00:00Well, let's bring in Dave Powell. He's a journalist and lecturer at the University Campus of Football Business.
00:06So, Dave, an awful lot of money coming from the Premier League. Where did it all come from?
00:12The tale of the take with this goes back to 1992 and Sky Television and how the Premier League became
00:21a global entertainment brand probably in the last 10 years, really.
00:24But it's broadcast rights, media revenues which have driven the Premier League to become the financial powerhouse that it is.
00:31And that just hasn't stopped. Broadcast revenues continue to climb globally now.
00:36Domestically, they are starting to plateau a little bit. But internationally, they can still continue to rise.
00:42And that's what allows Premier League teams to spend heavily.
00:45And we've got Ipswich Town. I think they're 12th placed at the moment.
00:48I mean, is it a case that all of these Premier League clubs, they all have this financial power?
00:56They do. And when, you know, when clubs are promoted from the championship to the Premier League, it's the richest
01:01game in European football for a reason.
01:04The clubs, you know, if they get to the Premier League, they need to spend heavily to try and maintain
01:09their Premier League status because there is, you know, that's the holy grail for football clubs.
01:15But for some kind of context, Ipswich spending, if you compare that to La Liga, for instance, or Santander, Malaga,
01:21Deportivo, La Coruña,
01:23they only spent kind of £35 million combined between the three of them.
01:27And Ipswich has spent, you know, considerably more than that, more than £200 million.
01:31So it just shows the financial power and the money that just comes into the pocket to these clubs when
01:36they get promoted.
01:37And why there is this race to the Premier League and anyone who is outside is kind of outside the
01:44tent, really.
01:45The figures that you just gave us are pretty stark, aren't they, actually?
01:49Do you think then the European teams are at a big disadvantage now?
01:54They are. I mean, if you were to look at the recent winners of the Champions League, then that may
01:57tell a different story.
01:58But in reality, it's very, very hard for other European leagues to compete in the same market as the Premier
02:05League now.
02:05So it used to be that Serie A in particular would be a place where top talent would go to.
02:10It just isn't the case now.
02:12Even though there are story clubs there like AC Milan, Juventus, Inter Milan, they just cannot compete financially with the
02:19transfer money.
02:20It's a £100 million entry point now, really, for top, top talent.
02:23And because their broadcast deals won't allow them to go out and spend that money.
02:28And there are stricter financial controls in some other countries as well than we have.
02:32So all these things together, it's kind of almost a free market for the Premier League.
02:37And they have really kind of run with that.
02:39And it made it very, very difficult for the rest of Europe, aside from Real Madrid and Barcelona, to compete.
02:44Well, back to the Premier League.
02:45So five of the big six, as they're known, came in with new management this year.
02:50Did that play a role? Was there sort of a clearing of houses?
02:55Yes, I think so.
02:56I think there is, when a new management team comes in, there is usually a transition period
03:02where all players aren't going to be to the liking of the new management team or the style they want
03:06to play football.
03:08But also players get older, so they reach their natural life in terms of the cycle.
03:11We've just had a World Cup as well.
03:12On the back of a World Cup tends to be a lot of transfer activity because prices rise,
03:18because there's been a global kind of shop window, players have been pressed, etc.
03:22Enzo Fernandes moves on the back of a good World Cup.
03:26And following Balogun should have moved on the back of a good World Cup,
03:29were it not for the fact his deal to have been broke down at the final moments.
03:32But new management means a lot of the time new players and new ideas.
03:36So that kind of lends itself to more transfer business.
03:39But we're just seeing more inter-club business in the Premier League
03:41because they're the only ones who can kind of take part in this particular race.
03:45Dave Powell, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time.
03:48Well, to see the...
