3 Business Lessons We Can Learn From the Super League Fiasco
For starters, money isn’t everything
Last week, the soccer world went bonkers.
You’ll be forgiven if, amongst everything that’s going on in 2021 — an ongoing global pandemic, horrifying COVID-19 figures in India, vaccination rollouts, the Derek Chauvin trial, police shootings, and much more — if you didn’t catch the news coming out of the soccer world about the proposed Super League.
But for those of us who follow international club soccer, this was yet another blow in a year full of them. And, if the proposed league had gone through, it would have forever altered the way the beautiful game is played. Fans cried. Players fumed. Coaches made public statements. It was a hot mess.
Here’s the gist.
Soccer clubs have been hit hard by the pandemic, just like everyone else. Due to COVID-19 protections, clubs have been restricted from having fans in their stadiums for nearly a year, stripping away a major source of revenue. 20 of the largest clubs in Europe have lost more than €1 billion during the 2020–2021 season. And this lost revenue has forced clubs, many of whom have become massively over-leveraged in recent years, into a bit of a bind.
So, in the middle of the season — and without warning — a number of big clubs announced they were headed in a different direction.
Six clubs from the English Premier League (including Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea), along with three Spanish teams and three Italian teams, decided the best way to make up for their pandemic losses was to unite into a Super League.
Like some kind of bizarre Marvel team-up.
To put this into another context. Imagine if the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, and a few other football powerhouses woke up one day and decided they were going to leave the NFL to form their own league. That they weren't making enough money. That the other teams in the NFL were beneath them. That they deserved better.
Well, that’s pretty much the humility level of The Super League …
For a minute, though, it seemed like the Super League was an unstoppable force. The venture had the backing of the largest clubs in the world. It had the backing of billionaire club owners — several of them Americans — who were all on board. And it had huge financial backing from J.P. Morgan Chase. It seemed as though the Super League was going to be the way of the future.
And then something remarkable happened.
“Fans without any resources can put up a fight. Whether we get credit for it, I don’t know and don’t care. It does show fan power works.”
All across Europe, fans began to make their voices heard. And they were NOT happy about the idea of a Super League. Thousands marched on the stadiums of major clubs, and millions took to social media to share their outrage. One commenter compared the marches to a scene from Les Misérables.
And the tide began to turn. Several high-profile players spoke out against the league. Legendary coaches made not-so-subtle comments to the media.
Within days, the Super League was a PR disaster.
And it was dead on arrival.
So today in Young Corporate, we’re going to wade into the details of the Super League fiasco to figure out what exactly went wrong. And we’ll look at three business lessons we can learn from the failure to get this league off the ground.
Lesson #1 — Money Isn’t Everything
Funny enough, if you looking at it from a strict dollars and cents standpoint, the Super League makes a lot of sense.
It brings together the top clubs from around Europe, many of whom drive huge amounts of top-line revenue for their individual leagues. And it creates more opportunities for fans to see the biggest clubs play each other, which in theory should drive ticket sales and television ratings.
Take, for example, the six clubs coming from the English Premier League. These clubs, known as the “Big Six,” make up 73% of the matchday income in the Premier League — a pretty staggering figure when you consider they only account for 30% of the total team count. These teams invest heavily in their brands, their players, and their stadiums. And fans want to see them.
And yet, at least domestically, Premier League teams split television revenue equally. So, despite the draw of a Manchester United, they are stuck sharing TV revenue with bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United.
Where’s the financial sense in that?
So, it’s not surprising to see top teams look elsewhere, especially during a time of economic turmoil. And if they have a chance to nearly double the money they’re making from the current set-up — to the tune of a projected €4 billion a season from global broadcasting and sponsorship rights — you can see why they’d jump at a Super League opportunity.
But money isn’t everything.
What the powers behind the Super League failed to take into account were the downstream impacts and public perceptions of their proposal. They failed to consider, not just the dollars and cents of the decision, but the human factors. What fans would think. How they would feel.
And, in doing so, they overlooked the fact that in club soccer fans drive every single financial metric of success.
Premier League teams make more than half of their baseline revenue from broadcasting. But those rights wouldn’t be worth anything if fans didn’t tune in. They make another 20–30% from matchday sales. But selling tickets and jerseys isn’t getting them anywhere if fans don’t buy.
Fans are the business of soccer. They aren’t an afterthought. One podcast I listened to described the prototypical soccer fan as having more of a religious relationship with the club they support than a business one.
And, as such, fans don’t want to see decisions that prioritize the financial well-being of billionaires. They want to see decisions that prioritize culture and history and experience. They want to feel good about supporting their club. And with the Super League, millions of them didn’t.
Lesson #1 for businesses. Money isn't everything. Your business is built on a foundation of customers and clients. They drive your success and every decision should be seen from their standpoint. Fail to do this and you fail to take care of the supporters that built you.
