Hi, I'm Dan Permanak, and welcome to Axios Recap, presented by Morgan Stanley.

Today's Thursday, April 22nd.

Airline bookings are up, new U.S. jobless claims are down, and we're focused on European

soccer's not-so-super-league.

Just after midnight this past Sunday night,

12 of the richest and best-known European soccer clubs

announced an agreement to form what they called the Super League,

an exclusive competition that would have completely upended

both the structure and economics of the world's most popular sport.

It was a bombshell announcement.

For a U.S. equivalent, imagine if the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Cubs decided to all

break away for Major League Baseball and then merge with the L.A. Lakers and Dallas Cowboys.

Sure, that wouldn't make much sense, but honestly, neither did the Super League.

Yes, did, not does.

Pay attention to the tenses there because Super League lasted less than three days.

That's less than a scaramucci or a quibby.

So what happened?

In short, everyone hated the idea other than the owners of those 12 teams. Fans

protested loudly on social media, politicians threatened legal action, and European soccer's

ruling body threatened to kick any participating players out of World Cup competition. By Tuesday

afternoon, Chelsea became the first team to bail.

Other clubs soon followed, often in statements that included apologies to fans,

...