£1.9 billion, that's the record-shattering amount that has brought the biggest names in European football to the world's most watched football league, with many even bidding the UEFA Champions League adieu. Eight of Europe's biggest spenders this year have been English, out of which five haven't even qualified for the chance to play for Europe's most coveted trophy.
Despite this, the English Premier League's twenty participants continue to attract the continent's best talent, topping the list yet again when it comes to summer spends, shelling out more than Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A and the German Bundesliga combined!
Premier League clubs have signed more than 169 players this summer, with more than 14 separate players moving for reported fees in excess of £30 million. This is more than in the 2019 or 2020 summer windows.
In fact, Financial Services firm Delloite found that Premier League clubs were responsible for 49 percent of the total £3.88 billion spent by Europe's Big 5 leagues. This is the highest proportion since the summer of 2008 and nearly thrice that of the second-biggest spenders Serie A.
It's no surprise that the usual suspects have helped propel the top flight of English football to eclipse its spending through the whole of last season, with the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea all dropping big money for big names. However, it's spending sprees from Wolverhampton Wanderers, Newcastle United and the newly promoted Nottingham Forest that have sealed this record breaking amount.
This record-breaking amount isn't an anomaly though, Premier League clubs have been outspending all of Europe's biggest leagues, never spending lower than €1.5 billion in the last seven years. So how can these clubs, many of which aren't in the Champions League, afford the biggest names in an ever inflating market?
Simple. The Premier League is the most watched football league in the world, with a whopping 4.7 billion viewers annually according to research firm SPORT+MARKT. So it's no surprise that the league has had no issues selling broadcasting rights internationally and that has translated to overseas broadcast partnerships being worth more than domestic rights deals for the first time.
In fact, according to Statista, the Premier League earned almost €1 Billion more than the next biggest earner, Spain. The ante is far higher in the upcoming rights cycle from 2022 to 2025 with The Times saying that EPL's international deals will be worth £5.3 billion, up 30 percent, while domestic deals bring in £5.1 billion.
Given that these jaw dropping amounts are split equally among all of the 20 clubs in the league, even teams that finish lower in the league have financial leg room to prepare for the next season. For example, Chelsea earned a little over £100 million for winning the Champions league, while Sheffield United received about £90 million from broadcasting rights despite being relegated. This is a luxury that teams in the lower rungs of other European leagues do not have. The transfer budget for most teams in other leagues is defined by their success in Europe, with only a few able to actually achieve enough to reap moderate financial gain.
The potential of this astronomical broadcasting revenue gives clubs "certainty" for another three years. This means that they can take out big loans which are mortgaged against future TV and ticket sales with virtual impunity. Almost every club in the Premier League has done that, including Newcastle, whose owners are theoretically the richest in world football. West Ham & Nottingham Forest are stark examples of this as well, with the London club that finished seventh in the league last season spending more than £175 million this summer. Meanwhile, the newly promoted Nottingham Forest spent £150 million on 21 players shattering the record for most number of signings in a single window.
These seemingly bottomless pockets of England's top 20 clubs have many experts asking if the gap between the Premier League and Europe's top 5 competitions can ever be bridged. For now, the growing popularity of the league in North America and increased viewing accessibility in all other continents coupled with unmatched marketing campaigns has cemented the Premier League's dominance over European football.
(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)
First Published: Sept 5, 2022 4:00 PM IST
