Wiesbaden, 12/15/2022

On the occasion of the final request of the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the Super League legal dispute announced for December 15, the sports marketing agency ONE8Y has published a representative market research study in its global sports business database “ONE8Y DB”. The results, which are based on the statements of n=10,090 soccer fans in the Big Five European markets (distribution of countries: Germany n=2,034, Spain n=2,000, France n=2,000, Italy n=2,000, England, n=2,056), reveal a clear picture, which the agency already published two weeks ago with the first national data as part of a kicker article: The Super League is significantly more popular among soccer fans “under-25s” than in the overall sample! When asked whether they were in favor of a Super League, a cumulative 59% of under-25s from Europe's Big Five markets answered “yes” - in contrast, 42% of all the over ten thousand respondents were in favor, which is slightly less than one half.

It is interesting to look at the individual markets: the Super League enjoys the highest general approval rating in Spain, with 60% of the 2,000 respondents and 67% of under-25s in favor. In England, the motherland of soccer, the generational conflict is most pronounced. While just over half of the young target group (54%) are in favor of a possible Super League, the figure for the over-25s is just 25%. Germany is already in second place in the comparison of differences between over-25s and under-25s. Here the gap is 27% (i.e. 62% of under-25s to 35% of over-25s). A similarly high level with almost the same distribution can be seen in France. In Italy, the level of supporters among all 2,000 soccer fans surveyed is second to lowest, but also the gap in interest between the generations is the smallest here (see attached slide 3).

ONE8Y CEO Hendrik Fischer comments: “With the exception of Spain, where there is obviously a stronger overall euphoria for the Super League, the proportion of national supporters among all soccer fans surveyed in the other 4 markets is still well below 50%. However, a look at the younger generation shows that a format such as the Super League is generally more likely to be supported - and this is precisely where the special nature of the young target group(s) becomes apparent. You don't win over this generation of “young fans” with tradition and past successes - but with entertaining formats, superstars and entertainment.”

Head of Research and Managing Partner Dr. Michael Zengel adds: “The results in our database also show that 22% of all respondents across the five markets consume formats such as the Champions League only up to 60 minutes on average. Whereas just a few years ago it was common to consume a game for the entire 90 minutes, the proportion of shorter consumption is increasing”.

Another distinctive aspect of the database results is the “national attractiveness ranking” of selected soccer competitions. While in Germany, Italy and England, the respective national league has the highest level of attractiveness, in France “Ligue 1” and in Spain “La Liga” are in second place behind the UEFA Champions League. When asked where the soccer fans surveyed would place the Super League in the ranking, the currently non-existent Super League came in 4th out of 5 in Spain. The CEO of ONE8Y continues: “If you look at the top 1 answers (on a scale of 5), i.e. the highest attractiveness, you can see that the Super League has increased in the attractiveness ranking across all European markets. Even if the majority of respondents from all markets reject this league as the status quo, it is striking that a non-existent league can already gain ground on existing formats in this analysis” (see attached slide 4).