European Soccer’s American Owners Tried to Form a U.S.-Style ‘Super League.’ It Hasn’t Gone Well
Over the years, I’ve noticed American sports fans expressing more and more admiration for the system of relegation that has defined European soccer for decades. In leagues such as the English Premier League, the teams that underperform get booted from the top division, swapping spaces with a second division club that has earned its keep. Imagine if, say, the New York Knicks or New York Mets or New York Jets could be banished to the minors after so many years of mediocrity? Maybe they’d win more! (To be fair, the Knicks are pretty good this year).
But guess what? While we Americans have looked fondly at a European system that gives so many teams a chance, the gilded billionaire class running soccer across the Atlantic just showed they very much prefer the American way. That’s a clear takeaway from the mooted formation of the Super League, a breakaway soccer competition launched with great fanfare over the weekend and apparently now already at risk of collapse 48 hours later, after fans and players revolted.
The league was to be composed of a dozen original permanent members—Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham and A…
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