Soccer seems about as far away from fans as it has ever been. If anything, it seems closer now to the richest clubs and most influential leagues given everything that has transpired over the last year-plus with the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns. And yet those behind soccer media business COPA90, which focuses on the culture around the sport rather than the matches, believe the time has never been better to double down on the fan culture that has fueled its large following and attracted major investors.
Sure, it sounds romantic given the absurdity of soccer’s opulence these days; when breakaway leagues, warring governing bodies and more fixtures belie an unquenchable thirst for money at the upper echelons of the sport. And yet, COPA90’s overseers believe there’s another shift happening in tandem with the corporatization of the sport that has the potential to be just as transformative: soccer — especially the slick, carefully pruned form of its top competitions — is meant to be apolitical but the emergence of players who are more influential than politicians, the prevalence of financial greed and the conspicuous absence of people of color in coaching roles show a sport more politicized than ever
“Football has lost its soul,” said Tom Thirlwall, COPA90’s CEO. The rapid rise and fall of the European Super League is proof, he continued. It’s also proof that embers of that soul can flicker back into life. Otherwise, European soccer’s proposed Super League might still be about, said Thirlwall. It took a mere 56 hours from the news of the tournament first breaking to its collapse under the weight of pressure from fans. Indeed, it showed the voice of fans still has sway over the sport, even now when those who run it are more likely to refer to them as consumers. Unsurprisingly, Thirlwall believes COPA90, the football-focused media business he set up in 2012, is the perfect, trusted medium for this.
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