Premier League blows European leagues out of the water in US

The Premier League is continuing its commanding lead in broadcasting revenue compared to other top European leagues. The English top flight recently agreed to a deal with Sky Sports/TNT for $8.45 billion to broadcast games domestically. However, the league also rakes in nearly $2.3 billion in foreign media rights as well.

A large chunk of this overseas money, $424 million, came from NBC/Peacock’s deal to broadcast Premier League matches in the United States. This is drastically different from current deals in place with LaLiga, Bundesliga, and Serie A. The Financial Times reports that the Premier League generates over $2.5 billion more in broadcasting revenues each season compared to LaLiga. The Spanish top flight is the closest competitor to the Premier League.

Here in the U.S., ESPN previously purchased LaLiga broadcasting rights in 2021 for $175 million annually. CBS Sports currently owns the exclusive rights to the Serie A in a deal worth around $75 million per year. ESPN also pays $30 million per year for exclusive Bundesliga rights, but this fee is set to rise.

Only Barca, Real make as much media money as the worst EPL clubs

To put the Premier League’s media dominance in perspective, a recently relegated English club made more broadcasting funds than champions of other European leagues. Norwich City, a team that finished bottom of the 2021/22 table, raked in more money than Bayern Munich, AC Milan, or Paris Saint-Germain. All three of these latter clubs won their respective titles that specific season. Norwich only managed to win five of their 38 league games on the year.

Looking into the statistics a little closer shows even more eye-opening figures. Out of all the top teams across Europe outside of England, only Barcelona and Real Madrid make more media money than the Premier League’s worst club. Other major clubs from the continent are dwarfed by these low-ranking English sides.

Money from United States, domestic deals benefitting Premier League

Money earned in media rights deals is turned into funds being used in the transfer market. Significant German, Italian, and Spanish clubs previously used their financial power to push around smaller clubs. However, now fans are regularly seeing teams like Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest, and Wolves outspending many foreign clubs.

The Cherries have recorded a net spend of about $231 million since returning to the Premier League in 2022. This includes a plethora of significant signings such as Tyler Adams, Hamed Traorè, Alex Scott, and Illya Zabarnyi.

Forest has spent even more in recent transfer windows. The East Midlands side has a net spend of $268 million during the same time frame. The club famously brought in 30 new players once earning promotion along with Bournemouth. 18 of these incoming players had transfer fees.

Wolves have also recently spent a lot of money on new transfers. The team racked up about $240 in net spend during four years between 2019 and early 2023. However, Wolves management had to pull back on the spending during the most recent transfer window due to Financial Fair Play concerns. The club generated around $82 million during the summer.

These English clubs that regularly attempt to avoid relegation are spending more than other more established European sides. For instance, the aforementioned trio have all spent significantly more in recent transfer windows than Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Roma, Fiorentina, Sevilla, and Valencia.

PHOTOS: IMAGO.