The disintegration of Eurosuper in 48 hours: a rare failure of American capital and cultural export

How long will it take for blood out to form an alliance, sign an oath, break its promise and fall apart? The answer given by the Super League was less than 48 hours, which completely refreshed the world's understanding of the word rabble.

Late at night on April 18, Beijing time, Real Madrid and other European football clubs 12 announced the establishment of the Super League. This news immediately triggered a global debate, and UEFA supporters even vowed that the historical process of European football would be rewritten from now on.

However, only less than 48 hours later, late at night on April 20th, Beijing time, six Premier League clubs, including Manchester City, announced their withdrawal from the Super League. The Super League has no choice but to suspend the existing event plan and reconsider how to plan this project.

As of press time, Guo Lan, AC Milan, Juventus and Atletico Madrid in Serie A have also announced their withdrawal. The 12 club in the Europa League has only Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga. UEFA President Cheferin issued an ultimatum: The remaining Super League teams must quit before 2 1 5 pm local time, or they will be punished.

In view of the collective opposition of many European governments, sports associations, football leagues, media and fan groups, it is very likely that the European Super League will not progress smoothly or even abort. But what is really surprising is that this alliance is so fragile. The rapid disintegration of the European Super League also reflects the chaos and disorder in the preparation process of the European Super League.

As the saying goes, you come and go in a hurry. If there is no accident, Ou Chao will soon be stillborn and become a farce. A farce, a chicken feather, looked up, I'm afraid that only the legendary American financial giant JPMorgan Chase's $5 billion bad check floated in the air, and the dream that American investment banks intend to plunder European football assets on a large scale by taking advantage of the large-scale release of dollars was broken. In the war between European football and American capital, the traditional culture of European football has won temporarily.

So, what happened in the last 48 hours? Real Madrid President florentino vowed that "no one will quit", but he was soon slapped in the face. What measures did UEFA take to make those giants who had been deeply tempted by dollar capital quickly repent and become traitors? And what is the deep-seated reason for the rapid disintegration of Eurosuper 12 giants? In fact, looking at the global sports world, it is not uncommon for clubs to form alliances and rebel against the existing mature competition system, but there are few successful cases except the European basketball league, and the reasons are intriguing.

Under the joint pressure of the government, associations and sponsors, ten clubs quickly withdrew from the league.

Needless to say, the reason why football giants quit the Super League is precisely the reason why they joined in the first place, and that is two words: interest.

The concept of Ou Chao has a long history. For a long time, European football giants have been quite dissatisfied with the operation of the Champions League, especially the distribution mechanism of commercial income. Therefore, every few years, they discuss how to hold a group to make their own cake, and replace the UEFA-led Champions League with the European Super League with the participation of fixed giants. Now, with the support of American financial giants, this plan has really begun to be implemented.

According to Ou Chao's previous plan, the league will adopt the composition mechanism of "15+5". The founding team of 15 has the right to participate permanently, and the remaining five places will be decided through the qualifiers. JPMorgan Chase promised to contribute at least $5 billion to support the establishment of the Super League, and all 15 founding clubs will enjoy the start-up capital of * * * 3.5 billion euros. In addition, DAZN, a digital media platform, also plans to purchase the copyright of the Super League at a sky-high price of 3.5 billion yuan per year.

It is estimated that Ou Chao's annual revenue will easily break through the $654.38+00 billion mark, and the founding team is expected to get up to 350 million euros in the first year. The allure of these astronomical figures is self-evident. Especially considering that the epidemic has caused huge losses to European football clubs, it is normal for giants to be unsustainable in the face of checks thrown by American crocodiles.

But in just two days, these giants suddenly felt that American checks were not fragrant because their original interests might be hit hard. One is just the future prospect of painting the pie, and the other is the real immediate benefit. When a choice has to be made, most people may choose safe and reliable existing interests.

Immediately after the announcement of the establishment of UEFA, senior European government officials, UEFA, national football associations, famous clubs, fan groups and brother football clubs all expressed strong opposition in a clear-cut manner, and relevant sponsors also chose to put pressure on the clubs participating in UEFA. Among them, UEFA, together with the football associations of Britain, Italy and Spain, said that players participating in UEFA will be banned from participating in any domestic, European or world-class competitions and may be banned from representing their respective national teams.

When the government, associations, leagues, fans, media and sponsors put pressure together, it means that the club's sponsorship income, box office income and league dividends may all suffer losses. Faced with these potential losses, the club can naturally feel the immediate pain. Because Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea all joined the UEFA Cup, accounting for half of the UEFA Cup, the opposition in Britain is also the fiercest.

