Soccer is the world’s most popular sport; it draws billions of viewers and dollars annually. The most popular leagues currently are those in Europe like the Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga, they draw the most money because their franchises and players are the most world renowned and skilled. They often make it into an annual league called the champion league where the top 32 teams in Europe compete to see who the best is. A new league almost emerged, however; that would have changed the game as we know it.

The champions league doesn’t just include the most well-known teams though, it is skill based so many lesser-known teams get included to compete against the best. This allows for real competition and makes the sport of soccer have a sense of fairness and that any team can work their way to the top. This is a well-respected league and having a placement in it is a notable achievement to anyone who follows soccer.  

Although the business side of soccer has generally been based on respect for tradition and honor, there had been rumors of increasingly greedy team owners for a while. The rumors circulating by word of mouth were that the owners of the most popular teams were thinking of making their own league to destroy the champions league, the super league. The idea was that every game would be a famous team versus another and would be a money-making machine for the teams and owners. 

This was planned to be announced a couple years down the road to ease the public into the idea, but something this big and controversial was hard to keep under wraps. So inevitably, it leaked, and the public reacted with nothing but rage. Once the story leaked, fans were discussing boycotting their teams that were included in this league and voiced their opinions loudly on social media. Within the hour the trending page on twitter was filled with “RIP football” “death of football” and “super league boycott”.  

 Pressure was mounting daily, and many of the original managers involved in the deal were growing cold feet. The immense backlash was impossible to ignore, and the players felt it, they were also generally bitter at the managers and the higher ups at their teams because no one informed them about the super league. They had no idea what was happening behind the scenes until the information was leaked to the public. There were many players that confronted their coaches and managers, which added even more pressure for them to exit the proposed super league. So one by one premier league teams started to announce their departure from the planned super league. Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham all left in the days following the announcement.

This was essentially the nail in the coffin for the super league, due to the loss of viewership and fans these teams brought to the table. Many credit the fans for saving the sport, because without their protests and social media pressure this might’ve actually happened. 

Panja, Tariq, and Rory Smith. “How the Super League Fell Apart.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 Apr. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/04/22/sports/soccer/super-league-soccer.html. 

Panja, Tariq. “Top European Soccer Teams Form Breakaway League.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Apr. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/04/18/sports/soccer/super-league-united-liverpool-juventus-madrid.html.