At present UEFA take a huge slice of the broadcasting and sponsor payments while the broadcasters take all the pay-per-view and advertising revenues. Streaming techhnology means that clubs can produce their own broadcasts and take the lot. The clubs own the content so should get the lions' share of the revenue. This is what the whole breakaway row is about. Last year's CL final apparently had 450 million viewers across the globe. Why should the clubs give away their content for peanuts? It is nothing to do with the law. It is globalisation (whether we like it or not). If UEFA wants to survive it will have to give up its monopoly.
UEFA stands for the Union of European Football Associations. It's just the body that represents Europe's Football Associations, like the Premier League is the body that represents the 20 clubs in the league.
This has never been about the money UEFA makes, it's about how it's shared. The likes of Real, Barça & Juvé feel they & the other elite G14 clubs have made the CL into the global brand it is, & they want a bigger slice of the pie for themselves.
The ESL is about self. The G14 believe that matches between themselves sell, so why shouldn't they control the competitions they compete in, & rake in the money for themselves?
The G14 have taken notice of the PL & want to follow suit, but with only 2 teams being subject to relegation & promotion, instead of the PL's 3. But herein lies the problem.
The gap between the PL & Football League clubs is widening. The FL wants a bigger share of the PL's pie for lower league & grassroots football, but the PL are usually very resistant to giving more, hence them shitting themselves about IREF who've promised to look at the funding of the football pyramid.
The ESL will be no different to the PL in that funding the football pyramid will be low down on their list of priorities.
Everyone says the world will get bored watching the same teams playing each other season after season, but isn't that what we've essentially got in the PL with City, ManUre, Dippers, Arse, Chavs & Spuds?
Bringing up the next level you've got Newcastle, Villa, WHU etc. You can also add a well run Brighton & a recently sold Everton who have a new stadium on the way.
If fans tune in to watch the PL in their hundreds of millions, the ESL reasons why won't they tune in to watch their Star League of 16-20 teams from City, Real, Barça, Atletico, Milan, Inter, Juvé, ManUre, Arse, Chavs, Spuds, Bayern, Dortmund, PSG, Marseille, Monaco, Lyon, PSV, Ajax, Benfica, Porto & Sporting?
Surely Real vs Lyon will attract a bigger global audience than Liverpool vs Sheff U? This is their calculation & is why the PL's conflicted. Six of its biggest clubs were involved in the ESL, but 3 of those clubs (the red tops) essentially run the PL.
They along with City (who had little choice), were prepared to sacrifice the PL's golden goose which laid its golden eggs, for the potentially bigger ESL goose.
Nothing's changed since the creation of the PL & CL. It's the elites who want to concentrate power & finance amongst themselves. Isn't this the very definition of Western Capitalism?
