The scarcity value of top-class football

Millions are once again tuning into the men’s European football championship, the second most watched in the sport after the World Cup. Yet away from the field, a different struggle is under way — between the game’s talent and its organisers. The players’ union Fifpro Europe is suing Fifa, the world governing body, over a revamped club tournament that would pack more fixtures into a crowded calendar and, it says, add to players’ risk of injury. Non-aficionados of the Beautiful Game may feel scant sympathy for some of the world’s best-paid sportspeople. But the danger of overload for players, and for fans, is real.

Rights holders want more of the lucrative product they can sell to broadcasters and sponsors. The Euros have already expanded from 16 to 24 national teams and Uefa, which runs the European game, is extending its Champions League and Europa League next season from 32 to 36 clubs, each playing more matches. Fifa’s World Cup in 2026 will grow from 32 to 48 teams. Fifa is also enlarging its Club World Cup from a seven-team affair to 32 next year in the US — the object of the players’ legal case.

Players and many managers say stresses of an ever-expanding calendar are leading to more injuries — which affects the quality of games and competitions. The summer break in Europe is increasingly being eaten away. Top footballers may play 50 or more games in a season; the likes of Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé or Vinicius Junior have played many more minutes than stars of yesteryear at the same age. PremierInjuries.com says injuries in the English Premier League increased 11 per cent in 2023-24; clubs paid £266mn to sidelined players. Howden, an insurer, put the cost of injuries across the top five men’s European leagues in 2022-23 at €705mn.

Women’s football is experiencing mounting injuries, too, as its popularity explodes — and women are not as well looked after. Partially offsetting the growth in men’s fixtures are better care, pitches and top clubs’ infrastructure of coaches, physiotherapists and nutritionists, which have extended players’ working lives. Footballers often now come back from what once were career-ending injuries.

The increase in matches also reflects a largely nationally based game, dominated by Europe’s leagues, confronting the forces of globalisation. Cash-rich emerging nations such as Saudi Arabia are keen to attract top players and clubs to their own tournaments. Though European fans and players seem lukewarm about Fifa’s Club World Cup, there is merit in the idea of pitting Europe’s top club sides against those from Africa, the Americas and Asia. Players and leagues say the enlarged tournament was foisted on them without proper consultation. Fifa disagrees — and argues that it organises only 1 per cent of games involving the world’s top clubs, and ploughs its proceeds into football in poorer countries. With reserves of $3.6bn, however, it is scarcely hard-up.

Clubs and national leagues are themselves guilty of increasing matches by adding trophies and out-of-season tours. Yet finite talent and the physical demands mean top-class sport has a scarcity value. Asking matchgoers and viewers to pay to watch an increasing number of games of variable quality, where the stars they most want to see may be injured or resting, threatens to damage the value. Witness Hong Kong fans’ anger after superstar Lionel Messi sat out a showcase friendly in February.

Organisers at all levels need to co-operate closely on managing and limiting fixtures to balance revenue generation with the interests of players and fans. There were legitimate arguments against the more rarefied European Super League proposed three years ago. But soccer might learn from America’s NFL, whose 32 teams play only 17 matches each per season, and which secured a blockbuster broadcasting deal of $113bn over 11 seasons. After the thrills of the Euros in the next month, many fans will be left wanting more. But that, surely, is the point.