There were some underdogs stories despite the CL being tailored for the richest clubs. That Porto Monaco finals for example. Ajax eliminating Juve and Real in recent times. Even last year, Atalanta were very close to go to the semi finals for their first try. I'm sure these stories even being so few and short made an impact and are kept in the heart and memory of football fans.
With this project, you wouldn't ever see Atalanta. Not sure about Monaco either or Ajax. What about Porto ? Maybe lucky to be invited sometimes then get told to get out while the others swim into the money. If you look at the 12 founding members, what do you see ? They are in the 15 richest teams and the biggest brands in the game. Sure they were just hoping/waiting for Bayern and PSG to join to complete the hijack.
Deloitte 2021 Football Money League rankings: The world's top 20 richest football clubs
Ranking Team Total revenue
1 Barcelona ?715.1m
2 Real Madrid ?714.9m
3 Bayern Munich ?634.1m
4 Manchester United ?580.4m
5 Liverpool ?558.6m
6 Manchester City ?549.2m
7 Paris Saint-Germain ?540.6m
8 Chelsea ?469.7m
9 Tottenham ?445.7m
10 Juventus ?397.9m
11 Arsenal ?388m
12 Borussia Dortmund ?365.7m
13 Atletico Madrid ?331.8m
14 Inter ?291.5m
15 Zenit Saint-Petersburg ?236.5m
Except for Milan who are football nobility and would obviously take the place of Zenith, here you have your founding members (+ PSG, Dortmund and Bayern they were trying to convince). It is not even subtile what this League was about. Lining the pockets of the super clubs in their super league.
underdogs stories are too few and far between. it's all about the money for all clubs that enter the CL. do you think current ajax or atalanta care about the competition? they are licking their lips at the prospect of that cash coming in. just as fans fooling themselves that they are watching some top entertainment.
i've seen this too many times with romanian teams that just wanted a piece of the pie. and believe me, i was more ecstatic for a match in the uefa cup, were we really had a chance.
if you like football and competition a top 15 richest clubs free Europa League is your best bet. slavia prague would have maybe won this year's edition of EL if UEFA didn't dump in there the likes of Arsenal who are after that CL money spot guranteed by winning it.
i'm at peace with what clubs like barcelona or real have become. and i'm more interested in something different. if they want to fight it out every year for more money, why not? it happens anyway in the current CL, we're just getting rid of the false foreplay.