A new boss from Germany will lead the Super League in the future. He should start a second attempt – and also inspire German football clubs to do so.
Until a year ago, Bernd Reichart was CEO of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland. Now he is managing director of the sports agency A22, which was founded to represent the Super League. The 48-year-old has experience in sports marketing and has also implemented sponsorship deals with Real Madrid.
Real Madrid is now one of his clients, the Spanish record champions are one of three clubs, along with FC Barcelona and Juventus Turin, that have survived from the failed first attempt to found a Super League with twelve clubs. The most important questions and answers about the second attempt:
Which strategy is followed?
Reichart tries to portray the current system under UEFA as outdated and problematic. “European football doesn’t use its potential because it doesn’t offer top games week after week,” Reichart criticized in a video message distributed by the agency. Football is losing attention, especially among the younger generation.
Further points of criticism from Reichart and A22:
- The reform of the Champions League only inflates the competition instead of improving it.
- Football finances are out of control and poorly monitored, leading to competitive inequality for rich clubs. In a dossier quoted by the “Times” in England and Kicker, the Premier League is blamed as a super league that hangs on the rest. “European club football must have a modern governance model,” Reichart said when asked by Sportschau.
- TV and streaming subscriptions and tickets are too expensive. Increased interest from fans could lower prices.
Should advance the Super League project: Bernd Reichert.
How is UEFA reacting?
The UEFA initially did not answer a request from the sports show. In recent months, however, she has tried to solve some of the problems Reichart raised:
- After difficult negotiations, also and especially with the top clubs, UEFA achieved a reform of the Champions League that will apply from 2024. In the future, this will ensure more top games that Reichart was asking for. In the future, teams from the first pot will play against each other in the knockout round.
- UEFA followed up Financial Fair Play with new “Regulations on Financial Sustainability”. It also set a cost ceiling for squads of players of 70 percent of income. Many of the big clubs looking to get into the Super League in 2021 previously delivered particularly poor numbers or skirted the rules.
- In the Champions League there should be significantly more money from 2024 – which could make participation in a Super League less attractive.
Will the clubs then play in a closed Super League instead of in the Bundesliga?
There is hardly any concrete information, but A22 tries to refute two crucial points of criticism right from the start. One of them: Your national leagues should not leave the clubs. The twelve clubs did not want that in 2021, as there are still large revenues to be achieved in their home markets. “Of course, all clubs should continue to play in their countries”said Reichart at the request of the sports show.
In addition, according to A22, there should be no closed system. “For us, promotion and relegation are fundamental for a sporting competition”, the agency said in a tweet. Reichart shared: “There is no format sketch that is already available. All clubs involved have made it clear in the last few days that there must be a format that is open and takes sporting performance into account.”
That can hardly invalidate the concerns of the national leagues – in this vague form there remains a risk of devaluation for the Bundesliga and other European leagues.
How does the Bundesliga react?
After the announcements by A22, the German Football League (DFL) published a statement from its managing director, Donata Hopfen, who had recently commented on the subject at a business event. “The Super League just doesn’t work, it doesn’t fit and it’s not right”said hops there. “The system always has to ask itself if there is a need for change. But the Super League is not the right answer for me. Not now and not in the future.”
A Super League would be a major devaluation for the national leagues. The competition for TV money might be even greater than it is now with the Champions League. And if the Bundesliga and the other leagues of Europe were no longer the sole qualification for European competition, much of the excitement would be lost.
What about German clubs?
In 2021, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund publicly stayed away from the Super League. “Of course I would also like to convey to the German clubs what has changed in the approach”said Reichart of the German Press Agency. “I’m looking forward to talks in every European territory, including Germany of course. I’m about to deposit the openness of the competition.”
Bayer Leverkusen’s former managing director Rudi Völler criticized the move in the kicker. “Who wants to see Real against Juve six times a year?”he asked, naming the Super League “a crazy idea”.
Whether German and other European clubs will join the idea again remains uncertain. In England, the Premier League threatens possible escapees with high double-digit point deductions.
What do fan representatives say?
The European fan alliance Football Supporters Europe (FSE) gave the initiative a clear rejection. “It’s nothing new. It’s the same intentions by the same people who are jeopardizing the European sporting model in favor of a handful of clubs,” FSE said. “They’ve been turned down before, but to be clear, fans don’t want a European Super League.”
FSE has been campaigning for the preservation of the current European sport model for a long time and is also running a campaign calling for the social and societal importance of football to be recognized and for fans to be involved in decision-making processes.
What role does litigation play?
The decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will be decisive. A commercial court in Madrid had declared UEFA’s sanctions against the Super League clubs unlawful and asked the ECJ for an assessment of whether UEFA, as the organizer of the competitions, was acting in violation of antitrust law. An initial assessment by the ECJ is expected in December, with a judgment in 2023.
The commercial court in Madrid later withdrew its assessment. UEFA, which had revoked proceedings against Juventus, Real and Barcelona and penalties already imposed on the nine other clubs, has not yet threatened new sanctions.