HOW the Premier League won the money war

No matter what, the football gravy train keeps chugging along. Even as people worry about heating their homes and brace for recession, big money transfers continue to roll in. When the pandemic first broke out, it seemed like that might change, and that there was an opportunity to create a new, more equitable football ecosystem. Instead, the rich just got richer. Here's how the Premier League benefited from a crisis to climb even further ahead of the competition.

Report: Dave Braneck
Camera: Joe Wright
Edit: Vincent Chmiel

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[Thecyborg-]

Im African...if theres a weekend without EPL, the whole continent is bored

[lator]

The match times are also important. PL games start by 12:30 GMT on Saturdays and that's quite a convenient time for anyone around the globe to tune in

[Delboy]

In 1990 before the Premier League was created, England had the poorest league in Western Europe because the TV money was shared evenly between the 92 professional teams in the four divisions. When the Premier League was created it was the first time the top division clubs in England where getting more TV money than the lower divisions. Then Premier League clubs realised due their history they were more popular than other European clubs around the world so started to sign collective TV contracts with different countries from around the world making them richer than the other leagues and more attractive to wealthy owners because they were very profitable. Now the Premier League is the most watched sports league in the world with more global viewers than the Champions League, NBA and NFL and this has led to the Premier League being the most sort after Sports League for TV networks across the globe, it now has the biggest TV contract in football. But there is even more room for growth, because the American media market is the biggest in the world, which is why the NFL has the biggest TV contract in world sport just being popular in the USA. The Premier League is exploding in popularity in the USA with games being shown on free to air TV in the USA every week on one of the main channels and popular Americans shows like Ted Lasso and Welcome to Wrexham promoting English football to American audiences and if a bidding war happens with American networks for the Premier League TV rights they could see the total revenue of Premier League triple just with the American TV money.

[accmpunk]

Aston Villa, Newcastle and Everton can spent more than European Regulars in Germany, Spain, Italy or France

[sentiasatransformasi]

the reason why the epl is so big is bcs they decided to expand to other countries really fast from the get go, especially countries with english speakers. n although mandarin is the most spoken language in the world, after travelling to 30+ of countries already, i found that most of them actually at least understand english, including thailand, the arabs etc. n very very few of them know italian or spanish, expect south america. n most people prefer watching football live w commentators who speak the language that they at least understand i think language plays a very big role in epl's huge success, which is often overlooked

[monkeymoo]

There is so much more competition in PL so the games are always intense and great to watch

[bartallen]

Idk if the PL did it on purpose, but the games which usually start 12:30AM or around that time in India in ~2012-13 now start at 7:30 in the evening to 9:30, 10:30. And that goes without saying these times most definitely favour people to watch it. I mean back then I only used to watch Chelsea games since the timing were harsh, but now, I can watch other games too with ease if Chelsea aren't playing..

[shinasuka]

Epl became famous in Asia because of Man utd Fergie Arsenal Wenger rivalry era

[phoenix]

"You won't own your football team and you'll be happy." - The Great Reset of Football

[mr.guzwee]

I have been waiting for this. The gap between top teams and others is just too wide. It requires an explanation

[ChrisMDi]

You forgot the one point that helped it more in revolving the world
The language english yes i agree that other league is also commented in english but the press conferences and even sometimes pacifies are in spanish france or german or any other language but pl has english which is out spread in almost all the countries so thats an over edge

[zplnsur]

A presentation by the faction trying to start the super to combat the dominance of the EPL read..
"Two of the past four finals have been all-English contests and only Real Madrid prevented a third all-English final in June. Over the past five years, roughly 75 per cent of Champions League semi-finalists were from England, plus the few continental exceptions Paris [Saint-Germain], [Real] Madrid and [Bayern] Munich."
"Newly promoted Nottingham Forest’s net spend of €160m was more than the whole of Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 (a total of 78 clubs) combined. The Premier League affords wage costs almost twice as high as its next continental rival". Take away fanboy comments from PSG, Byern, Barca and Real and the other 99% thinks EPL is by far the best 👌

[marky]

That's why I support the 50+1 rule in Bundesliga.

[Arqunited]

I like how this channel is basically German hipsters are too cool for “modern football” #buzzkill

[Greeny]

The Premier league TV money is distributed evenly between the clubs, so clubs have more spending power than their European counterparts, this makes for a more exciting league as big boys can and do get beaten by the so called smaller clubs. Most other countries distribute most of the money to the top teams so they move further ahead and the leagues become predictable. Most PL stadiums are new or have been rebuilt over the course of the PL era so the live experience is better. Worldwide viewing has also increased with the American Market having showing most of the games live on peacock which is a cheap streaming service. Most PL clubs now have American supporters groups, and commentary in the same language also helps.

[SirKnobofCheese]

The main reason PL is so strong is that the money gets spread more evenly. Where in the other leagues the big teams get the Lions share.

[zilzainol]

The best way to popularize other European leagues is to bring 3-4 famous players from emerging countries in Asia to play in the league. For example, I live in Malaysia, if RC Lens from France brings in a Malaysian player and Marseille brings in an Indonesian player to play in Ligue 1, I'm sure the French league will have 100 million new viewers. Same for Spanish, German & other leagues....

[anotherelvis]

The premier league earns more money because they deliver a better product. They speak english, and they don't have a single team like Bayern Munich that wins every year.

[cjhan]

After 1990 FIFA World Cup, when England advanced up to semifinals for EPL to gain popularity & beyond.

[nadaduo]

The Premier League is gross

Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, City fans telling others the European Super League is bad because it's not fair lol at the irony, these people have no self awareness 😂

#RedBullOut this guy gets it