{"id":46835,"date":"2023-10-06T14:14:36","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T13:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grayling.com\/news-and-views\/european-super-league-fiasco-underlines-football-clubs-need-to-lobby-both-fans-and-government\/"},"modified":"2023-10-06T14:14:36","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T13:14:36","slug":"european-super-league-fiasco-underlines-football-clubs-need-to-lobby-both-fans-and-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grayling.com\/es\/news-and-views\/european-super-league-fiasco-underlines-football-clubs-need-to-lobby-both-fans-and-government\/","title":{"rendered":"European Super League fiasco underlines football clubs need to lobby both fans and Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

In many ways, this week\u2019s European Super League (ESL) fiasco illustrates perfectly the growing disconnect in society at large between a perceived out-of-touch billionaire elite and the rest of us. The victory for fan democracy was also a PR disaster for the owners of the 12 clubs involved. What does the rapid demise of the proposed ESL teach us about PR and how does it underline the need for \u2018New Collectivism\u2019? With a major Government review of football management imminent, the timing could not be more crucial for clubs.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the time of writing \u2013 the day after the supposed \u2018Big Six\u2019 English clubs pulled out of the proposed ESL, effectively killing off the idea – you can already jump onto a search engine and find plenty of articles about what a PR disaster it has been for the owners.<\/p>\n

I want to look at the bigger picture and what the ESL fiasco says about how businesses relate to their publics going forward and also what the implications are for the comms functions at other football clubs so they can defend their interests, because I don\u2019t believe the \u2018Super League\u2019 threat has gone away.<\/p>\n

Football and the New Collectivism<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 12 clubs that announced the European Super League did so because they wanted more money than they currently received from their participation in the UEFA tournaments, the Champions League and Europa League. In the closed shop of the ESL, there would be no relegation. This also means there would be no jeopardy \u2013 one of the key ingredients of why people watch the unscripted drama of sport – for many of the matches, especially at the tail-end of the season. The target market was the new markets in the US and Asia, not the club\u2019s traditional local fanbases.<\/p>\n

The economist Milton Friedman said famously that businesses\u2019 priority should be to increase profits. But there are two things to consider here in the context of the proposed ESL:<\/p>\n