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Manchester United's loss to West Bromwich Albion confirmed Manchester City's crowning as champions of England in what has been yet another entertaining English Premier League (EPL) season.
With the winners already decided, the focus would now be on who secures the remaining three Champions League spots and who survives the relegation battle. Despite the rather one-sided nature of this season's title race, the EPL has continued to be the most watched football league in the world.
It is estimated that the top division of English football will have collected over $2.5 billion from television broadcasting revenue by the end of the season.
So why is it that the Premier League is such a massive success? What makes it attract fans from every corner of the globe? Exactly how much of an impact do external forces that influence the beautiful game have in determining a league's popularity? Let's have a look.
#1 Financial strength
10 of the 20 richest clubs in world football are English. Not only does the Premier League make the most amount of television revenue in football, the governing authorities also ensure that the revenue is equitably distributed to all of its participating clubs.
It is anticipated that the top clubs in England would receive around $150 million in total TV income and prize money whereas, the bottom table clubs would receive around $100 million by the end of the 2017/18 season.
Comparatively, in the rival Spanish league, the top clubs are likely to receive around $150 million and the bottom clubs would get somewhere in the range of $60-70 million. This means that Premier League clubs, on the whole, have more purchasing power, which in turn encourages them to bid for the top players and managers in world football.
Some examples of highly sought after players that were acquired by top English clubs in recent times are Paul Pogba, Alexis Sanchez, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alvaro Morata, Benjamin Mendy and Bernardo Silva. However, what's even more interesting is that even the bottom table clubs in England have made impressive signings lately.
Everton signed Davy Klaasen and Wayne Rooney, Stoke City signed Bruno Martins-Indi and Xherdan Shaqiri, and Watford signed Richarlison and Roberto Pereyra.
Additionally, some of the biggest managerial names in football such as Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte have been lured to English shores to flex their tactical muscles. As a result, quite naturally, the attention of the masses gets drawn towards the EPL.
#2 Prime-time TV slots
The EPL has managed to capture the most suitable viewing times in most parts of the world. With the exception of certain countries in the Pacific region, most of the Premier League's kickoff timings around the world could vary from 11 am to 11 pm depending on different time zones.
In 2017, the Daily Mail reported that the Premier League authorities were considering a TV package for the 2019/20 season that would see them move 22 games to late morning kickoffs in order to increase the value of the Asian market.
These timings would be seen as the most convenient for viewers on a weekend as opposed to staying up in the wee hours of the day; especially on Sundays considering that people have to wake up early in the morning for work on Mondays.
Hence, a large chunk of the football fan base ends up watching Premier League games regardless of whether they are fans of English football or not.
#3 The 'Fantasy Premier League'
The Fantasy Premier League (FPL) has become a smash hit among football fans. The online game has a dedicated website where players can create their own squads and leagues and compete with each other, gain scouting reports, get updates on injuries.
The game has helped create a Premier League community and fans feel a sense of belongingness towards it. Because of the FPL, fans don't only follow the big games between the top clubs, but also the ones with bottom table clubs to see if their FPL team players yield them any points.
Quite interestingly, Premier League fans seem to have a lot of information on bottom table clubs in England as opposed to bottom table clubs in other leagues.
This ensures that fans are interested in the overall league as a whole and not just a few star-studded teams. Much of the credit for this can be attributed to the success of the FPL.
#4 The impact of the English language
We live in a world dominated by the English language. As of 2017, over 743 million people across the globe spoke English as a second language and over 378 million people spoke it as a first/native language. All in all, around 1.12 billion people knew how to speak English, and hence, it is the most popular language in the world.
From the two most heavily populated continents on the planet - Asia and Africa, most people would prefer to watch football matches with English commentary and analyses thanks to the extensive history of English colonization.
In addition to that, viewers from native English-speaking countries like Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada would naturally prefer the same as well. Even though there usually is English commentary for other major European leagues, one would argue that the quality of live action English commentary and pre/ post-match analyses of other leagues is inferior in comparison to the Premier League.
This would be the case because the best commentators and pundits end up being booked to cover EPL games. This could further highlight why more people are drawn towards the Premier League as compared to the other major football leagues in the world.
#5 High-quality entertainment
Regardless of which league one prefers to follow, one cannot ignore the sheer entertainment and drama that accompanies the Premier League every season. This can be attributed to a smaller gap in quality between the top table clubs and the bottom table clubs as compared to other European leagues.
This creates the feeling that any team in the league can beat any other team in the league irrespective of their position on the table. For example, at the beginning of 2018, the week after Liverpool beat Manchester City at Anfield, the Reds lost to Swansea.
Similarly, after a memorable comeback win against 1st placed Manchester City, Manchester United lost at home to 20th placed West Bromwich Albion. Hence, results like these further add to the unpredictable and exciting nature of the EPL.
Despite the fact that the Premier League is the most popular league in the world, it may not necessarily mean that it produces the best quality of football. In fact, many would argue that the best technical football is played in La Liga. This claim can further be backed by the recent successes of Spanish teams in European competitions.
Also, following Manchester City's massive 16 point Premier League victory this season coming after Chelsea's 7 point and Leicester's 10 point victories in the previous two seasons, many would wonder if the Premier League has lost its competitiveness as well.
Regardless of those things, English football will continue to keep the world intrigued in a way that no other league can.
