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100% this. As a supporter of Manchester United 35 years, I get the upset toward this Super League plan. But I, on the other hand, couldn't look away at the fact

100% this. As a supporter of Manchester United 35 years, I get the upset toward this Super League plan. But I, on the other hand, couldn't look away at the fact that UEFA is trying to expand Champions League participant list in 2023-2024 in ways that are questionable. This is not to mention that football (soccer) has become very mercenary in the three decades that I've been supporting. Just look at the players' transfer fees, agent fees and weekly salaries. Where are all these money coming from to pay for such inflated expenses? In the end, it is us, the average football fans, who end up paying for all this greed (I pay $40/month in cable to get NBC sports to watch SOME of Manchester United's English Premier League games; $5/month to watch Peacock, which is owned by NBC, to watch SOME of Manchester United games in Premier League; $6 to ESPN Plus for FA cup; and finally $6/month for CBS Sports, which has now become Paramount+, to watch Manchester United in Champions League, which is what the super league is trying to supplant). These fees will only keep increasing every two years or so. Of course, I do not live in England and if I do, I might end up buying match day tickets, which could easily cost me ~$100 a game. If I buy a Manchester United jersey (not including the shorts), it costs ~$120 (it used to cost $90 ~4 years ago when I last bought one). So yeah, it's greed all around (after all, we live in a capitalistic society) and UEFA doesn't have much to hold itself over the super league group to taut its virtues in my opinion.

jhoechtl 5y ago
> Where are all these money coming from to pay for such inflated expenses? It's money laundering. Only a few talk about that. It's from the regional league local construction tycoon football club president laundering his money from black construction work all the way up to the top.
- fedreserved 5y ago
  Any links to help me go down that rabbit hole would be greatly appreciated
jonwinstanley 5y ago
I find the player wages issue hard to complain about. The sport is incredibly popular, so the TV companies hand over billions to buy the rights, that money is given to the clubs who then use that to build a squad. Which when divided up means the best players earn insane amounts. The top players are just very lucky to be in an industry where their skills are so rare and highly valued and employers are so rich.

jhoechtl 5y ago

> Where are all these money coming from to pay for such inflated expenses? It's money laundering. Only a few talk about that. It's from the regional league local construction tycoon football club president laundering his money from black construction work all the way up to the top.

fedreserved 5y ago
Any links to help me go down that rabbit hole would be greatly appreciated

jonwinstanley 5y ago

I find the player wages issue hard to complain about. The sport is incredibly popular, so the TV companies hand over billions to buy the rights, that money is given to the clubs who then use that to build a squad. Which when divided up means the best players earn insane amounts. The top players are just very lucky to be in an industry where their skills are so rare and highly valued and employers are so rich.