European Super League: ESL future is Chinese football’s present – the warning signs are there
- Fans do not matter, teams can change cities and money is motivation for mercenary players – welcome to modern football
- There are warning signs for the 12 clubs who have signed on for The Super League, including Chinese-owned Inter Milan
If it is not an adage yet, it should be that anything with the word “Super” in its title is usually anything but.
There have been many comparisons made between the ESL and the CSL already as the backlash rages this morning following the announcement late on Sunday.
The biggest reason for comparison? Money.
Uefa have said that players playing in the ESL might not be allowed to represent their nations in international tournaments.
No Euros. No World Cup. No problem.
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Then again ask him if he minds as he counts the millions he has earned from Shanghai International Port Group that have changed the lives of his family and secured their future.
For all the criticism that he is a mercenary, that is his decision. He’s entitled to live his life as he sees fit, and he can still count his 48 caps for Brazil, last playing for his country in the World Cup they held in 2014.
It will be interesting to see if Oscar stays in the CSL as his weekly wage diminishes when the staggered salary cap kicks in over the coming seasons.
Those speculating that the ESL will be like the CSL in being made up of over 30s and average players might be guilty of wishful thinking.
That has largely been the case in the CSL over the years but changed when the money rolled in from 2016 and Chinese clubs started buying up players for record fees.
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It’s all changed again with the belt-tightening from above but any ESL would begin with a big budget.
The ESL has been talked of as worth US$4 billion. That is an interesting figure, especially when it comes to television rights.
While Manchester United claim a global “fan and follower base of 1.1 billion people” based on research by Kantar done in 2019, which included 253 million in China (up from 108 million in their 2012 survey), that does not equate to money for Uefa and its Champions League.
Television rights appeared to be on a downward trend even pre-pandemic, while the Covid-19 calendar proved that Asian fans do not want late night matches.
The EPL played most nights of the week but that meant viewing figures suffered the same fate as the Champions League in being screened in the early hours.
If the ESL is to work then it needs to make kick-offs the right time for Shanghai and Shenzhen rather than Stretford, otherwise its going to struggle financially.
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When it comes to ESL finances, there is already a warning from China in the form of Suning, the owners of Inter Milan.
The Nerazzuri are one of the 12 signatories on the list and flying high in Serie A as they close in on a first title in 11 years.
That is where the good news ends. Their owners have been looking for investment in the Italian giants as they have struggled.
The Chinese Super League starts on Tuesday minus the champions after Suning stopped funding Jiangsu FC months after lifting the title. Will Inter Milan, for example, really be immune to their currrent financial worries in the ESL?
We’ve been going this way. It must be remembered that, for all of its (valid) outrage at the ESL proposals, the English Premier League broke away from the English Football League in 1992.
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Pandora’s box springs to mind and all that is left for them and every other league is hope that it won’t happen because it seems inevitable in some form in the future.
One thing that the ESL and CSL have in common is contempt for match-going fans and the local fan base.
Chinese clubs are moved around without a care.
Even this season, Shijiazhuang Ever Bright have been moved 229km down the road to Cangzhou and renamed as the Mighty Lions.
The team also will play in the top flight despite being relegated last season – thanks to champions Jiangsu dropping out – in a nod to the ESL’s closed shop.
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Why would Manchester United need to be in Manchester or Liverpool in Liverpool any more? Why not China – it is called The Super League, there’s no mention of Europe in its title.
You can fill a stadium anywhere, you’d think, but then again do fans even matter?
The pandemic has seen games played out to empty stands and all that empty space in shot would make for prime advertising if clubs could lose all those pesky well wishing messages for frontline workers or support for anti-racism movements.
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We’ve already seen with the CSL bubble last season – never mind local government’s capping attendances – that fans don’t need to be in grounds anyway.
European teams have not always sold out the stadiums on their lucrative Chinese tours but those tours are no less lucrative for it.
For the ESL then read the CSL now – not so much super as a dystopian future.
