Is Premier League the most popular and competitive league in the world?

A certain football argument emerges off the field to decide the greatest football league in the world. This largely depends on how the teams of their respective leagues compete against each other and on European stage.

Is there a difference between how popular or great, a league is? Well it clearly goes hand in hand. The leagues that produce more quality will automatically go on to make a mark, in drawing interest from worldwide football followers. This is where the broadcasting companies cash in, by providing large sums to win the broadcasting rights.

There is no ultimate rule laid down by UEFA in Europe, so each league has a different set of broadcasting rights which is governed by their football associations.

The broadcasting rules are important factors on how a clubs financial status stands. Football leagues have grown in stature and into profit making business worldwide. Such an effort requires global marketing strategies rather than just home based earnings. The Premier League is the forerunner of football in Europe and the world in terms of viewership and popularity. Huge investments on acquiring the services of high quality players along with drafting as many talented youth products of other nations combined with consistent success in European football have turned the world on their heels.

Fair broadcasting ratio in Barclays Premier League

Broadcasting ratios between the winner of the Premier League and the bottom ranked team is about 1.54:1. The closest to BPL is the German Bundesliga, where the ratio between the top and the bottom placed team is roughly 2:1.

Serie A and La Liga accounts for 10:1 and 12.5:1 of the broadcasting rights, which is a dominant figure if a team is able to maintain their brand value.

Broadcasting ratio of the earnings of teams at the top and bottom in major European Leagues [Image courtesy:The Guardian]

Manchester City earned £60.6m in 2011-12 from broadcasting rights while Wolves, the bottom placed team went on to fetch £39.1m. City were the winners then and the difference in their earnings does reflect one thing, i.e, the English F.A wants no monopoly when it comes to a team running away with all the cash. The F.A in England passes on a clear message, that even if a club is struggling with form, they receive good amount of money from the broadcasting right to stabilise and restructure the system of the club.

The smaller ranked teams, need such an effort from their football association, where they at least have the backing of money generated through broadcasting rights. This advocate, the top placed teams do not gain an extra edge in terms of making huge profits over their weaker compatriots.

Barclays Premier League TV money distribution 2011/12 in million Pounds

The scenario for the teams in Bundesliga

Having a closer broadcasting ratio in Germany, one can all ways ask why they fall behind to England in terms of popularity.

Bundesliga TV money distribution 2012/13 in million Euros[Image courtesy: Fernsehgelder.de]

The German TV rights before had a form of draw allocation as to which channel gets to show the game. Due to the new CL TV deal, the matches that were shown for free are now being charged and only shown on ZDF, that too only a few games. If Bayern v City home game was shown on air, that meant neither Leverkusen nor Dortmund had their matches broadcast.

Cheap ticket fares in comparison to England, combined with a colossal average attendance of 42,000 people watching the match from stadiums tells us, why these broadcasting companies don’t want to invest huge amount of wealth in the Bundesliga.

The new deal governing the Bundesliga distribution of TV rights has moved a brick forward ensuring more revenue to even lower ranked teams. For the years 2013-2016, the domestic TV-money rose from a € 385 M a season to € 628 M a season, a 63% increase. Overseas broadcasting also increased from € 28 M to just over € 70 M.

All numbers in € M, per year. The new Bundesliga TV deal, compared with others in Europe [Image courtesy : Bundesliga Fanatic]

Madrid and Barca : The sole winners

Rules in Spain are completely biased and in favour of Barcelona and Real Madrid. The history of these clubs ensures, they get their own TV deals leaving the rest of La Liga to feed on oddments. As there is no mutual or common distribution of TV money in Spain, we see a staggering difference of about 12 to 1 between Barcelona, Madrid and the bottom placed teams.

La liga TV money distribution 2012/13 in million £

[Image courtesy: worldsoccertalk.com]

Real Madrid and Barcelona ranked one and two in Europe in terms of total revenue earned clearly takes away all the applauds and viewer-ship from other good football playing teams in Spain. This means, even if the inform Atletico Madrid goes on to win the 2013/14 La Liga, they will be miles away from the monetary income that is earned by the BIG 2 of Spain through broadcast deals.

An unfair measure that not only keeps the lower ranked teams at bay but also creates a void and less popular fan base across the globe.

Comparison of Revenue % in million Euros among the top teams in Europe[Image courtesy : Deloitte Analysis]

Italy: Moving towards a centralised distribution

The Italian league have quickly shifted from a 10:1 to 4.4:1 difference of broadcasting revenue between the winners of the Serie A and the lower ranked teams. There is a definite break in monopoly, but a difference that high is a hindrance when you want to see the development and fan following of the weaker teams.

