On Sunday, some of the biggest football clubs in Europe (we call it football here, sorry) announced their intention to break away from their current local leagues and form a new organization called the European Super League. The announcement drew criticism, dismay and frustration from all corners of the sports and sports adjoining world. But perhaps the most surprisingly sensational plea comes from an emotional James Corden in his program on Monday night.
Depending on your point of view, Corden or the host of the Late Late Show with James Corden – a talk show with vaguely annoying pieces like Carpool Karaoke – or the absolute worst part of Cats.
As you would expect from an Englishman who hosted an American late-night show, Corden began with a brief outline of the existing league system and how exactly the Super League would change it for the worse.
In the current setup, most countries in Europe have their own pyramidal league structures. The best teams compete at the top of the league, such as the Premier League in England, while smaller teams compete in lower leagues up to amateur level. Through a promotion and relegation system, teams in leagues can move up or down, depending on how they perform each season.
This system tends to keep the best teams of each country – in most cases the most money – at the top of its most prestigious league. However, it is also let smaller teams participate, which often offers some of the best narratives and most exciting moments. The problem with this, from the perspective of the top teams, is that the same smaller clubs get a share of the revenue from the extremely lucrative TV shows for the leagues involved, even if they do relatively little to attract attention or viewers.
“These teams, these owners, are killing – they will kill hundreds of other football teams that are competing with them, and have competed with them many times over the years,” Corden said, adding that the fact that this step ” the fans of the teams and miss the fans of their own teams, who were crushed [this] also.”
This is, as Corden said, an inherently greedy argument by the clubs at the top. But it is also difficult to argue against some football fans, especially in America. While Corden has a clear, emotional connection to the English and European idea of football – which he describes as a grassroots sport with working-class clubs – most American fans have only jumped on the European football bandwagon in the last two years . decades, and they are overwhelming fans of the world’s greatest and best teams.
The ultimate plan of the European Super League would be to host 15 permanent teams, with another five turning up annually from different domestic leagues. The league currently has 12 teams on board, including Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus. To put it another way, this is basically a list of everyone’s favorite European football clubs – minus Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, two current results.
The clubs – and JPMorgan Chase, their financial backbone – are therefore not necessarily wrong when they say that they are the only teams that people want to see play. Where they is is wrong to suggest that inflating the current system is the solution.
UEFA, the governing body of European football, has threatened to suspend the teams from certain European competitions if they go through the creation of the new league, and has even said that they will not be allowed the players at the club to participate in the World Cup. not. The Super League would be the end of international football, at least in its current form.
And this is where James Corden comes into the picture again. Corden’s emotional segment was a perfect explanation for his American fans of why they should care, and an excellent example of how much sport, and especially football, can mean to people.
“It’s hard to express how much these communities rely on football – not just financially, which is significant,” Corden began, noting that owners have repeatedly cited the coronavirus pandemic as a reason for the European To form Superliga. ‘Football is a focal point in the hopes and dreams of a city. This is what you know, and these dreams, they have just been shattered – not just in Britain, across Europe. And the reason these dreams were shattered and thrown away is that a group of billionaires can buy them a bigger boat, or a second boat. ‘
Encouraged cries from fans may not be enough to save European football from itself, but a voice as loud as Corden’s entry into the chorus is definitely a good start.