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Premier League Abroad - Not So Fast

By Mark

The English Premier League has proposed playing one match a year outside England in locations to be determined. This proposal was unanimously approved by the EPL owners and was developed following the success that the NFL had with its game in Wembley last fall. The Premier League, quite a few of whom are not British, see an opportunity for substantial profit by taking the wildly popular Premier League on tour, playing to packed houses in enormous stadia around the world.

On the surface, this idea would seem to have merit. However, the proposal is to add one match to the calendar, taking the league to a total of 39 matches and losing the symmetry of each team playing every other team home and away. In short, the Premier League title would then be determined by lottery rather than by the fair play on the field. It would come to resemble most of the major college football conferences who, in the pursuit of the almighty dollar, have sacrificed the symmetry of fair conference schedules.

In addition, while there is no denying the worldwide popularity of the Premiership, there is a real question as to whether anyone will want to come out in the cold of winter (the games are to be played in the January break) to watch a bottom of the table match between say, Derby and Reading. Chelsea and Arsenal will always draw a crowd, but will Wigan and Bolton? It's hard to believe that all of the ground work for this decision has been done and that this decision was fully thought out. I would love to see the projections that showed the crowds for those games in Melbourne and Sydney between Wigan and Bolton, and Sunderland and Birmingham. Greed is a dangerous principle to use as a business decision making guide.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on February 12, 2008 (boomark / email).