Super Mess
Looking at the demise of the Super League through the lens of psychology
April 2021 will be forever remembered in football (soccer) history. Within a few days we witnessed the launch and collapse of the so-called “European Super League.”
The idea involved twelve clubs from Europe forming their own exclusive league instead of participating in UEFA’s Championship League. The outcry among fans was immediate and almost unanimous. Fans of the very clubs involved in the new league, despite their animosity for each other’s clubs and fan bases in the past, came together in voicing their displeasure with the new proposal. It was described as an idea motivated entirely by the owners’ greed who showed apparent disregard about the sport and the fans.
The twelve clubs included six Premier League teams from England, three La Liga teams from Spain, and three Serie A teams from Italy. Within 48 hours of announcing the league and the resulting fierce fan backlash, the six English teams withdrew from the proposal, essentially signaling the end of the Super League and making it probably the shortest-lived sports league.
Here are some thoughts, based on principles of general psychology and fan psychology that can help understand better the idea of the European Super League as well as the strong feelings against it.
The appeal of exclusivity of the new league
The twelve clubs were set to receive around $350 million dollars each to participate in this League, so it is easy to see the appeal of this initiative to their owners. More importantly, they were guaranteed to be part of this competition independent of how they perform in their domestic league (unlike the current Champions League qualification system).
The plan was to have three more permanent clubs (Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto were all mentioned as possible teams to fill these three spots) but also extend invitations to five “guest” clubs every season based on their performance the previous season.
Frankly, the idea of these special invitations to different guest clubs each season was quite brilliant as it reinforced the concept of exclusivity behind the league and tried to lure many other clubs (and their fan bases) through the appeal of such exclusivity.
This is basically the equivalent of a few “cool” kids throwing special exclusive parties for themselves, but they have a small number of invites they can extend to a few other kids they deem to be deserving and special enough to get invited to attend one of the parties. As much as many other kids hate the idea, they may also, coincidentally, be secretly wishing to get picked and given the golden ticket to the exclusive party.
There are several other rich owners of other European clubs (like Leicester City in England, or AS Roma in Italy) that would quite likely cherish an invitation to the Super League and be able to share some of the wealth, even for a year or two. So, while publicly the clubs may be proclaiming disgust for this idea, they may be privately hoping one day they get to join, too.
Similarly, the exclusivity of the league in theory should also appeal to the fans of all those potential contenders for the five guest spots. Essentially, this would be the validation that their club is acknowledged as a “super club” worthy to be in the select company of a few other super clubs.
Moreover, having such an exclusive league with only clubs that are considered elite is supposed to offer competitive and exciting matches featuring many big stars every single week. So, in theory, it would be appealing to all football fans around the world who would want to watch every week.
But would fans really want to watch that every week?
The appeal of scarcity of the current system
As flawed as the current system of the UEFA Champions League is, it does have history and tradition on its side. Moreover, it provides certain elements of scarcity that the new league was lacking.
There is no doubt that match-ups featuring European super clubs are exciting. The Champions League offers that (for example, we recently had German giant Bayern Munich face Paris Saint-Germain and perennial Spanish favorite Real Madrid face Liverpool in the quarter-finals) but in a way that actually makes them more special.
An exciting match-up that happens every week (Super League) would inevitably lose some of its luster. A big reason why the big match-ups are highly anticipated in the Champions League is exactly because they do not happen all the time. Liverpool and Real Madrid have faced each other only two other times in the past decade (the Final in 2017–18 and in group stage during 2014–15).
The limited availability of big games creates a scarcity that increases fan anticipation and excitement for these games, especially because they likely occur in the knock-out stage when the stakes are higher.
Another important advantage of the current system is the possibility of upsets, which increases interest in and excitement about the Champions League. Imagine the NCAA March Madness Tournament with just sixteen teams, the best overall from the strongest conferences. The match-ups would likely be more interesting, but there would be no chance of witnessing a run to the Final Four by a Cinderella team like Loyola-Chicago that captured the attention of many and increased interest in the tournament in 2018. Or a historic upset of a #1 Virginia by a 16-seed UMBC.
The fans’ love for their club and for football
Some of the founding clubs in the Super League are considered among the best in the world (like Real Madrid, Barcelona, or Liverpool). But there may be more of a debate regarding how “super” some of the other ones are, depending on the season in question. For example, Milan, Arsenal, and Tottenham did not even qualify to play in the Champions League this season. Manchester United and Inter did but finished third and fourth in their groups and were eliminated before the quarter-finals.
Participating in the Super League bucks the seasonal variability by giving all the founding clubs a guaranteed spot (in the equivalent of a Champions League quarter-final) no matter how they perform in their domestic leagues from season to season. This would be akin to the likes of Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, Villanova, and a few other elite college basketball programs creating their own “Elite Eight”, with guarantees for participation at that level every championship season. Each team would still compete during the regular season in their conferences but when it is tournament time they would just have their own tournament for them, automatically all in the Elite Eight, independent of how they did in their own conferences during the season. Meanwhile, a team that wins their conference could not be part of their “super tournament.”
As imagined, fans were appalled by this idea as it fundamentally hurts the essence of the game they love. Being gifted a spot their club did not earn undermined the fairness and integrity of football. And that’s the part that the owners either did not think about or they did but thought it would not be a deal-breaker.
And that’s where they were (very) wrong.
There is no question that fans love their clubs and want them to win. They Bask In the Reflected Glory (BIRG) of their club’s victories and championships. In their desire for winning, they often overlook and excuse many wrong things done by their club or their players.
But this new system crossed the line. As fans declared, football is about competing. A club needs to earn its spot in the top competition. Fans of the Super League clubs called it disgusting and disgraceful, even though their own clubs would benefit from it.
This was the strongest statement against the Super League. Fans (and former players) of these clubs condemned their clubs’ owners for ruining the sport in a desire for more revenue.
This would have meant unfilled stadiums, less ticket revenues, less interest from sponsors (who probably were leery about jumping on the new league right away anyway, out of fear of being seen as the villains that support the bad guys).
To see fans being willing to turn their back to the club they love, in an effort to save the game they love, was beautiful to behold. And it is that love that saved football. At least for now…
