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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Why don't European sports teams use relocation to get public money?
 
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Hambilderberglar
Dec 2, 2004

dex_sda posted:

that's a bit bollocks, many clubs have huge followings that overshadow a huge portion of an entire country except for small fringe clubs. What you speak of is really only the case in England.
Is this not only the case with the supermassive clubs that have international name recognition? The likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Juventus, AC/Inter Milan, Barca, PSG, maybe some others. Wouldn't exactly call that a particularly large selection of clubs in the grand scheme of things. And even then, I certainly get the idea that while all these people may support these clubs, they don't do so to the exclusion of a local team that they may have community ties with. Even if that team is incredibly garbage. Of course none of this is science and only my own anecdotal evidence. :shrug:

Hambilderberglar fucked around with this message at 10:19 on Sep 27, 2016

* # ¿ Sep 27, 2016 10:16
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# ¿ May 15, 2024 07:59
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Hambilderberglar
Dec 2, 2004

dex_sda posted:

Hambilderberglar, steinrokkan basically responded to your question. I would pin it at 40-50 clubs in Europe who could relocate on a similar 'popularity' basis. There's 5300 clubs in England alone. So a small percentage, but a solid number nevertheless.

It just doesn't happen because it's a mental concept. It requires stifled competition, because otherwise (even if you're Barcelona) a move would make you lose fans, which will make you lose money, which will make you underperform, which will lose you fans. Remember, you can get relegated into nothingness in soccer. It's happened to Premier League winners who made huge missteps with treating their club, like Aston Villa. It's happening to Wisła Kraków - arguably the most known club in Poland - right now.
I agree with the conclusion you and steinrokkan are drawing. Relocation is a complete non-starter for the overwhelming majority of clubs and teams today, with even those aforementioned teams probably never opting for it.

My feeling is the situation you describe as "only the case in England", that is, many small clubs with dedicated local following, is likely the case in many other European footballing countries. Maybe not to the point that they have 5300 clubs, but there certainly seems to be a healthy amount of competition at all skill and league levels. There's a good 30 to 40 teams competing where I live that are based in the same city, with even more day-fly teams that manage to scrape together a side for a season. They might all together have just as much stadium capacity as the top dog, but if Ajax decides to roll on over to... I don't even know where, Luxembourg? They'd effectively cease to exist as a club. Player base and supporters base has ties to the community and will just watch another team over the weekend rather than travel to see a team that essentially told them to shove it and moved.

* # ¿ Sep 28, 2016 10:32
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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Why don't European sports teams use relocation to get public money?