Some American sports teams clash every year and the buildup each year is still huge. We're talking powers in their respective sports that have played each other for almost 100 consecutive seasons, even at the collegiate level.
Texas vs. Oklahoma, Auburn vs. Alabama, Ohio State vs. Michigan... even when the teams are doing less than stellar, there's still a gigantic buildup and anticipation for these games because of the rivalries involved. Being on the same level and having that familiarity makes the games more fun to watch and it makes the teams more competitive with each other.
It's more about what's at stake. Nobody cares about the Lakers playing the Clippers in game 35 of the regular season, it's all about the playoffs, i.e. when they're playing for the championship.
There are still important matches between pairs of top teams every year as it is now. ManU plays Liverpool 2+ times. Madrid vs Barca probably 4 times or so. But with ESL, every match would be between the dirty dozen. Then it loses its charm.
Yes, every matchup would be with teams that have accumulated a ton of elite talent and know each other well enough that they will have to compete harder if they want to win. I will never understand European purists and their desire to watch a lesser product for tradition's sake. When Louisiana State University plays The University of Alabama in a game of American Football on the first weekend in November every single year, the worst that they've ever done in TV ratings is the same as Liverpool vs. Man City's record viewership. This is a game of two elite amateur teams, mind you, that happen to be in the same division in the same conference (I guess you could call it a regional league).
As you said it's tradition which people value here and football teams are not seen as products, they are your like cultural centers, what often defines your community.
Tradition is cheap. It's especially funny to see fans of lesser EPL teams up in arms given that the EPL itself is just a smaller iteration of the ESL. Nobody watching the EPL today wants to go back to the old way of doing things. The same thing would happen with the ESL.
Some American sports teams clash every year and the buildup each year is still huge. We're talking powers in their respective sports that have played each other for almost 100 consecutive seasons, even at the collegiate level. Texas vs. Oklahoma, Auburn vs. Alabama, Ohio State vs. Michigan... even when the teams are doing less than stellar, there's still a gigantic buildup and anticipation for these games because of the rivalries involved. Being on the same level and having that familiarity makes the games more fun to watch and it makes the teams more competitive with each other.