According to the British "Daily Mail" report, the top six of the Premier League lost a total of 48 million pounds in this European Super League storm, an average loss of 8 million pounds per team, and this figure does not include the liquidated damages they must pay due to their withdrawal from the European Super League.
It is understood that the 12 founding teams of the European Premier League will each have to pay 8 million pounds as a shareholding fee, and these original funds will be used for the infrastructure construction of the European Super League, the negotiation of broadcasters, the promotion of commercial cooperation and the payment of legal fees. However, with the collapse of the European Premier League, the whereabouts of this money have become less clear. At the moment, it is unclear how much of the original funds have been used and whether these fees will be returned to the clubs. In addition, the Top Six of the Premier League, which was the first to announce their withdrawal from the European Super League, may have to pay liquidated damages to the other six teams. But with the collapse of the league as a whole, whether the default clause will take effect has become questionable.
It is worth mentioning that in the attempt to form the European Super League in 1998, the founding club did not sign an investment contract, which is also regarded as an important reason for the failure of this attempt. In this new attempt, the founding club expressed its determination to promote the European Super League in the form of a high stake, and set up a default clause to try to stop the club from withdrawing due to public pressure. However, in the face of both public and political pressure, the Top Six of the Premier League finally decided to bear financial losses. This is also a relief for their already battered club reputation.
However, for teams such as Real Madrid and Barca that are in deep financial crisis, things are not so simple. According to the financial report, Barça currently has a total debt of 1.1 billion euros, of which 648 million euros need to be repaid in the short term, and the heavily indebted Barça is even facing the risk of bankruptcy. Another La Liga giant, Real Madrid, also faces €780 million in debt. Such a critical financial situation, which once made La Liga both interested in the lucrative Europa League, now puts them in a dilemma. If they decide to exit, they will face the same risk of 8 million pounds as the Top Six of the Premier League.
According to sports law expert Stephen Taylor, JPMorgan Chase consulted the highest level of legal counsel before signing a contract with the founding club to ensure that the clubs would comply with the terms of the contract. In other words, due to the legal prescriptive nature of the contract, if a club decides to withdraw from the European Premier League, they have very limited options other than paying high sums of money.
(Editor: Yao Fan)