I think Wenger has it right. As one of the most astute men in the business, his contention that the the European Super League will materialize needs to be taken seriously. At this point does anyone not want to see a regular Barcelona vs Chelsea match the results which are not dictated to by a one off encounter and/ or spoiled by refereeing decisions.
It will also be a far more direct measurement of league strength. The debating point is what effect will this elite league have on the national leagues? Wenger believes that entry into the European Super League will be merit based and for that reason co-existence of the national leagues is just as important. Therefore, the mechanism of relegation and promotion are preserved.
Others like David Conn believe that the influx of vast sums of money into the European Super League will destroy the Premiership structure as it will be hard to market matches between Hull and Wigan.
But that is already happening. The Premiership is actually without formalization, a two tiered structure where a billion people watched Arsenal battle Man Utd to a draw two seasons ago. As the Premiership is presently configured this is immaterial because matches are sold in a package so clubs that do not generate the viewership of the big four are inoculated and share TV money. The destructive aspects of that structural collapse were seen recently in the SPL, where TV broadcasters were chary of picking up anything other than the Old Firm rivalry when Setanta collapsed, almost dragging the league into oblivion.
I think the Wenger’s preservation of relegation and promotion are very important and that this will keep the national leagues alive ensuring against abandonment of viewership. How that will be worked out is a huge question. Invariably, the clubs from the smaller leagues will be most transitory. Clearly they also stand to benefit the most. The threshold may possibly need to be changed by increasing the number of relegation and promotion spots making it more fluid.
The Super League would be a natural outgrowth of the CL being unable to attract the big clubs to compete because of its restricted remuneration. The Europa Championships was precisely established because clubs were unwilling to sacrifice their first squads for the small amounts of TV and prize money generated by the UEFA Cup. I see these as refinements and increments to the day the European Super League is finally born. Whether this is to be celebrated or reviled might be a different debating point but it is where the game is headed.