Kieran Maguire: £5bn deal under threat amid Man City mystery – ‘They’re hatching a plan’
The Super League project once backed by Man City is threatening the value of the Premier League TV deal.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the ongoing attempts to resurrect the controversial breakaway competition.
City were one of six Premier League sides and nine in total to abandon the Super League 48 hours after its inception in April 2021.
But the rebel competition is still being championed by Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus, who have banded together to form A22 Sports Management, a group dedicated to relaunching the Super League.
A22 were dealt a body blow when European Court of Justice Advocate General Athanasios advised in December that FIFA and UEFA should be allowed to punish clubs who sign up to breakaway competitions.
But A22 are not going down without a fight and co-hosted a conference in Brussels on Friday (13 January) which broadly outlined their ambitions for a revised Super League.
City’s official stance on the project remains unclear, although A22 included them and their English peers in their projections and analysis during the conference.
Maguire argues that the Super League would have a disastrous impact on the value of the Premier League’s broadcast deal, which is currently worth £5billion over three years.
“A22 are hatching a plan for a two or three-division Super League in which there will be promotion and relegation between the division,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“Four new clubs are likely to come in at the very bottom of the division. The problem with this is that it will reduce the competitiveness of domestic leagues.
“One of the things that is attractive about the Premier League and others is the race to get into the top four.
“If you are already in the top division of the Super League, there is less incentive to try and perform well domestically.
“The significance of that is that it could in turn reduce the overall value of the Premier League as a competition.“
In other news, FFP-busting Man City plan in peril amid £50m document reveal.