CHAMPIONS LEAGUE viewership fell a massive 35 per cent in the 2018/19 campaign, fuelling rumours about a potential European Super League.
The number of people watching Europe’s premier competition dropped from an average of two billion in the previous three years, to 1.3 billion last year.
The Europa League also saw a significant decline in viewership of 17 per cent.
These damning statistics were revealed at a recent conference with more than 140 delegates from around the world.
And in an interview with The Athletic, one director at the conference outlined why the Champions League may not be the best model moving forward.
They said: “Consider this. Barcelona played Slavia Prague in the Champions League group stage. Slavia’s budget is £40 million and Barcelona’s is £1 billion-and-40 million.
“That is the Champions League group stage. What do we think about that? Is it right? Barcelona won’t sell out the Nou Camp for that game, which is a disaster.
“They can’t get players motivated for the game. For Barcelona, it is a massive spiral but for Slavia, they have nothing to lose.
“Then, we cling to the one occasion it creates a shock and Slavia win. The populist view is: of course it is good, that is what we need, the underdog against the big boy. The industrialist view is that it is not good, every Barcelona game should be top-billing, satisfying fans and exciting players.”
It has previously been reported that the Premier League is under threat from the potential creation of a European Super League, and these newly revealed figures only appear to add to that.
The blueprint laid out by the European Club Association would supposedly consist of a ten-match group stage in a 32 team league.
As well as the domestic league being affected, there is also the very real possibility that a brand new format in Europe could lead to the death of the League Cup.
