Al-Khelaifi’s latest idea: “Champions love the Super Bowl. There must be entertainment”

He can’t win it, but he thinks about how to fix it. The Champions League is like the Super Bowl. Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of Paris Saint-Germain since 2011 and the European Club Association (ECA) since April 2021, has very clear ideas and some plans to make the European competition increasingly inclusive on a global level. And the pole is convinced that organizing an opening ceremony at each edition is the right way to channel the event at scale, on the model some American sports use.

football – From American football… to European football, the step is relatively short. “I can’t understand how the Super Bowl can look like a bigger media event than the Champions League final. The Super Bowl, and American sport in general, has a different spirit, creativity and a great sense of entertainment. So here’s what I suggested: organize the Champions League opening ceremony, a match In confrontations the winners will face a great team. It might not be a good idea, but at least we will try to change the status quo. Every football match should embody an action and entertainment.”

France – The PSG president also went back to the agreement that the Professional Football League (LFP) had signed with the CVC investment fund to set up a trading company. “There are clubs from Ligue 1 and Second Division, but there are also 14 small and medium-sized clubs within Ligue 1 who have very different interests and perspectives in terms of budget and programming. Some are just thinking about how to pay their fees next month. Others can’t. Designing long-term economic plans. As such, CVC offers us new business ideas. It is an investment fund with new ideas and they want to make money by investing in football. All the clubs thank Paris Saint-Germain because it was our fundamental contribution to the emergence of this club.”