GENEVA (AP) – The world’s richest football league begins a new season in England on Friday as the rest of Europe looks for ways to catch up.
Off the pitch, the Premier League is a commercial giant with broadcast deals around the world that promote huge player transfers and salaries that most others can’t match. This helps to explain why some clubs created the Super League project.
The league’s wealth helped English champions Manchester City make the biggest signing of the summer. Erling Haaland’s arrival from Borussia Dortmund cost City more than £100 million ($122 million) in transfer and agent fees.
While Haaland was a City fan when his father played there, he was also drawn to a competitive league that avoids the single-club dominance he has seen recently in Germany, Italy and France.
Five different teams have won the Premier League in the past 10 seasons, including Leicester’s surprise win in 2016. While City have won four of the last five titles, two were epic duels with Liverpool.
The Champions League is also feeling the strength of the Premier League with four different clubs in the last four finals, including two arm wrestling matches between the British. Liverpool have competed in three of the last five finals while winning just one Premier League title.
The same four clubs – City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham – represent England in the Champions League this season.
Manchester United and Arsenal qualified for the Europa League and are the richest teams ever in that second-tier tournament.
Here’s a look at English financial dominance and the challenge for the other major leagues:
England’s Advantages
According to UEFA European Football’s annual survey, the broadcasting rights of the Premier League generated 3.64 billion euros ($3.7 billion) last season and Spain’s La Liga about 2 billion euros ($2.04 billion).
“This is, of course, the best example in the world of commercializing sporting competition,” said Jaco Swart, managing director of the 30-nation European League Group.
An equally weighted cash distribution injected the worst-hit Premier League side, Norwich, with 98 million pounds ($119 million) in cash, more than the total budget of most European clubs.
English teams ranked 10 out of the top 18 in Deloitte’s most recent top money-making list. The Abu Dhabi-owned city tops the list with €644.9 million ($657 million).
The 20 premier clubs had a total salary bill of 2.88 billion euros ($2.93 billion) in 2020 according to UEFA – more than 1 billion euros ($1.02 billion) from the Spanish league and the Bundesliga from Germany and Serie A from Italy.
persecution of spain
La Liga offers cash prizes to the best clubs and the winner walks in with around 160 million euros ($163 million), three times more than other clubs.
This bodes well for Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid – who have monopolized every league title since Valencia in 2004 – though not for a competitive balance.
“They don’t have a very broad tradition of selling (rights) collectively,” Swart said.
Real Madrid’s response in difficult times was to win another Champions League by surprise removal of the top three English clubs and Paris Saint-Germain.
Madrid and Barcelona have long increased their Champions League earnings by influencing the European Club Association – which they abandoned to launch the failed Super League so that prize money would go to historic clubs.
Barcelona have sought to ease their financial hardship caused by excessive spending on salaries. His gamble has been to sell assets from an investment firm in exchange for an injection of cash, such as future television broadcasting rights.
This allowed him to close the signing of Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich. But Azulgran has been widely questioned for pressuring midfielder Frankie de Jong to accept a cut in his pay.
Manager Unai Emery has been responsible for the success of middle-class clubs. First with Sevilla and now with wicked little Villarreal, Emery defied hopes of winning a combined four Europa League titles.
german culture
The “50+1” rule governing the control of clubs in Germany is widely praised because it protects the identities of teams and keeps them from falling prey to oil nations, oligarchs and billionaires who play in the premiership. Broken.
This majority control is held by the club and its members is an established tradition in Germany, and it also serves to prevent skyrocketing ticket and television subscription costs, the effect of which is to reduce income.
“What people are willing to pay to watch football in England is very different from what people are willing to pay in Germany,” Swart said.
The average season ticket price at Arsenal is £1,095 ($1,325), but some Dortmund fans can pay as little as 240 euros ($244).
Dortmund also stands out for signing and developing English teenagers who eventually sell to Premier. Haaland’s former teammate Jadon Sancho moved to Man United after billing four times more than the initial purchase, and Jude Bellingham would be next.
italian fall
After hosting the 1990 World Cup, Serie A was the richest league and full of glamour. Its downfall began with the introduction of the Premier League and Champions League in 1992. Italian stars began to accept offers from Chelsea and even the unknown Middlesbrough.
Serie A clubs also suffered from playing in stadiums owned by the old city, which were surrounded, and in some cases shared athletic tracks.
Juventus opened its stadium in 2011 and won nine consecutive titles. The bureaucracy did not facilitate the projects of Romal, Milan Clubes and others, frustrating a wave of American bosses.
The management of Chinese bosses at Milan and Inter has been marked by various complications, although the clubs ended a long drought without a title.
Italy is the favorite to host the 2032 European Championship, which could allow for infrastructure upgrades. In addition, the quality of the game has improved.
Atalanta and Napoli’s aggressive business breaks with Serie A’s reputation for stingy style, which fueled worldwide interest in the league.
France
Paris Saint-Germain has maintained an almost dictatorial dominance in Ligue 1 since Qatar bought the club in 2011, a few months after securing the hosting of the 2022 World Cup.
Lyon and Marseille have not been crowned champions since 2008 and 2010 respectively, and both are now owned by the Americans.
Lyon majority boss John Textor arrived in June, promising to spend the day fighting PSG at home and then moving to Europe.
Marseille has had a turbulent six years under former Los Angeles Doggers boss Frank McCourt but is back in the Champions League.
The foreign-owned model offers some stability after a new TV rights deal collapsed two years ago.
