Shirley Bassey’s song Big Spender could not come truer for the 20-club English Premiership League. With the new season starting on 11 August 2007, the transfer outlay for the 20 top soccer clubs in England has already exceeded the £300m spent last season – then already setting a dubious expenditure record. In fact, soccer pundits expect their total outlay is to surpass the magical £500m mark by the time the transfer window shuts on 31 August 2007, which is more than enough to feed millions of homeless people around the world. Indeed, the EPL is by far the world’s most successfully and obscenely expensive soccer league.
Get this: with the latest television deal signed and sealed, the worldwide TV rights almost doubled to £625m, including highlights, radio, Internet and mobile-phone contracts, total amount expected to be poured into the game is well over £2.7b for the next three years. As consumers, we are indirectly funding this amount of money by paying more to watch live TV action.
Strange enough, baring an exception 1995 whereby the title was won on the last day by Blackburn Rovers, the crown has been worn by only three clubs, with Manchester United dominating follow by Arsenal and Chelsea. We find it difficult to believe that the title will escape from the clutches of any of these three clubs in the coming new season. But who knows? Perhaps Liverpool, the most successful English club in history with their massive outlay this season, will win their first ever EPL title.
In the latest transfer market, Manchester United has fired the first salvo by spending over £50m to procure new players so far. Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspurs are playing catch-up after spending over £30m each, with surprising Portsmouth, West Ham and Fulham over £20m each, and Arsenal, Sunderland, Birmingham and Chelsea a little over £10m each. With the league being so lucrative, it is easy to understand why even modest clubs are splurging to maximum their chances of staying up for as many seasons as possible. This is evidenced by the transfer dealings of new Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez, who sanctioned more than £20m worth of deals, well surpassing the measly £1m spent four years ago. And this makes Fulham the biggest spender in West London, surpassing the mighty Chelsea.
For people like me without deep pockets, I am contented with spending a few dollars on a wager that Shirley Bassey’s Big Spender will top the bill board charts once again this coming season. Don’t bet against it. Cheers.
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