Opinion: Super League Could Be Positive For Clubs Left Behind

The prospect of an elite football ‘Super League’ creates huge opportunities for challenger brands and the clubs left behind, writes Andy Hunns, creative director at Clinic… 

Talk and speculation about a potential breakaway football ‘super league’ has been going on for years, but the conversation has heated up recently after England’s five biggest clubs met with American billionaire Stephen Ross to discuss forming an ‘elite’ European league. It’s since been downplayed in the media by all involved, but has still caused a huge stir in the football world with many concluding that the five clubs involved – Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool – could leave the Premier League within the next 3 to 5 years. If it does happen, the implications are massive and would change football as we know it forever. However, it would also open up incredible and unprecedented opportunities for brands, and the football clubs left behind, to cement their position in the hearts and minds of the fans of a new, (and perhaps improved?) football format. 

From the fans’ perspective, the most disheartening part of the ‘super league’ idea is that it takes the focus away from what happens on the pitch, to what happens off it: the commercial dealings. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure a European super league will provide plenty of exciting, entertaining and brilliant football. But fans will no doubt be left feeling that money, sponsorship and commercial deals are at the centre of major decisions being made about the game that they love. This is what I feel is the big opportunity for brands: to talk to the millions of fans who care less about what money is exchanging hands, but who instead care more deeply about football. These are the people who, on the one hand, might well be sad about the potential break-up of the Premier League, but on the other will be excited about the opportunity to get their game back and for the return of real football.

This huge audience of fans haven’t really been understood by the big brands involved in football to date. If you ask a fan to think of three brands associated with football in this country, they’d probably name brands who haven’t necessarily made a real emotional impact on them, but who’ve paid a lot of money to get maximum exposure through TV and shirt sponsorship. In fact, I don’t think any of the big, football sponsoring brands have genuinely connected with the fans. If the European super league happens it may take some of these major brands with it, leaving a very rewarding gap for other brands to fill back at home. 

If I was a challenger brand I’d be monitoring this situation very carefully and be ready to pounce on the opportunity if and when changes are announced. Fans will have a heightened state of emotion about the excitement and uncertainty about this big change. The recent meeting between the big five alone caused a whirlwind of social media noise heralding ‘the death of football’. This is where clever brands could step in and talk to the millions of fans of the clubs who remain and assure them that their genuine passion and love for the game are understood, and most importantly, shared. It’s a chance for brands to make a real and authentic connection to fans in a way that football sponsors don’t really currently do, and the audience will be there ready, waiting and receptive to the brands who step in. It’s not just an opportunity for brands either, it’s an opportunity for the remaining football clubs too. They have the chance to reposition themselves to align more closely with the fans and share the inevitable excitement about a return to authenticity and real passion for the game.  

I think it’s only a matter of time before this all happens, and when it does it will no doubt cause some short term uncertainty and uneasiness among fans and the wider football community. I don’t know if the Premier League can or will still continue to exist or what new league might take its place. But what I’m certain of is that it will leave behind a community who love and care about football for all the right reasons, and that will create a land of opportunity for brands and football clubs to genuinely engage with fans about the game they all live and breathe. 

Clinic is a creative agency with particular expertise and experience in sports marketing, branding and sponsorship, having worked with clients including Umbro, Arsenal FC, The Premier League and the England and Wales Cricket Board.