In 1986-87, Diego Maradona inspired Napoli to their first Serie A title. The following season, Napoli drew Real Madrid in the first round of the European Cup. This meant that the champions of either Italy or Spain could be eliminated, while smaller clubs from other European countries could progress. Silvio Berlusconi, the owner of AC Milan, was not pleased with this situation. He believed that the European Cup had become an anachronism and that it was economic nonsense for big clubs like Milan to be eliminated in the first round. Berlusconi commissioned the London advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi to design a European Television League, which would feature the biggest clubs in Europe playing each other more often. The idea was to make more money for the clubs and for the TV stations that showed the games. However, UEFA rejected the proposal, which was seen as a stalking horse for the creation of a new league.
The Scottish champions, Rangers, also wanted to change the way European football was organized. They argued that the unpredictability inherent in knockout competitions made it hard to set a budget. Their secretary, Campbell Ogilvie, proposed more guaranteed games in the European Cup and the introduction of a group stage. This led to the creation of the Champions League, which was designed to prioritize content over jeopardy and revenue generation over sporting merit. The Champions League was a big change for European football, and it paved the way for the creation of the Premier League in England. The Premier League was a breakaway league created by the big clubs in England, who wanted to make more money and to be in charge of their own league. The Premier League was a big success and it changed the way football was organized in England.
Today, the Champions League and the Premier League are two of the biggest leagues in the world. They are watched by millions of people and they make a lot of money. The big clubs in these leagues are now global brands and they have a lot of power. The way football is organized has changed a lot since the 1980s. The big clubs now make most of the money and they have a lot of control. This has led to a lot of criticism from fans and from smaller clubs. They say that the game has become too commercial and that the big clubs are too powerful. But the big clubs say that they need to make money to survive and to compete with other sports.