Fans of many clubs in the Premier League have clearly expressed their boycott of the European Super League. In the match between Leeds United and Liverpool, they put up a big slogan "Say No to the European Premier League". Leeds United players wear T-shirts calling for a boycott of the European Premier League, with the striking slogan "Football is for fans" printed on them. Sponsors threaten to suspend cooperation with six Premier League clubs, while potential new sponsors intend to suspend negotiations.

In addition, Spain's "World Sports News" revealed that UEFA promised six clubs in the Premier League that only when they quit, UEFA would provide them with a huge sum of money as compensation. There are threats before and inducements after, so the six clubs in the Premier League are naturally divided.

There are few successful cases of club rebellion, but it can eventually promote the professionalization process.

In the field of professional sports, the biggest pain point is how to make a big cake in the early stage of the event and how to divide the cake after the initial results of the event. Around the eternal contradiction between making a big cake and dividing a good cake, in recent years, looking at sports at home and abroad, in fact, there are often cases where giant clubs privately form alliances to rebel and set up another portal, but many times these organizations will dissolve themselves and eventually go extinct.

It must be pointed out that the purpose of club rebellion is often not to really create a new IP from scratch, but to use it as a negotiation capital to force rulemakers to compromise their interests. From this perspective, these rebellions often realize their demands to a certain extent.

As mentioned earlier, the concept of Eurosuper surfaced as early as the 1960s, and some big clubs hope to gain more benefits by organizing their own competitions. 1998, Italian media tycoon, AC Milan boss silvio berlusconi and media tycoon Rupert Murdoch proposed to establish a closed league similar to the four major professional sports leagues in North America, inviting top European clubs to participate, but this idea was immediately opposed by UEFA.

In the same year, AC Milan, Barcelona and other 14 European football giants held a secret meeting in Brussels, Belgium, and planned to set up the G 14 organization, hoping that the giants would get more benefits and dividends in the Champions League. Then UEFA agreed to their proposal on the reform of the Champions League system.

In September 2000, G 14 was officially registered in Brussels. Since then, the membership has been expanded to 18, and the idea of establishing Eurosuper has been continuously explored. At the same time, these giants negotiated with FIFA and UEFA in the name of G 14, and successfully forced UEFA and FIFA to agree to pay salaries to participating football players after the World Cup and the European Cup, and provide financial compensation to the clubs where injured players belong. In 2008, after the club reached an agreement with UEFA, G 14 announced its dissolution, but set up a similar European club association to continue to put pressure on UEFA on the unreasonable mechanism of the Champions League.

In addition to G 14, the predecessor of the European Super League, the familiar cases of club rebellion in domestic sports include the G7 Revolution initiated by seven clubs of the Chinese Super League in 2004, the "Professional Basketball Club Alliance Preparatory Committee" established by seven clubs of CBA in 1998, and the secondary vocational association company established by 20 18 clubs. As you know, these three organizations announced their dissolution soon after their respective associations intervened, but they also realized their demands to some extent and promoted the professionalization of the alliance, even though they were defeated.

June 5438+October 2004 10, seven football clubs, including Guoan, reached a strategic alliance and proposed to the China Football Association "administrative withdrawal, capital decision, separation of government and enterprise, separation of management and running, and corporatization". However, under the strong intervention of China Football Association, G7 was subsequently dissolved, but since then, China Football Association has also started the structure of Super League, promising to respect the interests of investors and operate Super League in a corporatized way, which laid the foundation for the establishment of Super League companies in the future.

199865438+In February, the bosses of seven clubs, including CBA Shanghai Men's Basketball Team, established the "Professional Basketball Club Alliance Preparatory Committee" in Shanghai. These seven clubs hope that the Basketball Management Center will allow CBA teams to participate in the formulation of league rules, such as allowing clubs to negotiate equipment sponsors on their own, and call for upgrading CBA to "* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

From the establishment of199818in February to its dissolution in February199918in February, the professional basketball club preparatory committee with the mission of promoting CBA professionalization only existed for two months. But this is not meaningless. From 1999-2000 season to 2003-04 season, the Basketball Center allowed CBA teams to find their own equipment sponsors.

In 20 16, Yao Ming, then the chairman of Shanghai Men's Basketball Club, called on all 20 clubs in CBA to set up companies and run CBA leagues by themselves. As a result, two clubs refused to join, and these 18 clubs jointly established Basketball Club Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Secondary Vocational Association"), and made a request to chinese basketball association in the name of the company to obtain the commercial operation rights and competition management rights of CBA League.

Chinese basketball association refused this request, but then suggested that chinese basketball association would unite all 20 clubs to set up chinese basketball association to run the league. Finally, from 2065438 to September 2006, China Basketball Association Company (commonly known as CBA Company) was established, with Li Jinsheng, then deputy director of the Basketball Management Center, as the chairman, Yao Ming as the vice chairman, chinese basketball association holding 30% shares, and 20 clubs holding 3.5% shares on average.

