The English Premier League (EPL) is considered the best among the world’s five major football leagues. There is no one to compare with in terms of skills as well as economic and industrial aspects. Even if it expands its scope to all professional sports, it generates high profits next to North American Professional Football (NFL), American Professional Baseball Major League (MLB), and American Professional Basketball (NBA). The stage is confined to England, but the hands that move each club are dominated by enormous foreign capital such as the United States and the Middle East.
England maintains first place in the UEFA Association Club Coefficient Ranking with 103.141 points, beating second place Spain (88.855 points) by 14.286 points. The association club coefficient can be regarded as a kind of professional league ranking because it is set based on the results of the UEFA competitions of the clubs belonging to the association. In the UEFA Club Coefficient Ranking, the EPL placed three clubs in the top five: Manchester City at 1st, Liverpool at 3rd and Chelsea at 4th.
The EPL stands out more from an economic point of view. According to the ‘Deloitte Football Money League 2023’ issued by Deloitte, a global accounting firm, EPL clubs have 3 places in the top 5 and 6 places in the top 10 in the top 10 club rankings. Manchester City tops with 731 million euros (approximately 982.8 billion won), Liverpool third with 711.7 million euros, Manchester United fourth with 688.6 million euros, and Chelsea 8 with 568.3 million euros. Above, Tottenham Hotspur is ninth with 523 million euros, and Arsenal is 10th with 433.5 million euros. 메이저사이트
However, of the 20 clubs that make up the EPL, less than a quarter are operated with British capital. In particular, among the Big 6, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham, only Tottenham has a British owner. Tottenham’s owner is British wealthy Joe Louis, Arsenal is American entrepreneur Stan Kronke, Manchester City is United Arab Emirates (UAE) Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Manchester United is American Glazer family, Chelsea is American entrepreneur Todd Boley, Liverpool is John Henry, an American entrepreneur.
Newcastle United, which threatens the existing Big 6 this season, also backed up foreign capital. In October 2021, Newcastle was sold from Michael Ashley, a British company, to a consortium led by the Saudi Arabian Sovereign Fund (PIF), and subsequently received huge investments to boost its power. Newcastle stayed in the mid-table for many years, including 11th place last season, but registered in 3rd place this season and expects to enter the EPL top 4 after 20 years since the 2002-2003 season (3rd place).
The reason EPL clubs become targets of foreign capital is because they can expect high returns. Manchester United passed to the Glazer family for $1.4 billion in 2006, and the market capitalization of Manchester United, which was listed on the US stock market on the morning of the 26th (Korean time), reaches $3.85 billion. British entrepreneur Ashley bought Newcastle for £135m in 2007 and sold it in 2021 for £305m. The capital gain alone is £170 million. It is also useful for changing the owner’s image as much as its great popularity. This is why it is pointed out that Newcastle is being used for Saudi Arabia’s ‘sports washing’.
Amid ample support from overseas capital, EPL clubs spare no expense. I believe that the more you use it, the better your grades will be. Chelsea, which changed owners this season, spent about 200 million pounds in the January transfer market alone when it was sluggish in 10th place. According to Deloitte, EPL clubs are expected to spend more than 440 million pounds (672.3 billion won) in the transfer market this winter. When the transfer market ends on February 1st, the EPL will once again enter the ‘war of money’.