The Prem de la Prem

As the wheels of top flight English football groan into action again after an arduous fortnight of international bullshit, let’s have a look at what we’ve actually missed. £35+ match prices, hours of advertisements, and the weekends games spread over 20 different streaming services. Us football fans love to mock the NFL for its corporate nature, but soon enough the Barclays™ Premier® League© will be just as bad.

Advertisements and corporations are ruining the sport. Despite the benefits to grassroots football, like the initiatives funded by the sponsors of the FA Cup, the influx of big money in the last two decades has had a drastic impact on the experience of the average football fan. Ticket prices, especially those for certain London clubs, are aimed more towards tourists who can justify the eye-watering cost as a one off. Even the cheapest season tickets work out to £31.50 a match. It’s clear by the influx of families to every cup game that fans are not being prioritised.

The alternative is to watch from home, on the reputable streaming service of your choice. But when league games are split between Sky Sports, BT Sport, and Amazon Prime Video, the price skyrockets once more. When you consider minimum contract lengths, a season of Premier League in your living room can set you back £1500. Can you really claim to be ‘for the fans’ when you allow advertisers and broadcasters to mug them in this manner?

The premier league was created as a result of a desire by top clubs to negotiate a better deal for televised games. Crucially, this included an ‘equal share’ clause, which guarantees every club £79 million regardless of finishing position. Originally, 12 teams span off to create the Prem, which has now grown to 20 teams. This, coupled with the number of countries worldwide that lap up English football, has made the EPL the most profitable league for clubs. Huddersfield Town placed 20th in the 2018/2019 season, and were relegated from the Premier League to the Championship. They still took home £5 million more than La Liga’s 4th place, Sevilla.

It’s a shame that not enough of this money manages to improve the experience of the fans. Granted, many clubs have recently implemented much needed upgrades to their stadiums. Manchester City have famously flirted with financial fairplace due to the filthy oil money that has greased their turnstyles, and Spurs eventually moved into the soon be renamed Tottenham Hotspur stadium. But while many parks are still falling apart, clubs prioritise extortionate wages to ensure that they secure Pogba’s image rights. This also means that young homegrown talent is overlooked for sensationalist continental players that are paid more as clothes models than football players.

This is why, as a Chelsea fan, I’m glad we have a two-window transfer ban. I’m glad we’re forced to play at least a couple of the players that we have in our loan system, the number of which could fill a small European country. The expectation of success that every manager faces in his first season has caused a ridiculous turnover of staff. We have no continuity of direction, with a new system touted every August, only to be denounced by February. Maybe the vast amount of money at stake means that there is no hope for change, but there are better systems out there. At any rate, if the NFL successfully start a franchise in London then maybe there’ll be no football to pay for.