The plan of Europe’s big clubs to break away and form a new Super League is being driven by the astonishing cash which has been guaranteed the clubs according to press reports.
All twelve football clubs that have signed a binding agreement to form a new European “Super League” have been guaranteed a “welcome bonus” worth €200m-€300m each and to be underwritten by JPMorgan Chase
The announcement on Sunday of the breakaway league shook the world of soccer and has kicked off an intense power battle within the soccer, with politicians including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French president Emmanuel Macron as well as fans’ groups all expressing fierce opposition.
The move has also sparked threats of legal action between the sport’s power brokers.
The teams that have declared they plan to join the competition are the top three Spainish sides of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid; England has six clubs in the rebel group and they are Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. Italy’s Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan make up the balance.
People briefed on the deal said that the next clubs to be sought as “permanent members” would be Germany’s Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund and France’s Paris Saint-Germain, though they have so far rebuffed any approaches.
A further five clubs will be invited to play in the 20-club league each season, though they would need to qualify for the competition.
The money to launch the league will be provided by JPMorgan Chase, which has committed to underwriting a €3.25bn “infrastructure grant” that will be shared among the clubs as a “welcome bonus” on joining the competition.
The US investment bank has provided a debt financing deal amortised over 23 years and secured against future broadcasting rights for the competition, said people with knowledge of the terms.
The rebel clubs have agreed to pay €264m a year to pay down the debt, a figure that includes the 2-3 per cent interest rate that the borrowing will carry.
JPMorgan declined to comment. A person close to the Super League said the payment should not be regarded as a “welcome bonus”, but instead was an advance on future revenues which would have to be repaid if any club chose to leave the competition.
The league’s 15 permanent members will jointly own a newly incorporated company in Spain which will share all future media and sponsorship rights derived from the competition, according to people familiar with the matter.
Anas Laghrari, a banker at Spanish advisory firm Key Capital, has been named general secretary of the Super League.
He has close ties to Real Madrid’s billionaire president Florentino Pérez, who was named chair of the competition and is the driving force behind the plans. Key Capital declined to comment
