The Unify League: A New Chapter of European Football or Another Failed Super League?

A22 Sports Management are back with a new and rebranded Super League proposal under the name of the Unify League. With the 70th UEFA Champions League currently underway, the age-old question returns: will there be a new era of breakaway football?

Background and context

The breakaway league saga in European football has gained traction in the last few decades, with threats of a breakaway league emerging as early as 1990.[1]

The most significant attempt came in 2021 from A22 Sports Management (A22) with the proposal of the European Super League. This was an attempt, albeit short-lived, to compete with FIFA and UEFA as dominant players on the market. A22 proposed a new rival cross-border competition comprising the best teams in Europe.

The legality of this competition was challenged in the courts of Madrid, leading to a preliminary ruling in the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The ECJ found firstly that FIFA and UEFA’s organisation of football competitions was subject to Article 102 and 101(1) TFEU restrictions.[2] The main implication of the court’s ruling, however, was that UEFA and FIFA could no longer block new European tournament proposals, as this would be contrary to competition law under those articles.[3]

Notwithstanding, the court did stipulate that any new tournament proposals must meet two criteria: they must not disrupt the FIFA match calendar and they must represent an open competition in terms of how teams can qualify for the tournament.[4]

For more information on the previous failed Super League, read our previous article here: https://www.melbournesla.com/micro-blog/what-happened-to-the-super-league.

The new proposal: what’s changed?

With the hurdle of competition law compatibility significantly lowered, A22’s new Unify League has included some new changes to conform with the ruling and convince fans.

One major change is that clubs will qualify for the competition based on their annual performance in their domestic football league.[5] This will ensure that the new competition falls in line with the ECJ ruling. It also means that performance in domestic leagues will be bolstered, rather than adversely affected, by the new competition. This will be down to the incentive to place highly in the domestic league in order to qualify for the Unify League.

The Unify League will also incorporate home and away matches in the group stage, followed by a knockout format for play-offs.[6] This preserves the traditional home and away setup of European football, while facilitating exciting viewership opportunities in the closing stages, similar to the current Champions League. These matches will be played mid-week and without disruption to the FIFA match calendar, as stipulated by the court.[7]

To tackle the ongoing issue of increasingly expensive live football streaming, the new league has retained the idea of streaming via a bespoke Unify League streaming platform. This platform will allow fans to watch games for free via incorporated advertisements.[8] Whether this will be economically viable is open to debate and will depend on how lucrative the league appears to potential advertisers.

Likelihood of success

So, will the Unify League succeed where the Super League failed? Success seems contingent upon generating revenue and securing fan support; challenges that may prove difficult.

The current Champions League format has been a long-standing success in terms of revenue, with current prize money available for this year’s tournament rising to €2.437 billion.[9] There will need to be some substantial external investment into the new proposed tournament to assure clubs that they would be better off jumping ship.

Secondly, A22 will not want a repeat of the response to their last announcement, which prompted outbursts of demonstrations from fans across the UK and Europe. Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, is among a couple of critics already to brand the new league as harmful to European football.[10] The Union of European Clubs, with members including Burnley FC and La Liga side UD Las Palmas, have also publicly announced their disapproval of A22’s new plans, calling them elitist and undermining competitive balance.[11]

A22 must convince not only these vocal critics but also the fans that the Unify League is worth sacrificing the legacy of European competition football as they know it. This has not proved an easy task to date. Use of a bespoke ad-supported streaming platform and increased prize money on offer are potential reasons to disrupt the status quo. Whether these will be enough to convince all stakeholders, particularly those outside of the wealthiest clubs, remains to be seen.


References

[1] Sky Sports, ‘European Super League relaunches as the “Unify League” – What has changed?’, Sky

Sports (online, 17 December 2024) <https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13275433/european-super-league-relaunches-as-the-unify-league-what-has-changed>.

[2] European Superleague Company v FIFA and UEFA (C-333/21) [2023] ECR 1, 22.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid 144.

[5] Letter from Bernd Reichart, CEO of A22 Sports Management, to UEFA, 17 December 2024, 4 <https://a22sports.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/files/6617/3443/6493/UEFALetter_ENG.pdf>.

[6] Ibid Appendix A.

[7] Ibid 15, 16.

[8] Ibid 3.

[9] Nathan Evans and Dom Farrell, ‘UEFA Champions League prize money 2024/25: Total purse breakdown for winners, knockout rounds, matches in league phase’, Sporting News (online, 9 April 2025) <https://www.sportingnews.com/au/football/news/champions-league-prize-money-breakdown-ucl-winners-uefa/6e9cd9ee671ddd07fc6507ff>.

[10] Nick Ames, ‘Javier Tebas warns football world not to overlook threat of A22 Super League’, The Guardian (online, 31 January 2025) <https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/jan/31/javier-tebas-warns-football-world-not-to-overlook-threat-of-a22-super-league>.

[11] Union of European Clubs, ‘The UEC condemns A22’s latest elitist proposal for its lack of transparent governance’, UEC Europe (online, 18 December 2024) <https://www.ueceurope.org/post/the-uec-condemns-a22s-latest-elitist-proposal-for-its-lack-of-transparent-governance>.

Image: https://sportal.eu/2024/12/17/super-league-new-attempt-and-request-to-uefa-here-is-the-unify-league/

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