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Premier League success masks financial, ownership concerns

Martin Odegaard lifted the Premier League trophy as Arsenal became the Premier League champions of the 2025-26 season.

Michael Regan | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images

This report is taken from this week’s CNBC UK Stock Exchange newsletter. As you see? You can subscribe Here.

Transfer

As Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard lifts the Premier League trophy at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park in south London on May 24, you could be forgiven for thinking all was well in English football (or soccer).

Having won the league championship for the first time in 22 years and the 14th championship in the general classification, Arsenal became the third different club to lift this cup in multiple seasons, after Liverpool in 2024-25 and Manchester City in 2023-24.

This underscores a tougher competition than Europe’s. Spain, the second richest league after England, continues a double struggle between Barcelona and Real Madrid, who have been champions in 20 of the last 22 seasons.

In Germany, Bayern Munich has won 13 of the last 14 seasons, while in France, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) has been champion in eight of the last nine seasons.

Among Europe’s top leagues, only Italy’s Serie A is as competitive as the Premier League; Four clubs (Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Napoli) have won this title in the last seven years. English clubs are also successful in international competitions.

PSG’s penalty shoot-out victory over Arsenal in last Saturday’s Champions League final prevented England from making a clean sweep after wins over Aston Villa and Palace in the Europa League and Europa Conference League.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are the current holders of the FIFA Club World Cup. This may reflect the wealth of English clubs.

The Premier League sells TV rights (both domestically and internationally) more than any other football competition. English clubs took half the places In Deloitte’s latest ranking of the world’s 30 richest clubs by revenue, the list includes the relatively unheard of AFC Bournemouth, Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion.

But there is a scratch beneath the surface and all is not as good as it seems for England’s football industry; A growing number of top-flight players, including England captain Harry Kane, are plying their trade abroad. Following the sale of winger Anthony Gordon from Newcastle United to Barcelona last week, six players from England’s upcoming World Cup squad now play for foreign clubs.

risk of falling

As The Times correspondent Martin Samuel, one of the country’s best sports writers, commented: “We thought it was great. We were flattered when Real Madrid or AC Milan came for one of us. But almost a quarter of the group? It’s a waste of talent… It wouldn’t be so troubling if the same level of quality were going in the other direction.”

Meanwhile, although Premier League clubs earn higher revenues than most of their European rivals, only four (Newcastle, Villa, Bournemouth and Liverpool) actually snowy in the last season What figures are available? Outside the top tier, a number of clubs have fallen into administration in recent years, including household names such as Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday.

Many clubs rely on accounting wheezes such as the sale and leaseback of stadiums or training facilities to comply with financial fair play rules aimed at maintaining competition and preventing a handful of wealthy owners, such as sovereign wealth funds, from jacking up player prices and wages while pushing other clubs into financial unsustainability as they struggle to keep up.

However, these owners may decrease even more in the future.

Tottenham Hotspur narrowly avoided relegation after being one of six Premier League clubs to almost join the European Super League in 2021 before fan backlash ended the project. West Ham United, the eighth longest-serving club in the Premier League and 20th in the Deloitte Money League, were defeated.

That could deter some investors, especially American owners whose professional sports leagues are in no danger of relegation.

Noting that Liverpool, Manchester United, Palace, Chelsea and Newcastle were “all for sale in one way or another”, Samuel wrote that potential owners would “watch the fate of West Ham and the near-miss at Tottenham and tremble”.

Senior players in the Premier League are suspected of doing the same.

-Ian King

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