Just when we all thought we could all go back to online betting Singapore bookies peacefully after reuniting in the face of the coronavirus pandemic a little more than a year ago, European football is again facing its worst crisis in a generation.
12 of the world's most powerful football teams announced plans to start the Super League, a closed league in which they and their invited guests would fight against one another for a shot at winning billions of dollars.
Suddenly, not a single football betting fan knows where football is going or what it will look like when it gets there. Thus that's what we've learned so far.
A brief introduction about the Super League
For decades, the idea of a continental competition that includes all of Europe's most recognizable names from home leagues has been around. It has effectively been somewhere between an aspiration and a danger for a long time. The league currently has 12 founding members.
Three more permanent members are expected to join them soon, though it is unclear why those teams have not revealed their engagement. The French club Paris St. Germain and the Portuguese giant F.C. Both Porto and Barcelona were considered potential possibilities, but both have distanced themselves from the concept.
Regardless of the ultimate roster, the league's bedrock will be those 15 founding teams. Each season, a rotating cast of five more teams will fill out the full allocation of 20 clubs, which will be determined by some sort of method that the organizers haven't decided on yet. Sounds complicated but a lot of sports betting fans could surely keep up eventually.
How is this any different?
To be fair, it will do it a little differently. The Champions League roster, on the other hand, is determined each year based on the success of clubs in their domestic leagues. The Super League will include permanent members who will not be able to miss any of the games or profits.
The 20 teams will be divided into two divisions, each with ten teams, and will play each other home and away. The top four clubs in each division will advance to a knockout phase that will be recognizable to Champions League spectators at the end of the regular season.
This will make the betting markets across every online betting Singapore site a lot more interesting. If there's anything that would set this league apart is that the playoffs will take place across four weeks at the end of the season.
According to their own estimations, every founding member will collect roughly 400 million US dollars simply by establishing a solid financial foundation, which is a whole lot more than what Bayern Munich received last Champions League season.
Simultaneously, the value of domestic leagues and teams will plummet as they are virtually rendered year after year.
Mixed reactions
Outrage over the violation of tradition has been met with spittle-flecked rage. It doesn't help that, despite statements from some of the teams stating that they will consult with fan organizations as the project progresses, no one thought to do so ahead of time.
While many online betting Singapore punters are clearly divided, it's also difficult to gauge the extent of the outrage and betrayal. There is some evidence of a demographic divide in reaction to the idea, which could be what the clubs are hoping for: that older fans will be more loyal to tradition, while younger fans will be more easily persuaded.
Why it exists
The simple explanation is that the pandemic has cost all of Europe's football clubs hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue, including, and to a lesser extent, even the wealthy elites. To some extent, the super league is intended to compensate for this.
This concept, on the other hand, has been around for a long time and has gained traction in the last five years or so. There is also a growing belief that because the big teams generate the majority of the revenue, they should receive a larger share of the pie.