What would happen if Celtic left Scottish football

Celtic Football Club has noted today's judgement delivered by the European Court of Justice.

The resolution regarding the framework for prior authorization of other competitions refers to outdated UEFA statutes that were already amended in June 2022.

We must be clear that this does not in any way endorse or approve the so-called 'Super League' project.

Celtic plays an important, leading role within the European Club Association framework and as a club, we are fully committed to working through the ECA, alongside our fellow European clubs to uphold the values that define European football.

We can only achieve our objectives through the strong partnership ECA enjoys with UEFA.

The wider European football community is not supportive of the ESL, and Celtic, like many other clubs, will continue to promote the interests and protection of football’s broader family through the ECA and UEFA.

 

So, just some more information on this, as I researched it a lot more after @Belgian_lad commented on how Eleven Sports are the actual owners and they distribute it themselves to other companies.

In 2021, Eleven Sports added a Pro League Channel to their network, which was in 900,000 homes in Belgium. That means that it's in 9% of all Belgian households. Given we are a far better supported league(No offence Belgian Lad), we would likely have a higher percentage. However, for the sake of arguments, let's say we were able to do something similar in Scotland and we were in 9% of all Scottish homes. That's over 490,000 subscriptions. At £15 a month, that's over £88 millions a year.

Listen, I get that there are issues broadcasting the deal worldwide and there isn't a clamour for the rights to our game from the likes of Amazon, ESPN, Bein Sports etc... However, why would we need that? Our TV deals should be rivalling the likes of the Belgian Pro League(£90m), Eredevisie(£120m), EFL(£120m)... but *.. even the Brazilian League (£170m), Portuguese League(Individual Club TV deals £140m), The J-League(£102m)... there are plenty of ways out there to promote our game. We just need new, exciting people to help maximise the potential of our game.

When looking at the Belgian League specifically, the reason I done this was because I wanted to look at the average attendances for the Pro League before this TV deal was signed. The argument in the UK, which is why we have the 3pm blackout of games, is that it would disrupt the attendances of matches. Firstly, I don't agree with this and never have. You go to watch the team you love, to take in games, see your pals, get out of the house. Having the option of watching it in the house may affect the attendances in some form but I wanted to make sure before I commented on it.

So the average attendances in Belgium, before were around 10% lower than they were in 2019(pre TV deal). However, that all can't be put down to the new TV contract. COVID was also a huge issue for at least a season and a half and the latest attendances have the stadiums at similar levels to 2019. Basically, after an initial drop for 2 seasons, they're back on the rise. This could be put down to COVID being over, or basically over, but also that the overall standard of the game has gotten far better. There are also far more meaningful matches, with the multiple splits providing far more tougher and intense games, with more meaningful impacts on the majority of games. For those who don't know, the Belgian League splits into 3. A Championship Group, a European Group and a Relegation Group.(The European Group and the Relegation Group themselves split into a further 4 groups of 4 teams, with 6 teams from the Pro League 2(Challenger League) being added. This all creates more drama, more intense and meaningful games.

There are two other major points I want to address. The first one is the disparity between the 'Big 5' clubs in Belgium and the rest. Club Brugges, Anderlecht, Gent, Genk and Standard Leige were awarded 80% of the original TV deal, which was around £10m each per season(before the new deal was announced). Now, I'm not sure how much of the percentage they're now getting but I would imagine it's still significantly more than the remaining clubs. Wouldn't surprise me to see them get the same amount, which would leave £40m of the total £90m for the other 37 clubs in Belgium. Firstly, while I'm a Celtic fan and I want to maximise the clubs growth and revenue, we need to also be aware that it is our duty, along with the orcs across the road, to rise and attempt to somehow drag the rest of Scottish Football up the hill. Yes, we all know that the majority of subscriptions would be from Celtic and Rangers fans. We know that. The problem you have then is you still leave a gap. Look, we all want to be successful but we also want that success to be consistent and we want it to mean the same. That's why we need the rest of Scottish Football to come on the journey with us. Let's not get into a situation, like they do in Portugal where each clubs sells the individual TV rights. There is even more disparity between the likes of Porto/Benfica/Sporting than the rest of the league now. Think I seen somewhere that Benfica were making nearly £30m a season, whereas Braga were getting about £5m. Something like that is not to the benefit of the rest of the league and completely diminishes the competition between clubs.

