts of the sport, and thereby maximise the amount of people who want to watch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Football has been resistant to major changes to the sport, mostly because it has secured a position as the world\u2019s most popular game. But this is at the macro level; at a micro level we see that smaller leagues and teams are struggling. Other sports have been forced to innovate. Cricket invented Twenty20 in 2003, and within fifteen years the Indian Premier League\u2019s television deal was worth $2.55 billion. Golf, rugby and athletics have also experimented with new formats, often upsetting traditionalists. Football may also have to find a similar path.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-19  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-20  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_three_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-21  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock thought-leadership-block-blue '   itemprop=\"text\" ><h2>Hope for all<\/h2>\n<p>Clubs from outside the big five leagues had to wait 14 years before Ajax represented them in a Champions League semi-final. It seems perverse that while players are unbounded by borders, and are able to earn their worth, clubs are not. Why shouldn\u2019t a well-run club in, say, Romania, have an opportunity to rise up the football pyramid to the top of the European game (and, crucially, while not destroying the value of other teams domestically)?<\/p>\n<p>We believe this new pyramid can work for all clubs, and is a vision for a fairer, more diverse and more unpredictable European football landscape. The acknowledgement of the unbalanced economics of European football might unsettle traditionalists, but it is absolutely necessary in order to find a sustainable path forward.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p><em>This article was originally posted in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Changing-Conversation-presents-collection-boardrooms\/dp\/1709459387\/ref=pd_lpo_14_t_0\/262-7970939-1107229?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=1709459387&amp;pd_rd_r=fd84b854-f03d-428f-a1d4-6ae0e68dcc25&amp;pd_rd_w=SzZSj&amp;pd_rd_wg=0aN3j&amp;pf_rd_p=da0677f5-a47b-4543-8b54-10be576b8f26&amp;pf_rd_r=HBQR9GMDCW7ES40KHJ54&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=HBQR9GMDCW7ES40KHJ54\">Changing the Conversation, Volume III &#8211; A collection of boardroom insights<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-24  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_codeblock  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":3049,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,55,33],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.0 - 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