What is the new European Super League? Format, teams, earnings, reactions

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 21 Dec 2023 12:24 GMT
• 12 min read

The European Super League now looks as though it will become a reality after the latest ruling from the European Court of Justice.

The EU’s most senior court has concluded that FIFA and UEFA acted "unlawfully" by blocking the creation of the European Super League (ESL), which opens the door for the competition to begin.

However, the latest iteration of the European Super League will ensure that any club involved will still play in their domestic leagues, meaning it would essentially replace Champions League, Europa League or Conference League football for any club that joins.

Following the European Court of Justice's ruling, Barcelona have declared it “paves the way” towards a new competition, while Real Madrid added that “it is a great day for the history of football."

What is the latest proposed European Super League format?

A league structure with 64 participating clubs in three tiers (The Star League, The Gold League and The Blue League), with each tier split into smaller groups of eight.

There would be two groups of eight in both The Star League and The Gold League, and four groups of eight in The Blue League.

Key elements of A22’s proposal can be found below:

- The Star League and The Gold League (the top two tiers) will consist of 16 clubs each, with both tiers split into two groups of eight.

- The Blue League will consist of 32 clubs, with the tier split into four groups of eight.

- Participation based on sporting merit with NO permanent members.

- Annual promotion and relegation between European Super League divisions.

- Promotion into The Blue League (the third tier) would be based on domestic league performances.

- Clubs to play home and away matches in groups of eight, resulting in a minimum of 14 matches per year (seven at home, seven away).

- The league stage will take place from September to April, with matches played in mid-week to ensure they don’t impact domestic league calendars. There will be no increase in matchdays from existing competitions.

- The knockout rounds will be played from April to May.

- In the initial year of the competition, clubs will be selected based on an index of transparent, performance-based criteria.

- Strong Financial Sustainability rules and transparent enforcement processes will be put in place to ensure a level playing field between participating clubs.

How will the knockout rounds work?

- The top four teams in each group of The Star League and The Gold League will qualify for the knockouts, while the top two teams in each group of The Blue League will also qualify for the knockout round, starting with the quarter-final.

- As a result, eight teams from each tier will qualify for the knockouts, with each tier holding its own knockout phase.

- The quarter-finals and semi-finals both consist of a two legged knockout round before a final, which will be held at a neutral venue.

- The winner of the final in each tier will be crowned champion of either The Star League, The Gold League or The Blue League for that season.

How will relegation and promotion work?

- The two teams bottom of the two groups in The Star League will be relegated. They will be replaced by the two teams who reach the final of The Gold League knockouts.

- The two teams bottom of the two groups in The Gold League will be relegated. They will be replaced by the two teams who reach the final of The Blue League knockouts.

- 20 out of the 32 teams in The Blue League will be relegated and replaced by 20 NEW teams based on performances in their domestic leagues.

European Super League vs Champions League/Europa League

What have A22 said?

A22 Sports Management, a company formed to assist with the creation of the European Super League, held a conference on December 21, 2023 to explain the ESL format following the ruling from the EU’s court.

CEO Bernd Reichart began his presentation by saying: “Football is free. Free from the monopoly of UEFA, free to pursue the best ideas without fear of sanctions and under our proposal, free viewing of all live matches.”

What is the Super League?

The European Super League is a planned breakaway competition that is set to include the biggest football clubs on the continent.

When it was initially announced in April 2021, the plan was for the Super League to include 20 of the biggest football clubs in Europe.

15 of these teams would have been permanent members who could not be relegated, while another five would have been able to qualify for the annual tournament.

The teams who would have been part of this original Super League would’ve been likely banned from participating in the UEFA-organised tournaments.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez was due to hold the chairman’s position for the Super League. Manchester United’s Joel Glazer and Juventus’ previous president Andrea Agnelli were announced as vice-chairman's before the league’s demise.

However, the original Super League proposal was slammed by fans and after its demise, a revamped project was launched and is being headed by A22 Sports Management.

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus remain the three biggest clubs backing the project.

This Super League is intended to represent an alternative to the current club competitions organised by European football’s governing body, UEFA.

These UEFA continental competitions date back to the 1950s, but the future of the Champions League, Europa League and the newly-formed UEFA Europa Conference League are under threat.

A22’s chief executive, Bernd Reichart, told Die Welt in February 2023: “The foundations of European football are in danger of collapsing. It’s time for a change. It is the clubs that bear the entrepreneurial risk in football.

"But when important decisions are at stake, they are too often forced to sit idly by on the sidelines as the sporting and financial foundations crumble around them.

“Our talks have also made it clear that clubs often find it impossible to speak out publicly against a system that uses the threat of sanctions to thwart opposition.

"Our dialogue was open, honest, constructive and resulted in clear ideas about what changes are needed and how they could be implemented. There is a lot to do and we will continue our dialogue.”

Which teams are in the Super League?

There were 12 teams who signed up for the original Super League that was launched and dramatically collapsed in April 2021.

It is understood that Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain were all invited to be part of the Super League but all Bundesliga and Ligue 1 clubs refused to be part of the breakaway tournament.

All of the teams who were part of the original Super League officially pulled out, with the exception of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus.

