Between the months of May and June, one of the most important events in football history takes place in Europe. Fans from around the world wait with anticipation, as two worthy challengers overcome the ever-so-difficult knockout stages to reach the UEFA Champions League final. This match is every European club’s dream. All players wish to play this final at some point in their careers. Every single fan could only fantasize of the moment their favorite team could battle it out for the most valuable silverware in European football. The Champions League final is transmitted around all corners of the world, given the clubs’ time invested in gaining broader fanbases in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. There is no doubt that the Champions League has earned attention now more than ever before, as new fans show interest in the sport, which is why European leagues are now broadcasted outside of the European continent. Besides the UEFA Champions League, which other leagues of the same caliber could compete side-to-side as the top continental competition of the footballing world? To answer that question, we’ll have to discover a bit more about the history of South American football.
CONMEBOL is the home confederation of ten South American countries, which include three former World Cup Champions: Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, as well as seven other Spanish-speaking countries where football is considered part of culture and tradition. In 1959, after a couple of successful attempts from the past decade to create an international competition, the creation of the current high-tier continental cup was approved by the International Affairs Committee. The competition hadn’t been named until 1965 when the South American football committee designed its name as “Copa Libertadores de America” in honor of the heroes of the liberation of South America. The Libertadores first edition started in 1960, and it didn’t receive worldwide recognition until 1963 when Brazilian club Santos, lead by the legend Pele, conquered their second straight Copa Libertadores title and were considered as one of the best clubs at the time. 60 years later up to this date, the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores has now completed 60 seasons, just about five seasons less than the amount the UEFA Champions League has accomplished. The Copa Libertadores has made a champion out of various recognized teams from South America, such as: BOCA Juniors, River Plate, Flamengo, Gremio, Palmeiras, Atletico Nacional, and Peñarol among others.
Let’s consider the fact that, just as stated earlier, CONMEBOL is the home of the five-time World Cup champions Brazil, and two-time World Cup champions Argentina and Uruguay. As of February 23rd, all ten countries in this confederation are located amongst the top 100 teams according to the FIFA World Ranking, where Bolivia is ranked the lowest at 75, and four countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Colombia) are situated in the top 10. Brazil and Argentina are the main exporters of fresh new talent wanting to succeed in UEFA competitions, given that European clubs mostly search for new signings in South America, where their leagues have around the same level of difficulty as most of the European leagues. Some examples of South American products brought over to the other side of the Atlantic are: Carlos Tevez (from Corinthians to West Ham), Dani Alves (from Bahia to Sevilla), Kaka (from Sao Paulo to AC Milan) James Rodriguez (from Banfield to Porto) and Edinson Cavani (from Danubio to Palermo). Even most South American players have participated in both the UEFA Champions League and the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores, just like Neymar did, having won Santos’ third Libertadores title in 2011, and four years later winning FC Barcelona’s fifth Champions League title. Before Alisson Becker won the 2019 Champions League title with Liverpool, he had participated in the Copa Libertadores edition of 2015 with SC International de Porto Alegre; their Libertadores campaign came to an end in semifinals after being shut down by Tigres UANL of Mexico. All this information gives to show how valuable the South American confederation really is: the immense amount of talent quality, the relevance of the game in this continent, and the passion felt by the South American fans, which is at times unmatched by European fanbases, proves that CONMEBOL has had the potential to become just as great as their European counterparts.
But then... why hasn’t the Copa Libertadores been as relevant as the Champions League these past 60 years?
Transfer Markets: The Bosman ruling of 1995 changed the history of football marketing forever, as the case approved the free-trading of non-nationalized players to different leagues around Europe. This case was later adopted by other confederations, and in a completely globalized world of the 90’s, there was a lot of interest from the biggest European teams to purchase players from South American countries who seemed very promising and would increase the chances of winning silverware for the club. These players were bought at excessive price amounts, price tags that many clubs at the time (and even up to this day) could not afford. Teams such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Manchester United, and FC Bayern München have the privilege of buying in new talent from Brazil or Argentina, and it’s definitely not the same case for the likes of many South American teams. Even the biggest clubs of the confederation like BOCA Juniors or Sao Paulo could never afford the price for top European players like Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. Therefore the South American clubs have been deeply affected by this ruling, as European teams took the early opportunity to purchase players from different leagues at skyrocketing prices, and even throughout the years one would be shocked at how much the top players of Europe are being valued at (Neymar currently holds the record for the most expensive transfer in football history, having been valued at 222 million Euros for his Paris Saint-Germain inclusion).
