Shares of Juventus fell 12% in Milan on Wednesday, pushing the stock below Friday’s closing price, the last trading session before the new league’s shock announcement. Stocks of Manchester United, which are traded in New York, fell more than 6% on Tuesday and rose even lower in premarket trading.
In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli said the project could not continue with just six of the original 12 founding clubs.
“I remain convinced of the beauty of that project, of the value it would have developed into the pyramid, of creating the best competition in the world, but apparently no … I don’t think that project is going up and down now. running. “
Investors were already rescuing shares in the two breakaway clubs that are publicly traded.
The founding clubs would become permanent members of the Super League, a structure similar to Major League Baseball or the National Football League that promised eye-catching payouts of media rights and merchandising.
But it went against the traditions of European football, with its roots in working-class industrial areas, where even the poorest clubs are promoted to top leagues when they win and no amount of money can protect the rich teams from relegation when they lose.
Six English clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – initially said they would join the league, along with AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus from Italy and Spanish clubs Atlético Madrid, Barcelona and Real. Madrid. The league planned to add three more permanent clubs, while five more would qualify annually based on performance.
By trying to shield themselves from the competition, the founding clubs were accused of orchestrating a massive cash grab that would hurt smaller competitors, and potentially damn the elite Champions League contested by top division clubs from across Europe.
The club owner’s biographies reinforced the idea that money was the driving force behind the decision to enter the competition.
The Fenway Sports Group of American billionaire John Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox, is at the helm of Liverpool. Another American billionaire, Stan Kroenke, controls Arsenal and American sports franchises, including the LA Rams and the Denver Nuggets. The Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich owns Chelsea and the Emirates royal Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan owns Manchester City.
Chinese investors are behind Inter Milan, and US billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Management is pulling the strings over local rival AC Milan. The owners of Juventus are the Agnelli family, who earned their money with, among others, car manufacturer Fiat.
The Glazer family, who also own Tampa Bay Buccaneers, run Manchester United. Protesting fans announced their feelings about the American bosses on Monday by holding a banner outside the club’s stadium that read, “Made by the poor, stolen by the rich.”
“We believe some of the drama and beauty of European football comes from each club’s ability to achieve success through their performance on the field,” Amazon Prime Video said in a statement.