Will you watch The Super League?

comment by TheFoxOutsideTheBox (U20459)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by The Lambeau Leap (U21050)
posted 1 minute ago
No appetite to watch United get raped week in week out, thanks.

If Manchester United aren't playing in our domestic competitions then they aren't Manchester United. They're just some tw*ts with a badge on their top that used to belong to Manchester United Football Club. I'm so disillusioned with football after today, I can't even express myself properly. I'm angry and gutted. So disappointed. The more it comes out the more it looks like we are the ringleaders in all of this. The whole of Europe stood with United in 1958 and now we are sh*tting all over them. It's f*cking disgusting.

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What? So you've not wanted us to get top 4 all season then? Because next year we would just been in a competition well get battered in and can't win?

This seems so bizarre to me. I didn't think for a second we would win the champions league this year, I still watched every game and when we got knocked out, I still wanted us to qualify again next year.

I really don't understand this logic, it honestly comes across like an emotional reaction. I don't want to patronise you but I just don't get your logic on this at all, it doesn't seem consistent with how we've approached football for the last 5 years at all.

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Football needs to mean something. If a team goes into this super league and gets raped week in week out, then still walks away with £350m and gets to go again next season, what is the point? There's NOTHING appealing about that to me. It devalues league football, which has and always will be the best thing about football. People will soon get bored once they realise that they'll be having to watch Italian clubs play for the 1-0 every week (there's a reason nobody watches serie A) and La Liga clubs dive around like Tom Daley week in week out. The Premier League is the best league in the world. The CL is made special by virtue of the fact that it means you've achieved something to get into it, and those dream ties against Madrid and Barca are special because they aren't the norm. How often do we see good games between the top sides? This will be so dull.

Time to put your money where your mouth is.

Will you watch your team in the Super League?

I will
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How far from Manchester do you live?

comment by welshpoolfan (U7693)
posted 18 minutes ago
comment by TheFoxOutsideTheBox (U20459)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by welshpoolfan (U7693)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by TheFoxOutsideTheBox (U20459)
posted 2 minutes ago
Excuse the typos, trying to have discussions and be at least semi active in zoom meetings so I'm not really taking much time to double check
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You raise some very good points and I think the biggest one is that we don't have enough info yet.

As you say, maybe the CL still exists (albeit less prestigious) and the 4 best placed English teams outside the big 6 qualify. This means that finishing in the top half has a reward and means there are fewer PL teams with nothing to play for towards the end of the season.

I've also read that there will be 5 invitational teams based on merit. I have no idea if this will be for teams from other countries like ajax, or if it will be an additional place for the highest finishing English team.

It seems to be very emotional right now which has made it hard to actually discuss these proposals.
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I'm interested in the 5 extra spots as well and how they are earned. If the big six stepped out of the league Cup as well, does this kot open it up to being more competitive as well? Teams that haven't had a trip to Wembley could suddenly find themselves there a couple of times in 5 years or whatever? The big 6 have dominated for so long, a league competition which will always be important - I don't care what people are currently saying, players and managers will care about it - but then a split of who goes for what competition and in a format that sees far more teams actually qualify and origress through things like the Europa league, champions league and league Cup.

Let's be fair, our fans belittle the Europa to the point that half don't care if we win it. Fine, guve that sport to someone like Southampton then, I'm sure they would relish a semi final tie against Roma.

Why would they benefit at all? It seems like they may well do?

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Exactly this. I have several misgivings about the proposal, however most of them also apply to football as currently exists (too many games for player welfare; should we be encouraging excess air miles with with climate crisis). As far as how the proposals affect the wider football world I don't have enough info to make a judgement.

