The economic muscle of the Premier League, as emphasised by a new Deloitte football rich list showing five of their clubs in the world top 10 and all of last season’s 20 members in the top 40, can be looked at in a number of ways.
Yes, it is a tribute to the spectacle so skilfully marketed by a League team led by Richard Scudamore but the driving enthusiasm of the crowds who help to make our game so televisual is also a factor. And this is the question that concerns me: if English football is swimming in money, should the people not be given a little back?
The point has been made by the Football Supporters’ Federation, who argue that a tiny droplet of the riches about to be swollen by the television deal under negotiation ought to be used to reduce ticket prices for at least away supporters.
They don’t have to travel, of course. But their presence is part of the show. They buy but they also sell. In Germany, you could argue, the fans constitute an even higher proportion of the entertainment. In Germany, however, it is acknowledged with low prices in all but the prawn-sandwich areas of stadiums. And that’s a key difference.
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As Londoners — or visitors to London — you don’t need to be told that. Arsenal and Chelsea customers hand over a pretty penny. West Ham’s slap down more than Roma’s. And Spurs haven’t crept to within a place on AC Milan at No13 on the Deloitte list by letting their punters in for free.
To be fair, there’s much to admire about how English clubs — Spurs included — do their business. But it tends to be spoiled by what Sir Alan Sugar called “prune-juice economics”, ie money going straight from the pockets of spectators — and televiewers — to increasingly overpaid players. Unless the new deal addresses this, I don’t think we should be hailing the League for it.
