In terms of popularity and exposure in the United States, England’s Barclays Premier League has grown exponentially over the past two years, and for good reason. It’s the most-watched professional sports league in the world, and of all the soccer leagues on Earth, the EPL’s brand of soccer is the most entertaining to watch. MVP Sports Talk’s Edgar Walker reflects on the massive debt crisis crippling many EPL clubs, and brings forward his own proposal to solve the problem.
The FA, England soccer’s governing body, rules over the affairs of the international squads representing the countries, as well as the country’s domestic leagues. Recently, the British government has been putting pressure on The FA to reduce debt levels at some of the major squads in the Premier League. As a result of inflated transfer budgets and player salaries, along with expensive development projects, some of the top English-based clubs are facing massive debt situations, with the worst cases nearing £1 billion.
What many American fans of the EPL don’t realize is that clubs are not guaranteed revenue, as they are in the major leagues in the U.S. Even struggling franchises, namely the Florida Marlins, Jacksonville Jaguars, or Sacramento Kings, still turn profits each season of operation because of shared revenue agreements in the MLB, NFL, and NBA. Because of the promotion/relegation system seen in soccer leagues around the world, revenue sharing is unseen because of the fluid atmosphere of the leagues. Additionally, many of England’s largest cities are home to several different clubs. Because of this, clubs are almost never given any sort of public funding to help build stadiums, develop areas around the stadium, et cetera. On top of all this, consider the over-inflated transfer market, and the fact that each year, more and more money must be spent by clubs who are trying to stay competitive and economically viable in a top-flight league. Eventually (or in some cases, very quickly), the various expenses add up, and put clubs in a financial bind.
My proposal is a simple one; punish clubs on the field for their misbehavior off the field. In the same way that the MLB has a “luxury tax” for those teams that are the most aggressive spenders, the EPL should establish a point deduction system for the biggest spenders in each transfer window. For every £10 million a club spends on transfers, they’d be deducted one point before their season began. The same would go for the January transfer window. There are three reasons why this would be an effective solution for The FA to utilize:
1) Debt would not increase as quickly; clubs such as Manchester City and Chelsea would not spend enormous sums of money on overpriced players in the transfer window.
2) The transfer market would return to a more reasonable state. Clubs without super-rich owners could compete for the same quality players as the cash-laden clubs of the league. In turn, the league would be more competitive; TV ratings would rise, and more fans would be interested in the latter months of the season.
3) Teams would look to reduce spending by turning to their youth academies, and specifically looking to develop cheap, English players. Consequently, the national team would have an influx of talented, well-coached young players coming from academies.
Obviously this solution is one with a few flaws, and it would undoubtedly incite outrage from the rich clubs who are used to spending large sums of money to be competitive. With that said, it’s an idea worth looking into, and at this point, any idea is worth something. The debt problem is widespread in the EPL and across the world, and in a time when the world economy is in worse condition than it’s been for years, it makes little sense for soccer clubs to spend more and more money each year.
Edgar Walker is a young, Baltimore-based sportswriter. Check out his work on Baltimore Sports Report, or follow him on Twitter.
