Premier League celebrates 30 year rise to global dominance – Sporting Life

Abraham Smith

The Premier League celebrated its 30th anniversary on Monday, celebrating three decades of English club football developing into the world’s leading sports-entertainment product.

In 1992, the top clubs broke with the 104-year tradition by seceding from the Football League and controversially creating a ‘Super League’ which kept its own revenues rather than sharing them with clubs in all four divisions of professional football.

The move only became a reality because it was backed by the governing Football Association – a decision seen as a treason by many smaller teams – and by domestic TV stations, which were viewed with suspicion by skeptical fans.

Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Television then secured the rights and set about heavily promoting the league, which has been fueled by broadcast revenue since its inception.

The American-style approach, evident in the NFL’s emulation of “Monday Night Football,” took the national sport’s popularity to new heights, but at first some balked at the hype.

“I don’t think we all really knew what the Premier League was going to be like 30 years ago,” said Teddy Sheringham, who scored Nottingham Forest’s first televised goal in the league against Liverpool.

“It was a new thing and exciting times. There were girls dancing on a Monday night and it was all fan-dabby-dozy,” he added.

Over time, however, television revenue enabled clubs to attract top players from around the world, which in turn sparked interest abroad.

There were only 13 players from outside the British Isles on the opening weekend of the first Premier League season in 1992, but over the following 30 years players from 120 countries have played in the league, with 63 nationalities represented last season.

Now broadcast to 800 million households in 188 countries with 90 broadcasters and more than 400 channels showing matches, the Premier League and its clubs have almost a billion followers on social media.

This year, for the first time, the league will generate more income from foreign television contracts than the established domestic market.

If all deals are finalised, the league expects sales of overseas rights to bring in £5.3bn over the next three seasons, with £5.1bn being raised by UK broadcasters.

BIG CITY DOMINANCE

While 50 clubs have featured in the league, it is not surprising that given its origins, the league is increasingly dominated by the big city clubs.

There have only been seven clubs to win the league, with only Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City coming from outside the big cities.

The early years were dominated by Manchester United, who won seven of their first nine titles under Alex Ferguson, at a time when there were epic battles with Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal side – winners in 1998, 2002 and 2004.

Another London club, Chelsea, backed by Russian Roman Abramovich, won back-to-back titles under Jose Mourinho in 2005 and 2006 before United regained dominance with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Manchester City have dominated under Pep Guardiola in recent years, winning four of their last five titles, only interrupted by Liverpool in 2020 – their first title since the breakaway.

For all the talk of ‘marketing geniuses’, from Arsenal’s unbeaten ‘Invincibles’ season in 2003-4 to Sergio Aguero’s last-minute goal to win the title for Manchester City eight years later, it was the on-pitch drama that the team has constantly driven growth in popularity.

“The league is full of compelling characters, be it the players or, increasingly, the managers. It consistently produces compelling storylines that capture the imagination of fans around the world,” says sports marketing expert Chris Cook of Fancurve.

Red Also: EPL: Conte and Tuchel charged with misconduct after fiery London derby

“The Premier League created the ‘product’ or at least professionalized it and marketed it properly to a global audience, but the individual teams and players themselves are actually bigger brands than the Premier League as a whole.”

However, will England’s top flight remain the most watched in the world for the next 30 years?

Wenger believes the only threat to Premier League dominance would come from others following the lead of 30 years and breaking away from established structures – like last year’s attempt at a European Super League.

“Where’s the threat? It’s the super league. I was surprised that six (English) teams signed up,” he told Sky Sports.

“Maybe they could move a league to the States. The threat can also come from there. If one day America succeeds in football, that can become a problem for the league.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *