English football’s “big five” teams would make substantially more money if they were guaranteed entry to a revamped Champions League, according to the American sports executive who met the top clubs’ representatives in London this week.
Charlie Stillitano, chairman of Relevent Sports, said clubs such as Manchester United deserved a permanent place in Europe’s elite competition and a larger share of the spoils than smaller sides because of their global popularity.
“What would Manchester United argue, did we create soccer or did Leicester?” Stillitano said.
The American held talks with Ed Woodward, Ian Ayre, Bruce Buck, Ferran Soriano and Ivan Gazidis — the most powerful figures at Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal respectively — at the Dorchester Hotel in London on Tuesday.
The group discussed the possibility of renegotiating the qualification process for the Champions League to ensure the biggest sides do not miss out. Liverpool, Chelsea and at least one Manchester club are likely not to be present for next year’s competition. All five have denied a breakaway European Super League was considered.
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In an interview with Sirius XM Radio yesterday, however, Stillitano suggested that the continent’s super-clubs are looking increasingly favourably on a “closed system” — a Champions League in which there is no promotion and the biggest sides feature every year — as the best way of retaining the competition’s appeal and maximising its commercial value.
“Let’s call it the money pot created by soccer and the fandom around the world. Who has had more of an integral role, Manchester United or Leicester? [Leicester] is a wonderful story, but you could see it from United’s point of view, too,” Stillitano said. “Maybe [Leicester being in the Champions League] is absolutely spectacular, unless you’re a Manchester United fan, a Liverpool fan or a Chelsea fan. I guess they don’t have a birthright to be in it every year, but it is the age-old argument: US sports franchises versus what they have in Europe. There are wonderful, wonderful elements to relegation and promotion, and there are good arguments for a closed system.
“This is going to sound arrogant and it’s the furthest thing from it, but suddenly when you see the teams we have this summer in the International Champions Cup — the pre-season tournament that Relevent organises — you are going to shake your head and say, ‘Isn’t that the Champions League?’ No, the Champions League is PSV [Eindhoven] and Ghent.”
Stillitano has previously been described as the best-connected American in European football, having risen to prominence in the 1990s as general manager of the New York/New Jersey MetroStars — one of the original MLS franchises, now rebranded as the New York Red Bulls — and then going on to mastermind European sides’ pre-season tours to the United States.
He counts Sir Alex Ferguson as a close friend — the Scot told Sports Illustrated that dinner with him was “a long day of humour, fun and good food; he exudes that personality. You say to yourself, ‘Christ, that guy can talk. He’s a lovely guy.’ ” José Mourinho has nicknamed Stillitano “Mr Zero Mistakes”.