The Italian football administration is slowly moving towards a centralised broadcast policy so that the small-medium aren’t completely torn apart. The top teams still attain the privileged status and their earning suggest they are more than happy.

Serie A TV money distribution 2012/13 in million Euros[Image courtesy: tifosobilanciato.it]

Is Barclays Premier League fair in terms of TV rights and hence popular?

The broadcast policies in England do play a massive role, giving every team equal shares. But there are several reasons as to why the English FA back their teams lower in ranking charts.

Competitiveness in the league:

After 28 games in 2013/14 season of BPL, we find that the race for the podium finish is wide open, with 4 teams in contention. West Ham in the early half of the season, were lurking down at the bottom, but a good run of form puts them right at the 10^th position. The battle for the top 4 finish is again expected to go down the wire, resulting in a crucial Champions League spot. This year the teams in the relegation window have increased as compared to last year. As many as 9 teams look to survive, making the world go wild, in watching the drama unfold.

Atletico Madrid has raised their bar in La liga this season, making it a three way race. This is a very rare situation in Spain which the people have to cope up with. If the derby rivals of Real Madrid go on to win the title, it may act as a trigger to the TV rights policy.

In Serie A, it’s Juventus the team to beat. For the last 3 seasons, the Old lady has dominated the Italian football. With AS Roma showing some kind of fight early this season, the recent losses haven’t helped at all, leaving them 11 points behind the leaders.

The German Bundeliga offers no respite to any of the bottom teams as well. Bayern Munich, last season (2012/13) finished with a difference of 70 points over the bottom placed SpVgg Greuther Furth, while they finished 25 points ahead of the second placed Dortmund and thus winning the league comprehensively. The season 2013/14 offers no new situation and Bayern easily running away with the title with a gap of 20 points with just 11 games to go.

Overseas players:

Percentage of foreign players in a league

The continuous shipment of foreign players in England is a worry for the England national team but not for the popularity of its league. Players from different culture, regions and background come to England in the hopes of making their name in those most fierce and competitive league of the world. The quantity of good players in England is low and so they try to import more players. Ashley Young and Santi Cazorla came at similar fees to their respective clubs. Young was sold to United for 18 m euros because he was the best left winger England had while Cazorla who came in for 19 m euros to Arsenal, accrued his actual market price, and was not a bargain. Even if Cazorla is way better than Young, United had to pay extra amount because he was an English player. So the clubs now prefer to sign more talented and skilful players from Europe rather than spending in the English players.

In doing so, these clubs are automatically marketed across the globe, as huge numbers turn up to watch their local heroes perform at the biggest league of Europe.

Head to Head Clash:

Champions League Head to Head, till 05.11.2013 [Stats courtesy: eurocupshistory.com]

Ever since the European championships started, the English clubs have dominated their Italian and German counterparts. The result against the clubs from Spain is a matter of concern for the English teams, but they realise more than 40 % of their defeats have come at the hands of either Real Madrid or Barcelona.

Number of Domestic Champions:

There are 9 different domestic champions in Spain, 16 in Italy, 23 in England and 29 in Germany. Germany leads the way in making more teams as their champions, but England don’t fall far behind. This gives us a clear idea as how the teams in England are more competitive and understandably results in more viewer-ship both in England and the World.

Number of Champions League winners:

Real Madrid and Barcelona have won it from Spain while Juventus, AC Milan and Inter are the Italian teams to have won the Champions League. There are 3 champions from Germany, namely Bayern, Dortmund and Hamburg. England are winners in this list too having 5 teams winning the prestigious Champions League.

UEFA Country coefficients rankings

UEFA country coefficient rankings till January,2014

Consistent performances from the clubs of England have guaranteed them an extra place in the Champions League roster. 3 clubs from the top 3 leagues in Europe qualifies directly. Calculation of the coefficient depends on the results of the previous four season as-well. This makes sure that the teams from the Premier League can handle a blow and be eliminated early in one odd season, as they have the luxury of the coefficient rankings. They are well clear from the fourth position and hence will continue to field more teams in the Champions league, continuing its popularity across the globe.

Conclusion

England may not have the best team in the world, but they don’t lack the ruthlessness in any of the teams. A 20^th placed Fulham is not at all written off , when they face the likes of Chelsea or Arsenal. This is the competition level in the Barclays Premier league. With more diversified culture and tactics, they not only provide good contested games but entertainment at its best.

Premier league is arguably the most competitive league and there is no question now, why it is the most popular too.