The Great Britian EPL Melting Pot
by admin on Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 at 07:01am
Solid take from Chuck Culpepper in this morning’s L.A. Times on the globalization of ownership in the EPL. Not a surprise for EPL followers, but with the American/North American ownership group taking over Liverpool, it marks the third such transfer of power for the United States in the past three years.
“Globalization’s ultimate sports league saw its foreign-ownership total hike to seven, or 11 if you count foreign-company ownership, according to the BBC. The Premier League includes owners from Egypt (Mohamed Fayed, owner of Harrods department store), Iceland and two from Russia. Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire, has spent so profusely on player salaries that it’s common parlance to follow “Chelsea” with “They bought their championships.” (Two in a row, for the record.)”
With a recently inked 1.125 billion foreign TV contract, the league is looking to continue their push into the consciousness of millions of households. Culpepper also points out how the ownership is finally reflecting the geographic diversity of its league. Nice read if you have a few minutes.