#47: What the Rise and Fall of the Super League Tells Us About ESG

This week the Super League of Premier League Football was announced: a collection of the best and brightest franchises to come into their own, potentially even more profitable league.  Just as quickly, the league was extinguished completely. From fan outrage to JP Morgan finding itself in the spotlight for underwriting the concept, this week has been a dramatic one for the league and football fans all over the world. We take the opportunity to zoom in on the news, as it so quickly and thoroughly collided old-world single-stakeholder thinking with new world multi-stakeholder ESG sensibilities. The Super League provides a helpful case to keep in mind when we think about the intrinsic and intangible value that we are tasked to get curious about when it comes to ESG. I think more business leaders will be tuning their antennae to the topic, because when fans hear about a power move announced in the dark of night, they just might surround your team bus with those ever-so valuable players inside of it or hang banners on your stadium with signs that say “Super Greed” instead of Super League and “Fans not Customers”.  Are they one or the other? Or both?