It seems to me that should the tournament succeed then those 5 spots may increase and you woild end up with a CL or similar where 15 teams are guaranteed entry but there are 15 who qualify.
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Yeah I agree, I imagine a lot of others will get on board with at least contemplating it, it just might take a week or two for the initial panic and dust to settle. People don't ever respond well to change.

comment by Car Van knee (U5318)
posted 18 minutes ago
comment by TheFoxOutsideTheBox (U20459)
posted 19 minutes ago


Before I get a tirade of abuse, I'm just asking questions at this stage. I'm trying to understand what this looks like because Sky and other broadcasters are doing their very best to make sure we don't have any actual information, jsut lots of fear mongering, doom saying and 'feelings'. Which may be justified, it may be a disaster but I'm not seeing any actual breakdown of why this is going to be the case, just lots of reowtitio of what Gary Neville said, which contained very little substance.
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That is because the broadcasters, like UEFA and FIFA, are in the group of people who lose control and money in this scenario. Traditional broadcasters like SKY will not be showing these games, they will go to digital providers like Amazon, Disney and DAZN. They have the cash and platforms to get the global reach needed to get the ESL global. They have already been threatening to do so and Amzaon have been testing the waters in the last 2 years. No, doubt the ESL organizers have already been speaking to distributors to see how much income can be generated for the ESL.
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Oh I know, I'm being a bit a douche bag. This is why their reaction stinks to me, they've not entertained it at all, its clear they see it as a threat and are in defence mode. Which is fine but it's clear they don't want to inform fans, they want to rile them up.

. I think it's so transparent and frankly, embrassing. Rio, Neville etc didn't make attempts to talk about it, it's like some big wig in a suit had given them clear instructions on what to say.

Rio was basically just a word for word repeat of Neville, didn't bother to go into his points, just lots of "disgrace, fine them, strip titles". Pretending they are for the fans when this little crew have benefited from fleecing us for years.

They are all as bad as each other, I have zero sympathy for sky.

To be fair, football is already global because rights are sold by territory, and having companies bid by territory has proven far more lucrative than offering the rights on a global basis. I fully expect the rights to go up for regional auction as usual.

comment by The Lambeau Leap (U21050)
posted 14 minutes ago
comment by TheFoxOutsideTheBox (U20459)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by The Lambeau Leap (U21050)
posted 1 minute ago
No appetite to watch United get raped week in week out, thanks.

If Manchester United aren't playing in our domestic competitions then they aren't Manchester United. They're just some tw*ts with a badge on their top that used to belong to Manchester United Football Club. I'm so disillusioned with football after today, I can't even express myself properly. I'm angry and gutted. So disappointed. The more it comes out the more it looks like we are the ringleaders in all of this. The whole of Europe stood with United in 1958 and now we are sh*tting all over them. It's f*cking disgusting.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

What? So you've not wanted us to get top 4 all season then? Because next year we would just been in a competition well get battered in and can't win?

This seems so bizarre to me. I didn't think for a second we would win the champions league this year, I still watched every game and when we got knocked out, I still wanted us to qualify again next year.

I really don't understand this logic, it honestly comes across like an emotional reaction. I don't want to patronise you but I just don't get your logic on this at all, it doesn't seem consistent with how we've approached football for the last 5 years at all.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Football needs to mean something. If a team goes into this super league and gets raped week in week out, then still walks away with £350m and gets to go again next season, what is the point? There's NOTHING appealing about that to me. It devalues league football, which has and always will be the best thing about football. People will soon get bored once they realise that they'll be having to watch Italian clubs play for the 1-0 every week (there's a reason nobody watches serie A) and La Liga clubs dive around like Tom Daley week in week out. The Premier League is the best league in the world. The CL is made special by virtue of the fact that it means you've achieved something to get into it, and those dream ties against Madrid and Barca are special because they aren't the norm. How often do we see good games between the top sides? This will be so dull.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm sure people had similar concerns about the big clubs and sky wanting a breakaway league that they would call the Premier league.....

If you genuinely feel like that, fair enough, I'm just surprised this is your breaking point. Streaming, seeding favouring top clubs, competitions that are closed off basically in all but name etc etc. All things I've read on this site alone many a time.

