Eight of the 20 Premier League clubs are now owned by NFL watching Americans, including four of the so-called Big Six (Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea). With a shifting sports and media world, it’s unclear how long the league’s existing foreign owners will do nothing to improve the league’s business model. Because the Premier League’s shareholders are the 20 member clubs, they have the authority to implement dramatic reforms such as salary ceilings, decreasing or eliminating relegation, and adjusting revenue distribution if they so desire.
Historically, teams were funded by individuals or organizations that were not necessarily trying to earn a profit. Many clubs operated at a break-even point, while those that lost money were content because their owners received a return in other ways. However, the current ownership groups of the NFL in the United States do not fit this profile, yet they invested because conditions appeared advantageous.
NFL Like Economic Model In EPL?
The logic was straightforward: owning a Premier League team was very inexpensive, and this provided you with a footing in the world’s most popular league in the world’s most popular sport. Many believed that with some US commercial sports like NFL know-how, they could commercialize the game more efficiently, that the league’s popularity would continue to increase, and that if it ever entered the US market in a big manner, it would be a massive pay day.
However, times have changed, and the league has not made an operational profit for the most of the last ten years. With money not being as cheap as it once was and the economy struggling, these investors may be looking for a return on their investment, which might result in changes to the league’s economic model and make it like NFL.
