Last October, with stadiums emptied by the COVID-19 pandemic and revenues plunging for sports leagues, news broke of Project Big Picture: a radical plan to restructure English soccer proposed by the country’s two biggest clubs—Liverpool and Manchester United. The plan involved a 250 million-pound ($334 million) rescue fund for the smaller clubs affected by the COVID-19 crisis; in addition, the dominant English Premier League would increase revenue share transfers to the three lower divisions from 8 percent to 25 percent.
This might seem like a generous proposal, but it caused an immediate and aggressive reaction. On Twitter, a torrent of unprintable abuse erupted, aimed at the would-be benefactors. The Premier League’s official response to the proposal was swift and unambiguous: “In the Premier League’s view, a number of the individual proposals in the plan published today could have a damaging impact on the whole game.” Even U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the plan was “exactly the type of backroom dealing that undermines trust in football’s governance.” For Americans—including the owners of both Liverpool and Manchester United—that might seem incomprehensible. But the plan struck at one of the sorest points in the game: the power of the big clubs and of their even bigger owners—and the erosion of any sense of fairness and competition as a result.