I've seen the death of football be predicted many a time as well. There have been large shake ups before, rules of the game have been changed completely and people will not have liked it one bit.

In 5 years time though, I'm fairly sure a large majority of us will still be watching football, I just don't know what that will look like. People's immediate reaction is denial, it's really common in all sorts of situations and the 5 stages of grief apply to more than actual deaths. People experience it for all sorts of things. First is denial, then anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance.

I'm not saying this will apply to you, I'll take what you're saying on face value but do I imagine that the thousands and thousands and thousands of people saying the same will see it through? I'd put money on the majority not actually abandoning football.

To be honest I haven’t really been watching anywhere near as much football as I have in the past, mainly due to having a kid and also lockdown which has dramatically changed the enjoyment of the game.

But I’d imagine if this league were to happen I’d keep an eye on scores and see highlights if something good happened but I wouldn’t be that into it. I’d probably use it as an excuse to meet friends at the pub to watch a game though.

But there will clearly be millions if not billions into it so it doesn’t matter.

I think that it is too early to say to be honest. I will have to see how things pan out.

comment by welshpoolfan (U7693)
posted 1 hour, 27 minutes ago
comment by Wetherby White (U6810)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by welshpoolfan (U7693)
posted 57 seconds ago
comment by Wetherby White (U6810)
posted 1 minute ago
Will you watch when the season is over after 10 games in and your team can't qualify? Who's going to watch a meaningless game between Athleico v Inter, for example? The neutral fan in China, or anywhere else won't.

I'd be gutted if my team was part of this, because it would be the end of football for me, I'd be done.
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Presumably Leeds season is now over, since they are safe from relegation and cannot win the league. Are you going to continue watching them for the rest of the season?
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Its not over, we can still get a Euopean place
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Fair enough, but say you couldn't after the next game. At some point you reach the stage of it not mattering. I don't mean to pick on Leeds, they were just conveniently right in the middle of the table.

O think fans of the teams would watch anyway.
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We've will have played 32 games and this season it was about survival and applying our style to best in the country, if there was no relegation we wouldn't have anything to play for all season, as winning the league was never on the cards. There are 20 teams in the premier league. not 10 and this argument is the tip of iceberg. You've got community coming together week in week out all over the country aiming for the price of getting into the premier league and playing the best, this will be over for the whole football pyramid.

comment by Wetherby White (U6810)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by welshpoolfan (U7693)
posted 1 hour, 27 minutes ago
comment by Wetherby White (U6810)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by welshpoolfan (U7693)
posted 57 seconds ago
comment by Wetherby White (U6810)
posted 1 minute ago
Will you watch when the season is over after 10 games in and your team can't qualify? Who's going to watch a meaningless game between Athleico v Inter, for example? The neutral fan in China, or anywhere else won't.

I'd be gutted if my team was part of this, because it would be the end of football for me, I'd be done.
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Presumably Leeds season is now over, since they are safe from relegation and cannot win the league. Are you going to continue watching them for the rest of the season?
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Its not over, we can still get a Euopean place
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Fair enough, but say you couldn't after the next game. At some point you reach the stage of it not mattering. I don't mean to pick on Leeds, they were just conveniently right in the middle of the table.

O think fans of the teams would watch anyway.
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We've will have played 32 games and this season it was about survival and applying our style to best in the country, if there was no relegation we wouldn't have anything to play for all season, as winning the league was never on the cards. There are 20 teams in the premier league. not 10 and this argument is the tip of iceberg. You've got community coming together week in week out all over the country aiming for the price of getting into the premier league and playing the best, this will be over for the whole football pyramid.
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That is my point though. Will you still watch the remaining 6 games, even if you have nothing to play for? If the answer is yes, then the likelihood is that fans of bothered other teams would still watch their teams in the Super League even if they no longer had anything to play for.

Considering that 5 out of 10 in each league will qualify for the next stage, it will be likely that most teams are still in with a shout until late on.