The other point I want to address was something else I said later on in this thread, in a reply to Belgian Lad. So, I thought the Belgian FA controlled the TV rights and had their own TV Steaming platform. That's not true. It's owned by Eleven Sports. They're incredibly clever though, because they are the sole distributor of games in Belgium and Luxembourg, which is obviously their biggest audience and money maker but they still sell the rights to other nations to other networks, who can't show the games in either Belgium or Luxembourg. So Ziggo Sports own the Pro League rights in Holland, ESPN in the USA/Brazil/New Zealand... etc.. there are loads. So, not only are Belgian clubs making good cash from the TV deal that Eleven Sports provide, they're also being projected onto a much wider audience, with these games being distributed to specific networks in other countries.

Looking online, a lot of the reviews of the TV deal is positive. A lot of fans aren't happy with the timing of games and the dates etc. However, you have to take the rough with the smooth and the TV deal they have is the 12th biggest TV deal in the WORLD. Yes, the cost of that is distributed to more teams, which makes the value look worse per team but who's really watching the Pro League 2 outside of Belgium? No one really, surely? Any additional income they get from a TV deal will be welcomed. Especially if it's having little to no effect on their attendance records. What you do get is a bigger platform, to a wider audience.

It's something we really need to be looking at. Scottish football fans pay a lot to watch our games and it's about time we looked into doing something similar to Belgium. We aren't all that different, from a footballing perspective.

 

The thing is, mate: I'm a Celtic fan from Dundee. If some kid from Glasgow decides to follow Man U or Arsenal - for whatever reason - then fair dos. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

The world is getting smaller, and for better or worse, we have more options than ever when it comes to entertainment and accessing it.

Long, long gone are the days when you could only follow the herd to the local ground. And these days, you'd get from Glasgow to Manchester in a shorter time than it would've taken my grandfather to get from Dundee to Glasgow.

People will do what they want. One kid from Glasgow will follow Partick. His mate will jump about from Man City to Arsenal to Spurs. Another mate will pick an EPL/German/Spanish... club, and stick with them because of a genuine love. Another one of their pals won't give a monkeys about football and be into something else.

What does make me laugh mind you are the amount of Man U, City, Chelsea, Liverpool fans who've sprang up in Dundee - many of the same lads who have given me pelters over the years for not supporting my local team.

What we need to do is focus on our unique story, origins, history etc. Stay true to all that. That is what stands us apart and attracts fans from all over.

ONLY following the money would destroy Celtic. If we did end up just another EPL club, owned by billionaires, with a leprechaun as a mascot, a thistle on the club crest and a dark blue/tartan away kit or some other such gimmicky guff, we'd ALL be as well supporting Man U

 

With the UK dying its nasty death celtic are going no where.

 

There is no place to go,they have been talking about EPL all my life and its still just talk, As for the super league pish...spend the rest of our days finishing bottom of a league where clubs spend tens of millions per player while we still sign 3 million projects every window.

 

Plenty of sheep farms in between

 

The EPL are trying to flex their muscles but they will lose.
The fans have the power but just haven’t realised it yet.
The ESL will happen.

 

The English clubs coin it in from the epl anyway so they'll not want any changes but this could massively benefit clubs like us, benfica, Ajax, Psv etc. Lawwell is on the board of the eca though so would never allow it

 

Am I correct in thinking that with those proposals, The Rangers would start off in ESL Division 2, and we'd start in ESL Division 3?

Also, I'm maybe being a bit dense, but what does he mean about Celtic and Newco doubling the financial gap between them and the rest of Scottish football? Our budgets would be irrelevant to the rest of Scotland because we'd no longer be competing in Scotland.

 

Lol

 

I can't see it happening for us anyway..but I'm soooooo fed up with bent refs and var now, I can but hope.

 

14 games in the new euro league but still compete in the spfl

 

Snap, mate.

I'm just struggling with the figures here, though, lol.
3 leagues of 60 is 20 in each league.
How does that only guarantee 14 games?

 

Cheers, bud.

That's a pretty heavy schedule.

Makes sense of the double the budget thing though

 

I think that's why the EPL and sky are * it because they've just paid 6 billion in a new TV deal. If this super league is mega money clubs in England would prioritise this.

I would need to hear more about it but I like the sound of it the champions league is essentially a closed shop these days and is clearly favoured towards the bigger leagues to the point it's a joke. UEFA and FIFA have got away with murder for years it's time they faced some competition and the EPL bubble started to burst

 

I love the idea of this but only by voting with non subscription will fans start controlling our own clubs. too many * subscribe regardless

 

It's not really that heavy. In previous years we've played 4 rounds of qualification then groups plus 2 cups on top. Plenty of 60 game seasons, 52 is tolerable.

 

Would our current Tory loving board make us compete in this new league??

highly doubt it

 

Yeah, I suppose.

So in theory, we'd be competing simultaneously for the Scottish Premier, and the ESL 3rd Division - aiming for promotion to the ESL 2nd Division?

What would be the "reward" if we won the Scottish league?