American teams could be invited to face the winners of the Champions League in a revamped Super Cup envisaged by UEFA.
Substantive talks for a four-team season-opening event to replace the current Super Cup are underway, according to the PA news agency.
This would feature the winners of the Champions League and Europa League as is currently the case, but also the winners of the new Europa Conference League competition.
The United States, considered the main growth market for European football, is the main destination under discussion and one option would be to include the host country champions – in this case the winners of Major League Soccer – as fourth team in the competition.
UEFA’s new English-language US broadcast rights deal for its men’s European club competitions represents a 150% improvement on its existing contract, with additional revenue still to be generated from the sale of the rights in Spanish.
It is understood that there have been no serious discussions at this stage about the possibility of playing Champions League matches – whether group stage matches, knockout matches or the final – in outside Europe.
But the idea of a new opening tournament to replace the Super Cup from 2024 is gaining traction as a way to generate more revenue, not just for competing clubs but for European football as a whole. by attracting a new audience, with a focus on attracting more families and female fans.
Sources told PA that all options to achieve this would be considered, whether that means placing the games in a weekend festival or having pop artists play before games or at halftime.
They point out that other sports have succeeded in conquering new markets, such as the NFL which plays regular season games in London.
Further talks are expected to take place at the European Club Association’s General Assembly in Istanbul on Thursday and Friday, with the organization keen to foster a spirit of innovation.
Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali was invited to speak at the event about how the sport is trying to attract new fans and broaden interest.
ECA President Nasser Al Khelaifi is set to issue a warning to clubs about dangerous debt levels amid rising interest rates on the continent.
Further discussions will also take place on a new financial distribution model for new European tournaments after 2024.
Smaller clubs will seek a bigger share, while those at the top will also want more, arguing that they drive interest and therefore revenue.
The European league group has called for major changes to the distribution of money within and between competitions, and for a higher percentage to be set aside for solidarity payments to non-competing clubs.
He wants the percentage of money awarded to clubs based on historical coefficient and TV market pool to be reduced. Currently, these factors determine the distribution of 45% of the money offered to Champions League clubs, but the European leagues believe that the distribution of the Europa Conference League distribution is fairer and should be adopted in the League of champions.
There, 40% of the revenue is split between all competing clubs as a starting fee, an additional 40% based on performance, 10% on the coefficient and 10% on the market pool.