Since then, with the support of the upper level, Yao Ming has become the chairman of the Basketball Association and replaced Li Jinsheng as the chairman of CBA Company. Chinese basketball association took back his shares from CBA, and 20 clubs each held 5%. At the same time, the secondary vocational association established by 18 club did not really operate from beginning to end, and it was quietly cancelled shortly after the CBA company officially operated.

Although some people joked that the Secondary Vocational Association was more like a bargaining chip with chinese basketball association, and in the process of leading the rebellion, Yao Ming, who became the president of the Basketball Association, was recruited. In addition, chinese basketball association has veto power in CBA company, and chinese basketball association still makes the final decision on major issues behind the scenes. However, compared with the past, the establishment of CBA company has been a great progress. The secondary vocational union company can be regarded as a disguised form to realize its original intention when it was established.

After reading these cases, you will find that the resistance platform jointly established by clubs is more of a negotiation condition that forces the association to make concessions. Therefore, this time, it is very coincidental that the UEFA General Assembly officially voted on the Champions League expansion plan the day before it was officially established. This coincidence is really intriguing.

The giants have long been very dissatisfied with the continuous expansion of the Champions League. This time, UEFA held a meeting to formally vote on this matter. UEFA hastily announced the establishment of UEFA, which is undoubtedly saying no to UEFA. In the future, UEFA is likely to compensate the giants through some reforms of UEFA. Uefa can't have a fruitless abortion.

As for why Ou Chao was established in a hurry? There are two pieces of evidence:

First, the membership mechanism of Eurosuper is 15+5, but at present only 12 seats have been filled. Not only have the remaining three fixed seats not been determined, but there are no detailed rules on how to choose the remaining five flexible seats. In this case, it is obvious that we are in a hurry to choose the official announcement.

Secondly, the 12 club jointly established the Super League, but in just two days, the 10 club announced its withdrawal, which shows that their previous Covenant was not so strong, which is also a reflection of poor communication and hasty official announcement, which inevitably gives people the impression of temporarily building grassroots teams. How hasty it is to announce the official establishment in a hurry and then cancel it in a hurry!

European football has temporarily repelled American capital, and fans are very wary of football oligarchs.

The idea of Super League has existed for decades, and it can be called the dream of several generations of club leaders. With the support of an American investment giant like JPMorgan Chase, why did it collapse so easily?

In the face of this super cake worth tens of billions of dollars, if the opposition of clubs and fans who have not joined the European Super League can be attributed to envy and jealousy, then why are the fans of these giant clubs so clearly opposed? What's more, these giants set up the Champions League because they have long been dissatisfied with UEFA's strategy and benefit distribution mechanism. Since the aim of UEFA is to bring forth the old and innovate, why doesn't the world welcome these revolutionaries?

The direct reason is that the European Super League only attracts big teams, and small and medium-sized clubs are left out. Its essence is the further oligarchy of Jinyuan football, and the capital institutions forcibly monopolize the football market and further cut the big cake. The Super League will enjoy the sky-high broadcast copyright contract and top sponsor resources. However, the existing national leagues are hard to get the support of core resources. In order to play well in Europe, the giants will choose to take a break in their own leagues, so the sharp drop in their league income is a high probability event, and the dividends of small and medium-sized teams will further shrink.

You know, the lifeblood of European football is a large number of small and medium-sized football clubs that are not widely known. They have penetrated into the national community, covered and cultivated a huge football population, and giants often buy potential stars directly from small and medium-sized clubs. Once the capital makes football oligarchy, small and medium-sized clubs and giants will be further divided, and small and medium-sized clubs will make ends meet and will tend to die out sooner or later.

Of course, American investment tycoons spend huge sums of money to build a brand-new European Super League. These investments will eventually recover their costs and achieve profits through competitions, and these profits are destined to be obtained from fans. After all, wool comes from sheep. Once the Super League forms a monopoly position, the cost of watching football will increase greatly, which is also a major phenomenon that European fans frequently protest in recent years.

In view of this, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, "The European Super League will impact the core events of domestic events and affect the core interests of British fans." Figo, the legendary star who once played for Real Madrid, strike and other giants, also explicitly opposed the European Super League, denouncing it for destroying the foundation of European football: "This so-called' Super League' is not super at all, and this greedy and ruthless behavior will bring disaster to the establishment of grassroots football, women's football and a wider football system. And its purpose is only to satisfy the interests of those selfish capitalists, who have long been indifferent to the ideas of fans and dismissive of sports ethics. It's so sad. "

Perhaps for China people, it's hard to feel the sequela of capital predators monopolizing football and passing on the high cost to European fans. After all, football is dispensable in China and is not an indispensable way of life. But suppose there is capital to buy out and privatize all the 985 colleges and universities in China suddenly, and then re-establish the "China Super Famous Schools Alliance", only those with high prices can enter the school. Perhaps, by then, China people can understand why Europeans hate capital monopolizing football so much.

