A cool 297 days since it began, with a winter World Cup in the middle, the 2022/23 Premier League season is complete.
Manchester City fans are joyous; Everton supporters relieved. Followers of Chelsea may well have already wiped the on-pitch drama from memory.
But let’s focus on the behind the scenes. How does the end of season report read for the Premier League? Who are the star pupils, and how do the end of season financials stack up?
Governance, leadership and inclusion: C+
The run-up to the much-vaunted independent football regulator has been stormy for all in game. The Government seems keen to put this in place before the general election. Debates around what constitutes a “fit and proper” owner in a global League will rage in the meantime. Should Saudi Arabia own a Premier League team? How about Qatar?
Challenges remain in terms of the ethnicity, diversity, and inclusion of football. But efforts to address problems are apparent. The chairs of both the Premier League and the Football Association are women, a positive step, and they have issues aplenty to tackle, not least with racism and hooliganism on the rebound.
League financials: B
The Premier League employs around 200 people. Except for contributions to the grass roots of the game, which many argue should be markedly increased, billions flow through annually and directly to clubs. Last year, £100m in broadcast and commercial payments was paid out to last-placed Norwich.
Sports business adviser Dan Jones said: “The Premier League has built a virtuous circle of the best players and managers which draw fans and investment from around the world. This in turn enables the teams to continue to recruit the best and so the League can reinforce its number one position.”
Broadcast revenues: A
From a finance perspective, it’s all about broadcast revenue. Like the NFL and NBA in the US, the Premier League is growing, well eclipsing other sports such as tennis and rugby.
Figures suggest the Premier League generates more than half of the international revenue of the five top leagues in Europe combined. Word on the street is that domestic rights will increase further in 2024/24.
Club financials: C-
The Premier League might provide healthy revenues to clubs, but they’re not always profitable. Jones added: “For all the revenue growth, the bottom-line profitability hard won in the 2010’s after 20 years of losses has now evaporated. Revenues may be at a record high approaching £6bn but combined pre-tax losses across the 20 clubs were around £600m in their most recent accounts.”
It is easy to lose track of this when the papers are full of some of the biggest teams changing hands for astronomic sums. Yet the bigger the cheques that an investor writes, the larger the sums to be recouped at payback time. Lossmaking clubs will be vulnerable, in particular those also full of debt as interest rates remain high. There’s only so long you can kick the can down the road.
Sponsorship: C+
The Premier League’s portfolio of sponsors continues to be a blue-chip list, but retaining sponsors has proved challenging for some teams. Lower down, curbs on betting sponsors are likely to hit hard – nine out of 20 teams in the top flight were betting companies in 2022. Credit to the clubs for voting through the motion regardless.
Attendances: B
Hot tickets in the UK tend to remain relatively immune to price pressure. Many clubs have been sensible with season ticket price increases into the new season.
While Brentford have frozen prices, Fulham have received vocal criticism for increasing theirs, even if fans appreciate the largesse of the owners. Pricing remains a delicate balance.
Fan interaction: B+
The star performer is undoubtedly the Fantasy Premier League, a free to play, interactive season-long game for fans that saw 11 million entrants this year. Less altruistic are the replica kit prices. Expect significant kick back from fans when the prices of next season’s shirts hit the shelves. No wonder so many are going retro.
As for gaming, next year EA Sports plans to leave the ‘’FIFA’’ label behind and will be flying solo with its market leading franchise. Women’s Super League teams were included in EA’s titles last year, so gamers now have more choice, and might yet have more in the editions to come. We’re focusing on the Premier League here, but a note to say that it is hugely positive to see the women’s game growing.
Summary remarks
The Premier League is one of Britain’s greatest exports - one that millions of people around the world engage with every week. And most weekends up to 70 nationalities are represented on the pitch.
That said, its not easy for the Premier League to balance global expansion with local resonance and relevance. After all, the league only looks great on TV in Melbourne, Mumbai or Miami if the stadia in England are full of engaged fans, willing their team over the line. There might be storm clouds ahead next year, but in the meantime, we wish the players and the league a well-deserved break.