Advertising: Teams that have participated in the Copa Libertadores are clubs that are only known of in South America (also including North and Central America given that Mexico, Costa Rica and even the United States have had teams participate in some of CONMEBOL’s continental championships). European clubs on the contrary promote their teams outside of Europe, reaching out to different publics in Asia, Africa, Australia and even the Americas; e.g., European clubs set up international friendly cups in other continents to appeal to the rising fanbases in other countries of the world. Hosting a Manchester United vs. Manchester City in China, or a Real Madrid vs. Barcelona in the United States will not only help gain interest of the new football fans to the local league and the European competition, but also serves as good revenue in the selling of tickets, shirts, scarfs that promote the club’s brand, making it a well-known organization. Very few South American clubs have been capable of reaching out to international fanbases, like River Plate, Boca Juniors, Corinthians, Sao Paulo and Flamengo. However, many clubs are only well-known by those who follow the Libertadores. Have you ever heard of these teams: Liga de Quito (ECU), Vasco da Gama (BRA), Olimpia (PAR), Once Caldas (COL), and Colo-Colo (CHI)? These teams (among a couple of other clubs that are also not so-well recognized in global terms) are former Copa Libertadores champions that have remained distant from the spectrum of high-tier clubs that we’re most familiar with.
Broadcasting: Starting from group stage all the way to the final, the UEFA Champions League is transmitted via different sports channels such as ESPN, FOX Sports, BeIN Sports, and other local channels from 70+ countries around the whole world. The CONMEBOL Libertadores on the contrary is shown in South America and only a slight amount of 30 other countries between group stage and semifinals, and most of the times they do not show all of the games, it’s only the most important ones in the group stage. The final of the Libertadores is the only point in time in which the audience number increases, as broadcasting rights are given to more countries. Just as with the issue of club advertisement in South America, the promotion of the Copa Libertadores had been very little in comparison to all the advertising the Champions League does to gain more viewers. However recently the Copa Libertadores has started to receive more viewership due to the decision of declaring the Libertadores finals from now on to be a single match instead of a home-and-away-leg match. According to the numbers of viewers of the last two UEFA Champions League finals in the United States, it shows that 2018’s Real Madrid vs. Liverpool final had two million viewers, while the 2019’s Liverpool vs. Tottenham final saw 1.51 million viewers. In the case of the last two editions of the Copa Libertadores, the second leg of the Argentinian superclasico River Plate vs. BOCA Juniors of 2018 had 1.15 million viewers in the United States, whereas it’s estimated the River Plate vs. Flamengo final in 2019 gained around 1.5 million viewers.
European Dominance: Thanks to the inclusion of the Bosman ruling in the allowing of free-trading of players of different nationalities, the dominance that South American clubs once had was shifted over to the European powerhouses. When the Toyota European/South American Cup (or better known as Intercontinental cup) was played between the years 1960 to 2004, the South Americans for the first couple of decades demonstrated sheer dominance over the European teams. Many teams from Argentina and Brazil, as well as Uruguay’s two top teams and Paraguay’s Club Olimpia became Intercontinental champions summing up to a total of 22 cups for South America to 20 for European clubs. When the FIFA Club World Cup was introduced back in the year 2000, it was set to replace the Intercontinental cup at some point, as it aimed to give the opportunity for clubs from Africa, Asia, North & Central America, and Oceania to participate in the competition. As of today, only on four occasions have South American clubs been able to crown themselves as champions of the world (Sao Paulo, Corinthians, and Internacional). UEFA clubs have claimed 12 FIFA Club World Cups, and the last time the title was won by a South American club was by Corinthians in 2012. This dominance is also portrayed in FIFA World Cup performances, as the last time a South American country has won the World Cup was back in 2002 when an inspired Ronaldo Nazario da Lima scored twice against Germany in Tokyo. After that, Italy, Spain, Germany and recently France have crowned themselves as champions of the world. This has caused huge impacts for the viewing of CONMEBOL competitions as fans view that the best and hardest competitions are located in Europe, making the UEFA Champions League such a huge attraction for fans around the world.
Is the future looking bright for CONMEBOL and the Copa Libertadores?
With the format change of the Copa Libertadores Final to a single match played at a neutral stadium, as well as the chance to use better advertising plans to introduce the competition to other continents (e.g., the creation of English-version social media platforms for all of CONMEBOL’s competitions), it is likely possible that the cup will gain even more recognition than it once had before. Last year’s finals were proof that the Libertadores has the capability to provide a better spectacle than the Champions League.
It could happen that in a far future the CONMEBOL could pair up with CONCACAF (Governing body for North & Central American football) and not only re-introduce Liga-MX teams back into the Copa Libertadores, but also invite MLS teams and clubs from countries in the Central American and the Caribbean regions to participate in one of the most prestigious competitions of South America. That will also help increase the number of viewers, and the general interest in the competition. Not a bad idea considering the Libertadores honors those that fought for independence and liberation, and most (if not all) of the North and Central American countries have gone through the same process. Also, hopefully through the time, MLS teams start to perform better internationally, starting by accomplishing more in the CONCACAF Champions League and developing a Promotion/Relegation system in increase competitivity in the league.
As for now, The Copa Libertadores Group Stage is set to start on Tuesday, March 3rd. The road to #Rio2020 is about to start. You may check Copa Libertadores matches live on BeIN Sports in the USA and Canada.
Author: I’m Juan Jaramillo, I currently live in New York City, NY, I’m a die-hard Manchester United fan, Colombian at heart and interested in pursuing a career in sports journalism somewhere in the far future. I enjoy writing articles about sport events or sports histories as a hobby. Follow me on Instagram: @juan_jaramillo1995