The short life of the European Super League: a case study on institutional tensions in sport industries

Rationale: The paper examines which themes drove the collective action of football fans against the project of a European SuperLeague in 2021.

Design: Two unique datasets on the Twitter discourse about the Super League project were retrieved. Themes were analyzed using methods of inductive content analyses. Legitimacy gains and losses were measured using a dictionary approach.

Findings: Supporters invoked a logic of autotelism insisting on maintaining sporting merit and a logic of identity claiming fan ownership of clubs. However, the fan protests might primarily reinforce the status quo and not inspire a fundamental reform.

Practical implications: Institutional tensions within European football are likely to persist. Given strong supporter preferences for the institutional status quo, European football clubs appear to be trapped in disequilibrium economics, which should discourage profit-oriented investors.

Research contribution: Regarding institutional theory, the findings suggest that a strong stakeholder preference for institutional complexity represents a decisive barrier for institutional entrepreneurs trying to shift dominant logics.