Europa league ???

[steevie]

I wished they'd just expand the CL and have done with it. And by that I dont mean Platini offering some friggin' Bulgarian outfit called Club Internazionale Sofia a freebie, just give the powerhouse leagues an extra place or two. Selfish? You bet.

I just wish they change the name for a start, like i said, what part of CHAMPIONS do UEFA not understand.

 

[DENNIS STEVENS]

the cl dropouts really is one of the major reasons for the competition being viewed as second rate, imo.

 

[Neiler]

Surely the home and away group stage, will add more sponds in terms of gates, and TV rights etc.

 

[steevie]

the cl dropouts really is one of the major reasons for the competition being viewed as second rate, imo.

That is a good point but the UEFA Cup is second rate to Champions League dropouts only up to the point they make the final. The UEFA Cup was and again is a mickey mouse tournament according to the RS but it was superb once they won Alaves. A trophy is only big to many once the realiism sets in that they have a chance to win it, thats the mentallity of those involved in football im affraid including many fans.

 

[TsarDiniyar]

does anybody know if the prize money involved in the yooropa league, has been notched up at all?
If they are trying to claw back some prestige by rebranding it, I would have thought an obvious thing to do would be to ramp up the pathetic amount of money on offer compared to the champions league!

http://www.grandoldteam.com/forum/everton-forum/3802-uefa-prize-money.html

the PDF in this thread has tables showing the distribution of revenues, page 6 for the CL and page 8 for UEFA cup.

Sickening.




I've found an interesting source here, no idea how reliable,

New Name for UEFA Cup in 2009 Season: Europa League to Follow Format of Champions League

Changes to UEFA Cup
Karl-Heinze Rummenigge, the Chairman of the European Club Association, indicated that this was an effort to revitalise the UEFA Cup which in recent years has taken second place to the more lucrative and high profile Champions League competition. In re-branding the competition, UEFA will market the Europa League centrally as they already do with the Champions League. By taking control of television rights and advertising UEFA hope to provide more prize money for the winners and a greater share of the income for the clubs taking part. Currently the participating clubs can arrange their own television deals up to the semi-final stage. The additional funding available should make the competition more attractive to the clubs.
Last season the Champions League raised £468 million which was shared among the competitors while the UEFA Cup brought in only £32 million.

 

[TsarDiniyar]

Another interesting piece from that site

Runners-up in the FA Cup will not be permitted to enter the new Europa League while the television rights for the competition will be negotiated centrally by UEFA, increasing revenue for the clubs.

This says to me that if the winner is already qualified for the competition, that the Europa league place goes to the next highest in the league?

 

[DENNIS STEVENS]

That is a good point but the UEFA Cup is second rate to Champions League dropouts only up to the point they make the final. The UEFA Cup was and again is a mickey mouse tournament according to the RS but it was superb once they won Alaves. A trophy is only big to many once the realiism sets in that they have a chance to win it, thats the mentallity of those involved in football im affraid including many fans.

i quite agree. this is partly due to the lower levels of money involved, but also because the failed cl clubs get a second chance. if the money involved could be boosted & no crossover from cl allowed then the competition would have more genuine merit for aspiring clubs whose ambition is to challenge for cl places.

 

[Seamus Colemole]

Another interesting piece from that site


This says to me that if the winner is already qualified for the competition, that the Europa league place goes to the next highest in the league?

Yepperdoodles.

Something will have to seriously go wrong for us to not be in Europe next season.

 

[daza_1973]

Notice on the Wikipedia link that there were 3 fairplay?? places listed in one of the rounds - Step forward City, spurs etc. and all other under-achieveing clubs with bags of cash who can drop a bribe or two ...nudge nudge wink wink you know what I mean.

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

we'll win the europa goblet next year and it'll be the biggest comp in the world.

 

[daza_1973]

we'll win the europa goblet next year and it'll be the biggest comp in the world.

Hear hear !!!!!

 

[Nebbiolo]

Yepperdoodles.

Something will have to seriously go wrong for us to not be in Europe next season.

lol

 

[Rook]

I wish they would have gotten rid of the meaningless group stages and booted out the 3rd place CL group stage finishers.

 

[bluebloodinmyveins]

The prize money previously in the uefa cup really wasnt worth the effort.
I hope they raise the money earned with this new league. Though i expect its the same competition with a different name.

 

[TsarDiniyar]

The main aim of the rebranding is to increase revenue. How much by no one knows, but with the extra games and the fact that UEFA now distribute the TV rights or something, where before the clubs were allowed to organise the TV themselves. You may find the Europa league on setanta or god forbid sky next season.