Premier League Clubs Support European Super League Renamed To “Unify League”
The first attempt to launch the European Super League was in April 2021, with Premier League clubs Man United, Man City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea showing initial support. But within just 48 hours the proposed new league received massive backlash from players, managers, fans and pundits.
For football fans who enjoy sports betting, the introduction of new leagues is exciting but also raises concerns about integrity and accessibility. Many bettors turn to reliable sportsbooks not on GamStop, which provide more flexibility and are not bound by UK self-exclusion schemes. These platforms allow users to wager on various sports, including the Premier League and other football tournaments, without restrictions. However, popular teams’ odds may be longer than usual if the top players are too tired as a result of too many games being played with the introduction of the new league.
Three years since the first attempt, A22 Sports, the promotor of the Super League, has been working behind the scenes to come up with a new proposal. This was announced on 17 December 2024, with the proposed league renamed to the Unify League.
The Unify League is set to have four leagues:
- Star: The top league with 16 clubs divided into two pools.
- Gold: The second league with the same set-up as the Star League.
- Blue: The third league will have 32 teams divided into four equally-sized pools of eight teams.
- Union: Similarly to the Blue League, there are 32 teams grouped into four pools.
Each team in the different pools will play the other teams in both home and away games.
In the Star and Gold leagues, the top four teams from each group will move on to the knockout rounds. The top two teams in the Blue and Union categories will advantage into the top 16 too. There will also be relegation and promotion involved in this new Unify format. Clubs will qualify for the Unify League based on their domestic performance across the year.
The Sun reported that several Premier League teams are excited by the proposal, privately signally their support. It is suspected that a maximum of 10 English teams will be invited to join the competition. Although participating in the Unify League will not impact Premier League games, it is uncertain how it will impact the Champions League.
The prize pool for the Unify League must still be announced but is expected to be more than the £2 billion of the Champions League. A22 has also announced that they will commit £330 million to smaller clubs and European countries.
A22 is currently in talks with FIFA and UEFA to receive authorisation to progress with the implementation of their proposal. Back in 2021, UEFA did not support the Super League at all, threatening expulsion if any of the 12 clubs signed up. However, Bernd Reichart, CEO of A22, believes that UEFA and football’s other governing bodies are going to accept the Unify proposal.
According to Reichart, “We are talking to a sufficient number of clubs [96] to do what we propose. We don’t think it is essential that they support us in public when we meet in confidence and with the confidentiality that we would like to comply with.”
When asked about the expected launch date of Unify, Reichart said, “The 2025-26 season would be too early, I don’t want to rule it out but next year seems very ambitious as we see it now.”