Atalanta hasnot got Juve/AC&Inter Milan budgets. Still they managed with a few smart 1 million Eredivisie buys to get into the CL semi finals.
No money in London, OH.. How about LA Arsenal??? plus he's got that fancy new stadium to pay for somehow. One of the local STL sports radio shows had Toby Parkes, host of ‘Arsenal Editor’ podcast, on this morning. Sounds like Kroenke treats the Arsenal fans just like he did the STL Rams fans prior to moving to LA....
Moving Arsenal to London Ohio would be just fine. For those not familiar with it, London is a small city in Madison County Ohio. It's a rural area near Columbus on the way to Cincinnati and home to the 2 "Hell is Real" signs. It could become a 3 way competition ala Cascadia Cup.
Yeah....they were singing Wenger Out for how many years? Wenger left and......Arsenal struggled to make European Tournaments....and fans were just as if not more miserable.
You are mistaken, I get it. A basketball "Intercontinental Cup" isn't aimed at the North American basketball fan. Just like the FIFA Club World Cup isn't aimed at European fans. Such a competition is a "bridge" that costs the dominant side very little but makes a big difference to the rest. Again, we are just talking about one or two games per year. That's it. And I sincerely believe that such an engagement with international clubs and fans would lead to an accelerated growth of the sport and ultimately commercial gain for the NBA as a result (so I wouldn't look at it as "moral" charity). It's not something that I can quantify with numbers, but I truly believe that. Call me a hopeless romantic.
That's why videos like the below are priceless. It's not often that a billionaire gets pushed out of his comfort zone.
Yes, outliers exist, this isn't new and isn't even a new comment from you. The correlation to money spent and results still stands. The inflated market and pricing out of most clubs is an actual thing.
That's probably a limit of the franchise model. You only want to grow the game if it means more eyeballs on the current ~34 member teams, not introducing an entire globe full of potential competitors.
It's a thing because clubs do it (out of mental/intellectual) laziness. If all clubs would adopt the Atalanta way, prudent spending/smart scouting, the actual correlation would be with prudent spending. The fact that a correlation exists isnot the same as it is a necesaty. Edit: It's the choice clubs make that form the correlation.
I would be on board with some kind of salary limitation in European soccer. Something must be done about the escalating payrolls.
Impossible within EU competition laws. The only way into it is by putting salaries into a Collective Bargaining Agreement. But that has to be embedded in laws and stand the test of it being for the good of a greater cause. Dunno if the FIFPRO would be on board with it.
Yes and no (depending what you mean by prudent spending). If every team was "smart" about its spending, the correlation between money and performance would be stronger, since there would still be differences in revenue and you wouldn't have situations where some teams outperform because they are smarter about which players to sign. It's the overperformance or underperformance of team management that weakens the correlation. Its technically true that the choice forms the correlation but it's a fairly obvious choice. Teams with more money choose to spend more money on players. What else would they spend the money on?
The power of the Cosmos is so great they killed off another league before they even got the chance to join!
100% correct. But, if teams just spent within their means, salary caps wouldn't need to be a thing. I don't expect that Barca will reel in their spending, but they should not be blaming the system for their bad spending habits. Barca probably spends 150% of their revenues on wages. No wonder they are €1bil+ in debt. Increasing their revenue is great and all, but if they keep spending it and more, that chicken will eventually come home to roost. If they do have to default, do they get docked points or relegated? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Would Barca (or RM or MU etc) fans be "Barca til I die" if the team did cut their wage bill to match revenues? Would they be ok if Barca was constantly outbid for talent by Man City or PSG's petro dollars? If MLS in 20 years, having benefited from MLS's closed system, starts competing for the best talent in the world with NFLish money, do teams and fans in Europe start to change their tune about how the game is structured there? I am not sure if they do change, but I think it is clear that the demise of this version of the ESL does not mean that the finances of soccer in Europe are working as is or that new proposals won't be put forward. Like others on here have said, I too love the global nature of the game. I have dream to someday travel through Europe and take in games in Scotland, France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, etc. Not sure I'll ever pull it off, but I think it would be a great way to experience local culture by visiting places like Motherwell, Reims, Lens, Etrecht, Gent, Brugge, etc. Soccer gives me a connection that I can have with people there that I can't get out of any other sport. Quick story, I was in Lyon for the US v Iran game in WC 98 and we get to the city early so we look for a place to watch the Argentina game that was taking place before the US game. We found a bar with some Scottish fans who were travelling around France watching games. They were so welcoming and we bonded over our passion for soccer. One of them literally gave me their Motherwell jersey off his back. I got his address and sent him a Clash jersey went I got back home. (Ugly 'cloudy jade' kit, I got the better end of that deal.) Point is, I don't think that type of interaction happens if fans of teams like Motherwell are taken for granted by an ESL. Hopefully this ESL proposal was enough of a wake up call that all parties involved in soccer: fans, UEFA/FIFA, players and staff, and owners, can agree on a way that works to continue to build and grow the game for all teams.
That assumes the top clubs make as much or more from winning as they do from being a global brand. All things being equal, you'd rather have the player that can also sell a shirt.