The Premier League celebrated its 30th anniversary on Monday, marking three decades in which English club football has evolved into the world’s leading sports entertainment product.
In 1992, the top clubs broke with 104 years of tradition by breaking away from the Football League and creating a controversial “Super League” that would keep its own profits rather than share them with clubs in all four divisions of the professional game.
The move only became a reality because it was backed by the governing Football Association – a decision seen as a betrayal by many of the smaller teams – and the domestic broadcasters, who were viewed with suspicion by skeptical fans.
Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Television then secured the rights and began aggressively promoting the league, which was driven by broadcast revenue from the outset.
The American-style approach evident in the NFL’s imitation of “Monday Night Football” took the national sport to a new level of popularity, but at first some balked at the hype.
“I don’t think we all realized what the Premier League could become 30 years ago,” said Teddy Sheringham, who scored the first televised league goal for Nottingham Forest against Liverpool.
“It was a new thing and exciting times. Monday night there were dancing girls and it was all sleepy,” he added.
Over time, however, television revenue allowed 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 Premier League’s inaugural season in 1992, but over the next 30 years the league featured players from 120 countries with 63 nationalities represented last season.
The Premier League and its clubs are now broadcast to 800 million homes in 188 countries with 90 broadcasters and more than 400 channels showing the games, with almost a billion followers on social media.
This year, for the first time, the league will generate more revenue from foreign television deals than the established domestic market.
When all the deals are done, the league expects the sale of foreign rights to generate 5.3 billion pounds ($6.40 billion) over the next three seasons, with 5.1 billion coming from UK broadcasters.
DOMINATION OF THE BIG CITY
While the league had 50 clubs, unsurprisingly given its origins, the league was increasingly dominated by big city clubs.
There were only seven clubs that won the league and only Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City came from outside the big cities.
The early years were dominated by Manchester United, who won seven of the first nine titles under Alex Ferguson in an era that saw them enjoy epic battles with Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal – 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 returned to dominance with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have dominated in recent years, winning four of their last five titles, only to be interrupted by Liverpool in 2020, their first title since relegation.
For all the talk of “marketing genius”, from Arsenal’s unbeaten Invincibles season in 2003-4 to Sergio Aguero’s last-minute winner for Manchester City eight years later, it was the drama on the pitch that consistently fueled growth. popularity.
“The league is full of compelling characters, be they players or increasingly managers. He constantly creates interesting storylines that capture the imagination of fans around the world,” says sports marketing expert Chris Cook of Fancurve.
“The Premier League has created a ‘product’, or at least professionalised it and marketed it properly to a global audience, but the individual teams and the players themselves are really bigger brands than the Premier League as an organisation.”
However, will England’s top division remain the most popular in the world for the next 30 years?
Wenger believes the only threat to dominance in the Premier League will come from others taking their cue from 30 years on and breaking away from established structures – such as last year’s attempt at the European Super League.
“Where is the threat? This is the Super League. I was surprised that six (England) teams signed up,” he told Sky Sports.
“Maybe they could move the league to the States. This is where the threat can come from. If America succeeds in soccer one day, it could be a problem for the league.”