The EU has become a sports culture dispute between Europe and America, and EU legislation supports UEFA.

Of course, the deep-seated reason why Ou Chao is doomed to abortion is that it is a positive contest between American sports culture and European sports culture. It is difficult to draw a conclusion about who is more developed and mature in European and American sports culture, but it is normal for Eurosuper, which imitates the closed competition mechanism in the United States, to encounter national resistance in Europe.

Since World War II, the United States has continuously exported its own values and cultural products to the world. In the field of sports, NBA is the most international sports event and the strongest export of American sports culture in the world today. However, the biggest sport in the world is football, and the center of gravity of the football world is Europe. In recent years, American investment institutions have been investing in football clubs in Europe, which is regarded by Europeans as the Marshall Plan in the field of culture and sports.

American investment tycoon JPMorgan Chase is behind the Super League, and the three vice-chairmen of the Super League-Manchester United President Glazer, Arsenal President kroenke and Liverpool President John Henry are all American tycoons. Therefore, Europe's resistance to the European Super League is more regarded as the resistance of European football culture to American capital predators.

In addition, Franois Gueudar of Enders Analysis believes that professional sports in the United States are all closed sports leagues, while European sports are more competitive in the promotion and demotion competition system, which American investors are not used to. "Downgrading means that the club's income may be very unstable, which will bring insecurity to investors. Why should professional sports make investors feel this sense of insecurity? In the United States, everything is responsible to investors. "

What European fans are most dissatisfied with is that the European Super League is a closed event. There is no promotion or demotion, which violates the sports value of European football ecosystem and the principle of open competition, and is a blatant contempt for the long-standing competitive spirit and fair principle of European football. Waller, CEO of the Bundesliga team Leverkusen, bluntly said: "The closed competition system is a crime against football."

Behind these two logics, the connection mechanism between professional sports and amateur sports pyramids in Europe and America is obviously different: the pyramid structure of European sports organizations combines professional sports and non-professional sports, and the associations and alliances for public welfare are vertically integrated, so the promotion and demotion system is implemented to give small and medium-sized clubs an upward channel. The North American sports model strictly distinguishes between "amateur" and "professional" sports, which are two completely different sets of management institutions and operational logic. Professional sports in the United States seek to maximize benefits by oligopoly and do not assume social responsibility, while NCAA did not allow athletes to have any income in the past, so they were pure amateurs.

Even if Ou Chao didn't have American capital to intervene, it would be difficult for Ou Chao to survive in the current European sports culture. Because the current sports laws in Europe give UEFA a high degree of autonomy and anti-monopoly immunity, it means that without the support of UEFA, it is difficult to have a top IP that can overwhelm the Champions League and exist independently.

As early as 2000, EU countries reached an understanding that the EU competition law cannot be fully applied to the sports field, and it is necessary to respect the uniqueness of the sports field and allow sports associations to enjoy a high degree of autonomy and partial antitrust immunity. For example, FIBA stipulates that a country is only allowed to have one top basketball league, but not two basketball events of the same level, otherwise it will have the right to ban the country, which is based on European law authorizing a single sports association.

In 2000, the European Union issued the Declaration on the Social Function and Particularity of European Sports, also known as the Nice Declaration, which requires that the EU competition law should follow three basic principles when it is applied in the field of sports: First, fully consider the uniqueness of sports; Second, the application of the competition law does not affect the management functions exercised by sports organizers purely for the smooth progress of the competition. Third, try to maintain the social and cultural functions of sports.

In 2009, the EU published the "White Paper on Sports in the EU", which clearly indicated that the EU respects the particularity of sports. In sports-related cases, the European Court of Justice should follow the principle of case-by-case review, use EU competition law cautiously, and fully respect the management rights of international sports organizations and individual sports associations.

Based on this, the EU allows sports leagues and sports associations to have certain anti-monopoly immunity and a high degree of autonomy in the management of specific events. Although Ouchao clearly emphasizes that the establishment of Ouchao does not violate any European laws, once the two sides really go to court, EU laws will probably be more inclined to UEFA, an industry association. What's more, both the British Prime Minister and the French President have made it clear that legislative measures are not ruled out to protect European football. Therefore, from a legal point of view, Ou Chao's abortion is also normal.