4 ms·

I can understand that J.P. Morgan didn't understand what a big deal it was. But you really have to wonder what goes on in the heads of club owners in Spain, It

I can understand that J.P. Morgan didn't understand what a big deal it was. But you really have to wonder what goes on in the heads of club owners in Spain, Italy and the UK that they thought they could get away with it. EDIT: And whoever is surprised that politicians of the calibre of B. Johnson and E. Macron are getting involved has badly misjudged how important the INSTITUTION of football/soccer is to Europeans. As a sport, a social activity, an actual competition however crooked, not TV entertainment.

deleted 5y ago
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pjc50 5y ago
Money and power. They'd come this far, who could stop them acquiring more?
- emptyfile 5y ago
  As it turns out, or as far can I make out, the tide started turning the moment when the club players themselves started speaking out against it. Before the politicians and the leagues could even articulate their threats the thing was finished. Honestly, springing this out of the blue on the fans and players both speaks of astonishing arrogance.
  - votepaunchy 5y ago
    > Honestly, springing this out of the blue on the fans and players both speaks of astonishing arrogance. Clearly this was not handled well, but Wikipedia does have a page of failed attempts going back to 1998. My guess would be that they thought pandemic financial losses would allow them to force this through. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposals_for_a_European_Super_League_in_association_football https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposals_for_a_European_Sup...
drcongo 5y ago
Football isn't at all important to Boris Johnson other than as a means to control the proles. To him this was just a welcome dead cat, with the added bonus that he can make himself look like a man of the people to those who don't think too hard.
- emptyfile 5y ago
  I don't care about football either yet I got a disgusted feeling in my stomach upon reading the news. Another piece of the world americanized and sold. Even a third rate politician would sense an opportunity to score some points. It seems pretty obvious to me, but apparently not to J.P. Morgan.
nicoburns 5y ago
A lot of the owners aren't actually fom those countries. Could be why.
- throwaway3585 5y ago
  PSG's president of sport operation was absolutely against it and convinced the owner it was a bad idea. Honestly w/o PSG and Bayern the super league would've lost a huge part of the overall audience anyway. I think the investors wanted to create a NBA-like league by challenging FIFA/EUFA like ABA challenged the NBA, reducing NBA's expected revenue, then push for a merge (the AFL did the same too i guess?)
- jamienicol 5y ago
  All of them, for the English clubs at least. Would assume it's similar for the other countries too
  - areyousure 5y ago
    "Joseph C. Lewis .. is a British businessman and investor. ... Lewis is also majority owner of Premier League football team Tottenham Hotspur." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Lewis_(British_businessman) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Lewis_(British_businessman...
mytailorisrich 5y ago
As an European I find "how important the INSTITUTION of football is to Europeans" to be hyperbole. Football is a very popular sport (and yes, entertainment) but equally most people are not fans and don't feel that strongly. I feel that there is also a social class divide on this, especially in the UK (perhaps in other countries as well), and that Johnson's reaction was simply a cynical political calculation, not least taking into account the recent Conservative push in Northern working class areas. Politicians 'care' about football because it's a vote-winner within a certain demographics.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

pjc50 5y ago

Money and power. They'd come this far, who could stop them acquiring more?

emptyfile 5y ago
As it turns out, or as far can I make out, the tide started turning the moment when the club players themselves started speaking out against it. Before the politicians and the leagues could even articulate their threats the thing was finished. Honestly, springing this out of the blue on the fans and players both speaks of astonishing arrogance.
- votepaunchy 5y ago
  > Honestly, springing this out of the blue on the fans and players both speaks of astonishing arrogance. Clearly this was not handled well, but Wikipedia does have a page of failed attempts going back to 1998. My guess would be that they thought pandemic financial losses would allow them to force this through. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposals_for_a_European_Super_League_in_association_football https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposals_for_a_European_Sup...

drcongo 5y ago

Football isn't at all important to Boris Johnson other than as a means to control the proles. To him this was just a welcome dead cat, with the added bonus that he can make himself look like a man of the people to those who don't think too hard.

emptyfile 5y ago
I don't care about football either yet I got a disgusted feeling in my stomach upon reading the news. Another piece of the world americanized and sold. Even a third rate politician would sense an opportunity to score some points. It seems pretty obvious to me, but apparently not to J.P. Morgan.

nicoburns 5y ago

A lot of the owners aren't actually fom those countries. Could be why.

throwaway3585 5y ago
PSG's president of sport operation was absolutely against it and convinced the owner it was a bad idea. Honestly w/o PSG and Bayern the super league would've lost a huge part of the overall audience anyway. I think the investors wanted to create a NBA-like league by challenging FIFA/EUFA like ABA challenged the NBA, reducing NBA's expected revenue, then push for a merge (the AFL did the same too i guess?)
jamienicol 5y ago
All of them, for the English clubs at least. Would assume it's similar for the other countries too
- areyousure 5y ago
  "Joseph C. Lewis .. is a British businessman and investor. ... Lewis is also majority owner of Premier League football team Tottenham Hotspur." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Lewis_(British_businessman) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Lewis_(British_businessman...

mytailorisrich 5y ago

As an European I find "how important the INSTITUTION of football is to Europeans" to be hyperbole. Football is a very popular sport (and yes, entertainment) but equally most people are not fans and don't feel that strongly. I feel that there is also a social class divide on this, especially in the UK (perhaps in other countries as well), and that Johnson's reaction was simply a cynical political calculation, not least taking into account the recent Conservative push in Northern working class areas. Politicians 'care' about football because it's a vote-winner within a certain demographics.