These three teams have publicly remained committed to launching a Super League throughout.

When is the European Super League due to start?

It was suggested that the planned launch of the original Super League would have been the start of the 2022-23 season.

There have been reports that the relaunched Super League could begin for 2024-25 but any hypothetical launch date has not been officially announced.

What was the original planned format of the Super League?

The original Super League from April 2021 was due to consist of 20 teams. Fifteen of those would have been permanent members who could not be relegated. An additional five teams would be able to enter each season.

The format would have seen these 20 clubs split into two leagues of 10 teams. Everyone in those two leagues would have played each other home and away, and there would have been a minimum of 18 European matches played each season.

The matches were due to be played in midweek, and the idea was that teams would still be able to compete in domestic competitions such as the Premier League, La Liga or national cups.

How much will teams earn from the Super League?

It is too early to say how much money will be earned in the new Super League but it is likely to be very significant. One of the biggest reasons for launching a Super League is to give clubs outside of England the financial means to challenge Premier League clubs.

It is claimed that the Premier League has built up a financial monopoly on the European game, due to its astronomical television deals, to the extent that teams from outside of England can no longer challenge for the best players and continental trophies.

There are likely to be some big backers behind the Super League project; for example, JP Morgan confirmed that it would be debt financing the original Super League to the amount of £3.5 billion.

The creation of the league is intended to lead to numerous lucrative commercial, television and sponsorship deals, with reports of national TV stations being prepared to pay billions to air games in their countries circulating.

In total, it was estimated that each team would make between €275m and €400m per year just from participating in the original Super League, thus trebling or even quadrupling the money made from the Champions League.

It remains to be seen what the figures will be for the new Super League.

What will happen to the Champions League?

The future of the Champions League is very much under threat as a result of these Super League plans.

UEFA's very position as European football's governing body will naturally be at risk, as will the power it holds and the purpose it serves.

If there is a European Super League, then the teams who join this breakaway competition would very likely be unable to participate in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League.

And if many of Europe’s biggest clubs - like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus - didn’t enter the Champions League, the tournament would be devalued so much that it is difficult to see it thriving. Television and commercial income would naturally plummet in a second-rate tournament.

UEFA’s ‘Swiss Model’ for the Champions League will be in effect from 2024 onwards, but it has been met with much criticism.

What will happened to the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A & domestic leagues?

It is understood that teams joining the Super League will still be able to compete in their domestic leagues.

These leagues and the clubs who weren’t invited to be in the original Super League in 2021 were understandably unhappy. The money on offer from the Super League was set to lead to an even greater disparity in wealth between those who are in and out of the breakaway tournament.

It was also believed that Super League teams may take their local leagues less seriously, deploying reserve sides, as they would focus on the midweek games.

These domestic leagues would thus have been devalued even further and like the Champions League there would’ve been less money on offer from television and commercial avenues.

This would have had big ramifications on the futures of many smaller clubs, with fears it could even drive some out of business.

However, with the revamped Super League promising qualification from domestic leagues, the concerns from 2021 may not be so bad now.

What is the reaction to the Super League?

Outside of England, there is now an increasing support among fans around Europe for a Super League.

The key reason for this is the financial power of the Premier League. During the 2023 January transfer window, the Premier League spent €830 million on new signings. This compared to Ligue 1 (€127m), Bundesliga (€68m), La Liga (€32m) and Serie A (€31m).

It has been argued that there is already a Super League in football, the Premier League, with every other domestic league becoming a feeder league.

Thus, a European Super League is required to help bring back some competitive balance and increase the revenues of teams from non-English leagues.

The fact that the revamped Super League is not a closed-shop has also answered the biggest issue fans had with the original launch.

Plans for the original Super League led to almost unanimous anger from fans. The main complaints were that this Super League was all about money and greed. The idea of there being a closed shop – with 15 permanent Super League members – went against the ideals of sporting competition and it was viewed that it would simply kill domestic leagues and smaller clubs.

The original European Super League was condemned by UEFA and the Premier League, with many more leagues, associations and governing bodies following suit.

Even the UK government and Prince William got involved to condemn the Super League.

Now, however, the new Super League plans include promotion and relegation for all teams involved.

Why did the original Super League collapse?

There were a number of reasons the original Super League collapsed so suddenly within 48 hours of its launch.

The most important reason was the anger of fans around the footballing world, but especially in England.

There were mass protests by supporters of all of the Premier League big six, with Chelsea fans even refusing to allow their team bus access into Stamford Bridge ahead of their game against Burnley.

Furthermore, several players and managers expressed their negative views on the league, with Jurgen Klopp and James Milner publicly saying they didn’t like it, and Pep Guardiola condemning it: “It is not a sport if success is guaranteed”.

The football community came together as one to prevent the owners from making a decision that the majority simply didn’t want. In the end it forced the owners of the Big Six to pull their sides out of the Super League, and they were soon followed by Inter, Atletico Madrid and AC Milan.

It must also be noted that the political interference of Boris Johnson’s UK government and by Prince William also played an important role.

Recently, Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes revealed he would have pushed to leave the club had the European Super League proposals gone ahead.