When I saw the few major details of the newly created Super League, I cannot help noticing the introduction of American sport structure into the world of football. As an American Arsenal fan who watches and follows different sports, I could see some of the features in Super league were very familiar to the American sports. The structure of American sport is completely different from the rest of the world, and I was surprised when I saw that the super league is adopting the same system as their American counterpart. Here are the top two that I believe will destroy the competition in football.
Just like in American Sport, the Super league will not have relegation or promotion. The lack of relegation in American sports has resulted in several clubs living in perpetual mediocrity despite the large amount of revenues generated. In the NFL, the likes of the Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, and NY Jets have continuously put up relegation level records in the last 15 years without any repercussion.
Likewise, the NBA has the same system where the likes of Sacramento Kings, Charlotte Hornets, and NY Knicks are putting up bad results day in day out, and not offering anything for fans to celebrate about. The thing is because of the salary cap, drafts, and trade rules, all the teams are playing from the same level field, and none have monetary advantages over the other ones. They share the TV revenue equally, and have the same chance of attracting the top players because of trade rules and salary cap. It’s very common in the NFL to have a bottom team winning only a single game in a season and no one bats the eyes. So, why are these teams continuously performing bad? Because there is no motivation to succeed, and there is no punishment for the failure. If SL succeeds, I fear that Arsenal will be the prime candidate to be a NY Knicks of Super league given that the owner is an American who cares only about his moolahs.
It was revealed that the permanent members will have the ultimate power to make decisions for the Super League. Again, this is very similar to the American sports where the owners hold all the power. Just to mention the few, they have power to create or delete rules, force a club sale, and change the salary cap. Having the control on every facet of the game, they will slowly introduce more American systems into the game that we all hate to see in soccer. For example, airing commercials/TV ads in the middle of the game, introducing time outs into the game or relocation of the club to a bigger city.
Yes, we all know that there are problems with FIFA, and UEFA, but Super league was never about fixing that problem. It is all about the money and nothing to do with football.
PS: I am glad that all the PL teams have pulled out….
Beast Mode