COVID was tougher on smaller clubs than on bigger ones, yet the big ones demand more money?
i'm not sure about the finances of each club/league during this covid pandemic, but the EPL prize money should remain the same as last year as those are long-term deals. With that in mind,
a recently promoted team like Fulham or a small team like Brighton and Sheffield will earn about £100M at the end of this season, that includes tv rights, money from the fa, etc, while the top 6 get 150M-180M depending on the standings. 100M for a mid-table team and lower is quite a lot, but 180M actually isn't that much for a top team, especially during a pandemic, as the infrastruscture of those teams is much bigger (staff, headquarters, wages, training facility, etc), but, the top 6 teams could make some more money from the Champions League, although that's not enough for them right now. For instance, a team winning all games in a CL season (like bayern did last year) could win around £75M, that's not a lot considering you could've signed Alisson Becker 3 years ago with that money alone. And how much does UEFA get after the tournament's gone? it's a mistery.
Now, you know how teams have this budget of 150 or 200M to spend in transfers before the start of the season? well, 150M from the local league, plus let's say 50M from the CL cos a team like Liverpool for example didn't make it that far in the 19/20 season, that leaves them with more or less 200M from just two tournaments during a good season (top 4 and CL playoffs) to spend over the summer in signings or any other club related stuff (sponsorship money
[1] is also used for signings or for any other spendings, so you could exchange one with the other in this example), now the question is: is that enough for a big club struggling during the pandemic? well, look at the last two transfer windows, no crazy signings from them and most of the top teams could barely afford 2 or 3 new signings max (chelsea is the only exception cos they had a ban prior to covid so they had money), and those transfers were not up to the standards of what those teams usually make (not just in the PL but other top leagues). You see, the ESL seems to take the middleman out of the equation which is UEFA and that means more money going to the teams participating in the ESL and more control over how much each can earn, spend and all that financial stuff. A constant influx of money without an entity taking a big piece of the pie will actually help these teams financially in these troubling times (believe it or not, some of these top teams are struggling, or does the staff, board of directors and players taking a paycut during this pandemic is just PR?). UEFA knew that a super league was in the making years ago but they never tried to change something, now covid hit and these top teams desperately need some changes or short-term they'll be buried in debts. UEFA could've helped impose more rules and give a fair share of the money to the teams (£75M for winning the CL unbeaten is absurd) but they did fuck all.
I find it funny that teams like Wolves and Everton are showing their disapproval of the ESL, as if they are contenders to finish in the top 4 every season :/ Out of the last 19 EPL seasons, only two had a "cinderella" type of story, Leicester and Blackburn, both who won the whole thing, and those type of stories won't change with the ESL. The top 4 and top 6 are pretty much
always the same teams
[2] except for some extraordinary event where the small club actually makes it all the way to the top 4, and yet that glitch in the matrix would actually still make it into the ESL as there are 5 spots reserved for those strange anomalies in modern football, a world of football where the disparity in money is already so enormous that it'll probably never go back to what it was before the 21st century when competition was bigger, meaning that small teams have even smaller chances of making it to the european competitions. A cinderella story in the Champions League? last one was with Marseille in the early 90's.
Some say that with the ESL the rich clubs will get richer? well, that's been the world of football for the past 20 years and it's the main reason why over 90% of all the league titles from La Liga, EPL and Serie A in the last 10 years were won by the founding clubs of the Super League, and that number would be even higher if you include the clubs from the Ligue 1 and Bundesliga that didn't want to join the ESL [just yet].
But if i'm honest, i'm actually a neutral to this ESL, i think it's a good idea but it really needs some fixing. The current CL, as well as the new one that's coming in 2024-25, really need some changes as there's barely any type of competition (to most teams, the real tournament starts in the quarter finals) and the money just isn't there during this pandemic situation. The new CL starting in 24/25 is just a joke. But, there are ways to fix the current problem with money like having salary caps, fair distribution of tv rights, etc...for example, if FC Barcelona had a salary cap, Messi would not have gotten a 550M contract since 2017 and the club wouldn't be buried in debt cos such monstrous contract wouldn't even exist. Same thing applies to many clubs like Juve, Real Madrid, United, who have these players earning massive wages.
1.
https://www.givemesport.com/1516260-the-top-10-teams-with-the-most-lucrative-kit-sponsorship-deals-in-world-football2.
https://www.myfootballfacts.com/premier-league/all-time-premier-league/premier-league-ladders/Best competitions are for best teams, and if you are telling me that Arsenal is among the best 12 teams in the world we seriously don't have anything further to discuss about.
the reality is that the majority of football fans would rather pay a ticket to watch Arsenal - Real Madrid or Spurs - Juventus than Bayern Munich - West Ham or Barcelona - Leicester, it is a sad reality for some ppl, but it what it is