Juventus and Man Utd shares collapse as Super League plan collapses

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Earnings on the stock market obtained by separatist clubs Juventus (JVTSF) and Manchester United (manually) were deleted after all six English clubs involved in the controversial project decided to give up late on Tuesday.

Shares of Juventus fell 12% in Milan on Wednesday, bringing the stock below its closing price on Friday, the last trading session ahead of the shocking announcement of the new league. Shares of Manchester United, which trades in New York, fell by more than 6% on Tuesday and are heading even lower in premarket trading.

After a huge shout from the governing bodies of football, from the elected leaders of France and Great Britain, and from the legions of their own fans, the Super League architects seem to have acknowledged the defeat.

In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Juventus president Andrea Agnelli said the project could not continue, leaving only six of the original 12 founding clubs.

“I remain convinced of the beauty of that project, of the value it would have developed for the pyramid, of the creation of the best competition in the world, but obviously not … I don’t think that project is still in operation now. “

Investors were already taking shares in the two publicly traded separatist clubs.

Sunday’s Super League announcement kicked off a fierce power struggle that threatened to overthrow the European football economy. The battle pitted the billionaire owners of the 12 founding teams, which are among the richest clubs in the world and the largest bank on Wall Street – JP Morgan (JPM) – against almost everyone else.

The founding clubs were to be permanent members of the Super League, a structure that resembled Major League Baseball or the National Football League and one that promised attractive pay days for media rights and merchandising.

But it was contrary to the traditions of European football, with its roots in working-class industrial neighborhoods, where even the poorest clubs are promoted to the top leagues if they win and no amount of money can protect rich relegation teams if they lose.

Six English clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – have initially said they will join the league, along with AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus in Italy, and Spanish clubs Atlético Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid. The league plans to add three more permanent clubs, while another five will qualify annually based on performance.

Seeking to protect themselves from competition, the founding clubs were accused of orchestrating a massive seizure of money that would harm younger competitors and could condemn the Elite Champions League, which is being challenged by top clubs across Europe.

The biographies of the club’s owners reinforced the notion that money was the driving force behind the decision to start the league.

Football fan groups condemn the

American billionaire John Henry’s Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox, is at the helm of Liverpool. Another American billionaire, Stan Kroenke, controls the Arsenal and US sports franchises, including the LA Rams and the Denver Nuggets. Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich owns Chelsea and the sheikh of the United Kingdom’s Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan holds Manchester City.

Chinese investors are behind Inter Milan, and American billionaire Paul Singer, Elliott Management, is pulling the strings of local rival AC Milan. The long-time owners of Juventus are the Agnelli family, who earned their money from businesses, including carmaker Fiat.

The Glazer family, which also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, runs Manchester United. Protesters made their feelings known to American leaders on Monday, holding a banner in front of the club’s stadium that read: “Created by the poor, stolen by the rich.”

In contrast, Bayern Munich and teams in Germany, where commercial investors are prevented from controlling more than 49% of most major clubs, have been noted for their absence from the league. Like the clubs in France, where President Emmanuel Macron hit the new league.
The media giants quickly moved away from the proposed new competition, with Amazon (AMZN), BT (BTGOF) Sports and Sky, which is owned by Comcast (CMCSA), being excluded from the auction of rights estimated at billions per season.

“We believe that part of the drama and beauty of European football comes from the ability of any club to achieve success through their performance on the field,” Amazon Prime Video said in a statement.

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