CMV: The proposed European Super League will be a bad thing for football, making competition less exciting, raising costs for fans and permanently preventing smaller clubs from succeeding

Yesterday, [it was announced](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56795811) that 12 of the larger football clubs in Europe were forming a breakaway competition, the European Super League (ESL).

The competition would take place in midweek, replacing for these clubs the slots occupied by the Champions League (CL) and the Europa League (EL).

The 'founder members' of the competition would gain permanent access, removing the requirement to qualify via domestic performance that currently exists for the CL and EL.

A very small number of other teams will be able to qualify for the ESL, bringing total participation to around 20.

The outcome of this development will be, in my view:

1. Devaluation of the importance of the domestic league competitions, local rivalries and historic fixtures 2. Worsening of the financial polarisation of European football, with the richest clubs getting richer and no access to that top tier - even theoretically - for smaller clubs 3. Disconnection between these large clubs and their core fan base, both locally and internationally, in favour of 'brand consumers'

I'm pretty sure I'm correct on this, and honestly the above is basically the consensus view. But, I'd like to be wrong.

To be clear: what I think is important is preserving and improving the excitement and interest of fans in top level competition, and a large part of this is driven by the concept of rare 'big games' where your team has progressed by merit to the late stages of a major competition, PLUS the idea that smaller clubs can still succeed (like Leicester winning the English league a few years ago).