January 28 – A survey of football fans has found that generally they think agents are overpaid, that leagues are too weighted towards so-called big teams, that there are too many national team matches but not too many club games, and that it costs too much to watch whether via pay TV or in stadia.
The poll of 2,061 fans by the CIES Football Observatory marks its first foray into fan perceptions and attitudes. The results could potentially send a chill down the spines of Europe’s big clubs who are chasing the mega money of a breakaway European Super League. Almost half the fans polled said there were too many international club competitions while less than one third consider that the number of national championship matches is too high.
“From a political point of view, in particular in the European context with the supposed possible creation of a continental super league, this finding can be interpreted as a standing by football enthusiasts in favour of domestic leagues,” says the report.
When it comes to football’s non-playing diaspora, the researchers found: “Almost nine participants out of ten also believe that football agents earn too much money. From this perspective, the cap on commissions decided by FIFA has the fans’ approval. More generally, any initiative aimed at rendering transfer operations less opaque would be very welcome. In this respect, the obligation to communicate the financial details of player transactions would be a very good step forward.”
As regards competitive balance almost four fans out of five think that more needs to be done to even out domestic leagues, while the vast majority of fans believe “that the costs involved in viewing matches, whether at the stadium or via television, are too high. From a fan retention perspective, this situation is problematic. It is a major challenge to the future popularity of football, especially concerning the new generations, who are already used to have free access to the e-sport spectacle,” say the authors.
To see the full report click here.
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