European Super League: Past, present, future

The announcement of the formation of the European Super League by some of the world’s greatest clubs appeared to come out of nowhere. Yet behind the scenes, it was brewing for a while now. Where does that leave football right now and what could the sport look like in five years.

Manchester United. Real Madrid. Arsenal. Juventus. Chelsea. Barcelona. AC Milan. These are just some of the clubs that as of a few days ago have decided to part ways with UEFA and the Champions League in order to create their own, independent European competition dubbed “The Super League.” But what lead them to this point and what’s on the horizon for the world’s most popular sport?

Europe’s wealthiest clubs have been at odds for a while now with the European Football Federation (UEFA) in regards to the amounts of money paid out to each of them for participation in the Champions League. To put it short, they felt it wasn’t enough and that there were still untapped markets in the US, Middle East and Asia that could be taken advantage of for TV rights in order for the competition to become more profitable. This has been an ongoing issue with some of the major clubs in the English Premier League as well, with some of the board members of Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur — all founding members of the ESL — voicing their opinion during a meeting. Ever since then, those clubs have been dubbed as England’s “big six.”