The owners of the Super League clubs can’t possibly have looked at it this way, or they never would have moved forward. And even with the initial backlash, it wasn’t until the power dynamic shifted that the club owners backed down.
Which leads us to …
Lesson #2 — The Power is Shifting
To quote the HBO series, Game of Thrones, “Power resides where men believe it resides. It’s a trick. A shadow on the wall.”
Now, we certainly aren’t talking about the power politics of Westeros in this article. But we are talking about the power politics of club soccer. And the principle holds firm.
If fans believe they have the power to influence a club’s decisions (especially regarding something as significant as the Super League), then they can hold massive sway over decision-makers. And fans believe they have power.
As one protest sign read, “FOOTBALL BELONGS TO US NOT YOU.”
The proliferation of social media — with its ability to bring together huge amounts of people to discuss a single topic — has made it easier than ever for groups to mobilize. And community movements such as LGBT+ marches and Black Lives Matter have shown the pressure large groups can have on business and government leaders.
“And it turned out to be a rollout, which, really, it was the sporting version of New Coke, a massive money plan put together by billionaires …”
As one article put it, quoting a Chelsea protester, “Fans without any resources can put up a fight. Whether we get credit for it, I don’t know and don’t care. It does show fan power works.”
And work it did.
Not only is the proposed Super League all-but-dead, but club owners and the masterminds behind the league now have to face a reckoning. UEFA, the organization that would have been essentially replaced by the Super League, has publicly stated that “everyone will be held responsible.” And there has been pressured levied against some owners to sell their interest in the club.
Whether the fallout from the Super League will result in a complete reshaping of the current European soccer structure is still to be seen. More than likely, there will be apologies (there have already been several), and a light cleaning at the top of the house. But maybe not much beyond that.
Still, this is the first salvo in a power struggle between owners and fans over the soul of soccer and how it is meant to be played. And right now, the fans are winning.
Lesson #2 for businesses. The power is shifting. Maybe before the advent of social media and the recent showing of unity, you might have been able to get away with strong-arm moves. Moves that weren’t supported by your fans, your staff, and your coaches. But those days are gone. Fans will rise up, they’ll make their voice heard. And you better listen.
Which leads us to …
Lesson #3 — Perspective, Perspective, Perspective
The Super League fiasco, if nothing else, demonstrated that there is a major gap in European soccer. There’s a gap between the fans and players, and the owners of the clubs they support. And that gap is HUGE.
Fans and players, on one end, continue to largely view soccer as a part of their individual and national heritage. The games have personal meaning, often bound up in generational fandom, and the connection between players and fans is strong. Fans can be vocal — sometimes too vocal — and their passion comes from a place of deep emotional connection.
Owners, meanwhile, view soccer as a business. And one they have made a significant investment in. They view games through the lens of jerseys sold and tickets purchased. They view players as commodities, to be bought and sold. And they view fans as a necessary path to revenue generation.
This gap between the two parties shows a lack of perspective on the part of the club owners. They just don’t get their fans, either through ignorance or willfulness. They don’t seem to be bothered until things get out of hand.
Roger Bennett, a co-host of the Men in Blazers tv show, made a spot-on comparison in a recent interview with NPR. “And it turned out to be a rollout, which, really, it was the sporting version of New Coke, a massive money plan put together by billionaires …”
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the New Coke story, here’s a quick rundown. In 1985, Coca-Cola rolled out a new formulation of their traditional Coke product after months of market research. The product, which eventually got the nickname “New Coke,” was a complete flop and inspired incredible amounts of public outcry.
One of the key takeaways from the New Coke story was the failure of Coca-Cola to fully appreciate the cultural elements at play. As one Chicago Tribune article put it, “Changing Coca-Cola is an intrusion on tradition.” Coke drinkers had deep ties to the original formula. Ties that went beyond basic business.
And that’s the same failure the Super League made. Owners, not immersed in the cultural aspects of soccer fandom, made a decision they thought was right. One that made practical business sense.
But their failure wasn’t the business side of things. It was a lack of perspective — specifically, the perspective of those who most avidly support the club.
Lesson #3 for businesses. Perspective is everything. If you can’t articulate, in exquisite detail, the needs and wants of your customer base, then you are setting yourself up for failure. Step outside your here-and-now, and consider what the everyday fan is considering. See the world from their perspective. And make your decisions accordingly.
Conclusion
I won’t pretend to know how European soccer moves forward from here, so I’ll leave that to the experts. But what is clear, in the fallout of the Super League fiasco, is that there are lessons to be learned. There are voices that need to be heard and considered alongside the dollars and cents of club soccer. Whether owners will absorb these lessons is anyone’s guess. But if they don’t, they’ll only have themselves to blame for the next fan outcry.
What are your thoughts on the Super League fiasco? Drop a note in the comments below. And join the Young Corporate page where we’re talking about career success, corporate citizenship, and more.
