Exotic leagues that had a worldwide "explosion"
Today we're going to talk about some football leagues that we could define as exotic, meaning they aren't world-renowned leagues or usually very attractive from a competitive or career-development perspective. However, at some point, they've captured global attention because they've managed to attract top players in the world, usually with very lucrative contracts.
Arsenal icon Fredrik Ljungberg was one of the players that played in India
India
While football is a very popular sport in India, having been played for over a century and a half, it wasn't until 1996 that they started holding an organized national tournament initially called the National Football League, which later became the I-League (somewhat similar to Australia's A-League, South Korea's K-League, and Japan's J-League). In 2013, the Indian Super League was created, ultimately making the I-League the second tier of football in that country, similar to what happened in England when the Premier League was created.On this occasion, India sought to have a greater impact on the world of football by creating a tournament considerably shorter than the rest of the world's leagues (lasting just over two months) and offering significant contracts to veteran players that had been big stars, and even some retired players. This is how names like Luis Garcia (former Liverpool and Barcelona player), Robert Pires, Elano, David Trezeguet, Alessandro Del Piero, and Fredrik Ljungberg came to play in India in 2014.
The combination of a well-paid contract and a short tournament proved attractive to several top players and at the time became a sensation that captured the world's attention. Over the years, the tournament evolved into a format more similar to other leagues, and the contracts have become less attractive, so the same level of players are no longer available.
China
Like India, the Chinese Super League had a semi-professional predecessor created in 1987 that went professional in 1994, although the current league wasn't established until 2004. The formation of this league allowed for the creation of a better football structure in the country, although it didn't attract the worldwide attention it achieved years later. Some of the country's biggest companies began to get involved in football, both locally and abroad.This put Chinese clubs in a financial position strong enough to afford to sign some of the best players in the European market. The turning point came in 2012 when Shanghai Shenhua signed Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba, and these signings had a snowball effect throughout the league. In the following years, names like Alberto Gilardino, Robinho, Paulinho, Demba Ba, Oscar, Carlos Tevez, Ricardo Carvalho, Alexandre Pato, Jackson Martinez, and Ezequiel Lavezzi arrived, as well as top managers like Luiz Felipe Scolari, Felix Magath, Sven-Göran Eriksson, Manuel Pellegrini, and Marcello Lippi.
The level of spending and a series of problems such as corruption within clubs and the COVID-19 pandemic hit Chinese football hard, to the point that clubs entered critical financial situations. This had the effect that most top players left the league, leading to the end of the Chinese football bubble.
United States
The United States is a unique case because it has undergone a curious evolution over the years. To understand this development, we must go back to the mid-1970s when Pele signed with the New York Cosmos. The Brazilian legend finally left Brazil and his Santos, but not to join a European giant. Instead, he went to the United States, where an unprecedented contract awaited him. Soccer was a very popular sport around the world, except in North America, where it has always been surpassed by other more native sports like basketball, baseball, and American football. Pele's arrival brought potential to the NASL (North American Soccer League).Pele's arrival motivated other stars of the era to follow in his footsteps, and thus fantastic football players such as Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto, Johan Cruyff, George Best, and Eusebio signed for NASL clubs. While fans initially showed some interest in football, over the years, the model became unsustainable, and coupled with the country's economic problems, the league ultimately folded. This was the first major attempt by the United States to get involved in football with its own league. The second attempt would come a few years later, specifically in 1996, when the first edition of Major League Soccer (MLS) was played, a tournament that originated thanks to the fact that the United States would host the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Even with the NASL, there had been issues with FIFA because the league wanted to impose new rules that would be more attractive to fans, and this was something that was repeated in the early years of MLS. The league, as expected, also sought to bring in big names, and this time players like Carlos Valderrama, Jorge Campos, Marco Etcheverry, and Roberto Donadoni to help bring more people to the stadiums and watch the games. Over time, the league adopted a model that was somewhat more similar to other leagues worldwide, while retaining certain characteristics of professional American sports, such as the fact that player contracts are directly with the league and not with the actual club they are playing for, and that there are no relegations or promotions.
Unlike other leagues that we have touched on this list so far, the MLS has been transforming its structure into something more sustainable over time, allowing it to bring in big names like David Beckham and Thierry Henry at the time, or Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at present, allowing it to maintain a certain amount of attention from the global sports media.
Saudi Arabia
Finally, we close the list with the most recent representative, Saudi football. The Arab country's league Saudi Professional League has existed since the 1950s, and while it did make some high-profile signings at one point, the reality is that it didn't have a media impact remotely similar until Al Nassr signed Cristiano Ronaldo in 2023. The Saudi Public Investment Fund took control of the country's four main clubs, just as the Ministry of Sport and the oil & gas company, Saudi Aramco, took over other clubs. All of this was part of the Saudi government's Saudi Vision 2030 diversification program.After Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival, a wave of signings began that was unprecedented in any of these "exotic" leagues, as not only did important veteran players like Karim Benzema and Neymar arrive, but also younger players coveted by Europe's top teams, like Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, and even promising youngsters like Gabri Veiga.
How sustainable the Saudi model is in the long term remains to be seen. At first glance, it seems more solid than the Chinese or Indian models, and as the clubs are basically owned by the state, which has a huge amount of money, the clubs are unlikely to face a financial crisis, but the question is whether the league can continue to be an attractive option for players in the middle or early stages of their careers.