Simon Lehmann / Alamy Stock Photo
Much of the money that pays for the competition is spent to build global brands.
England manager Gareth Southgate gestures on the pitch during 2018 England V Switzerland friendly game.
AF Archive/Alamy
The images projected to fans of the sport have always been intentional. Here’s what they do to keep people onside.
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Chelsea and Manchester City have similar goals on and off the pitch.
England players celebrate at the Spartak Stadium, Moscow in 2018.
PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
To tackle the racial stereotyping rife within football commentary, robust education – and uncomfortable conversation – is critical
Euro 2020 stickers.
REUTERS/Andrew Boyers
We used probability to find out what collecting all 678 stickers might cost you.
On the occasion of a 2011 match between Portugal and Argentina, Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Lionel Messi (right) show off a pair of high-end watches. The riches have only continued to flow in.
Fanny Schertzer/Wikipedia
A new study explores the how the celebrity and status of professional footballers in the “Big Five” European leagues can affect both performance and pay.
A Women’s Super League fixture between Tottenham Hotspur and Bristol City.
Federico Guerra Moran/Shutterstock
A women’s European Super League was an afterthought, evidence of the sport’s increasing swallowing up the men’s game.
Football fans protested proposals for the now axed European Super League.
Neil Hall/EPA
The failure of the ESL does not represent a victory of fans over commerce, or of culture over capitalism. It is the very existence of fans that cements football’s commercial nature.
Angry Chelseas fans protest the European Super League.
Neil Hall/EPA
What at first appeared as a horror story for supporters could turn out to have a happy ending.
‘I never miss a game.’
PA Images/Alamy
The British prime minister has vowed to drop a ‘legislative bomb’ on the new proposals.
Fans feel the new European Super League is not about the tradition or love of the sport but simply about making as much money as possible.
Andy Rain/EPA
From the emergence of Premier League to Cricket’s newer formats, the history of professional sport is full of breakups.
Super League plans have fans screaming into the void, like soccer star Lionel Messi here.
Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images
More competitive games between top soccer clubs is desirable but creating a ‘closed’ system would harm a soccer culture built on dreams, says the man who predicted the Super League two decades ago.
Mikhael Damkier
Everyone seems united against the new proposals, but can they really be stopped?
The Texas Rangers packed the stands for their home opener on April 5, 2021.
AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter
Crowd size matters. When football games had thousands of fans in attendance, COVID-19 case numbers tended to spike within three weeks.
No crowds.
Shutterstock/Igor Link
Pressure from the crowd causes referees to make different decisions.
Michael Balog
Discussions have rightly focused on the failings of authorities and clubs. But the role of the law should also be examined.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp talks with American owner John W Henry at Anfield in 2016.
Reuters / Phil Noble Livepic
The American money men are replacing Russian oligarchs and Arab oil tycoons as the next wave of club buyers.
Football coach Sarina Wiegman training the Netherlands team at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.
Pro Shots/Alamy Live News
Female coaches experience very different environments to male coaches and have been shaped in very different ways.
Paperchase is one of a number of retailers to have gone under already in 2021.
Alan Wilson/Alamy
Under insolvency law, there’s an order in which creditors get paid from whatever is left of a company.
Fans of less successful clubs form more of a bond with each other.
Motortion Films/shutterstock.com
Some fans even said they would be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, giving their own lives to save other supporters of their team.