Does the European Super League break the rules of sporting economics?

Is a breakaway league formed by some of football’s richest clubs justified under a free market? Ben Chu investigates

The marketisation and commercialisation of football has been broadly tolerated by the majority of fans until now. Is this the tipping point? (Getty)

We’re told the motivation for the formation of a “European Super League” is greed. But is it also free market economics?

The proponents of the breakaway league, and their financial backers, are clearly confident it would generate significantly larger broadcasting and sponsorship revenues than the current arrangements.

Why? Because the new format – with some of the strongest squads in Europe playing against each other on a regular basis – is, we’re told, what football fans would prefer to see and, crucially, would pay more to watch.