Super League’s financial backer JP Morgan ‘misjudged’ fans reaction

The Super League’s financial backer JP Morgan has said it “misjudged” how fans would react to the breakaway competition.

The American investment bank said on Monday it had committed €3.25 billion as start-up capital for the league, which posed a direct challenge to Uefa’s Champions League and also threatened to devalue Europe’s top domestic leagues.

Twelve clubs announced they had signed up to compete last Sunday night but by Wednesday afternoon nine had withdrawn amid fan protests and outrage from Uefa, Fifa, leagues, clubs, players and even politicians, making it a non-starter.

JP Morgan released a short statement on Friday morning which read: “We clearly misjudged how this deal would be viewed by the wider football community and how it might impact them in the future. We will learn from this.”