August 12, 2022
The brief from today:
Premier League outspends the rest
The summer transfer window still has almost three weeks remaining, but the spending patterns of Europe’s top leagues has been quite imbalanced. The Premier League, by far the richest league in Europe, has flexed its financial muscle yet again in the past two months. So far, transfer spending in England’s top flight has totaled €1.58 billion, which has drastically eclipsed the rest of the continent. By comparison, Italy’s Serie A has so far managed to spend €638.39 million, while the German Bundesliga and Spain’s La Liga have tallied €502.17 million and €436.93 million respectively. The big five leagues in Europe are typically considered to be England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France, but once you factor the the financial strength of each league, the Premier League is increasingly standing alone. Spain, Italy, and Germany’s combined spending is just about equalling what clubs in England have spent on their own, and there are signs that “parity” won’t last much longer. With Chelsea leading the way in England after almost €199 million spent under their new ownership, Premier League sides are far from finished. Clubs across Europe are still finalizing their squads for the upcoming season, but while teams on the continent are typically looking for bargain deals, the financial power of the English sides will likely widen the gap with their “competitors” in the coming weeks.
The Premier League is, and has been, flying the flag as the biggest spenders in the transfer market
Multipurpose stadium issues
With only the second round of matches set to take place in Ligue 1 this weekend, one game has already had to be rescheduled by league officials. The match between Lorient and Lyon has been postponed to a later date because of an issue with the pitch at Lorient’s Moustoir stadium. Following the hosting of the Festive Interceltique, an annual Celtic event, last week at the same venue, the field is now feeling the effects. Multiple inspections have ruled out the possibility of playing the match with the pitch said to be “parched and pitched” making it a dangerous surface. It isn’t just the multipurpose hosting effects that have caused the issue, however, as the heat and dry weather engulfing large areas of Europe has also affected the grounds. It isn’t uncommon for clubs to host various events at their stadiums apart from football matches in an effort to raise revenue, but it all comes with major demands. For larger clubs, like Tottenham, with more discretionary income, they are able to invest in technology that allows their football pitch to retract when hosting NFL games, or concerts. As a result, there is never any wear and tear on the grass meant for Premier League games, while they are still able to bring in revenue from other events. For teams like Lorient, however, the demands are far more arduous. In fact, this isn’t the first postponement of a league match the French club have faced, as the same thing occurred in 2018 also following the hosting of the Festive Interceltique. With the pitch complications affecting Ligue 1, it will be interesting to see if officials start trying to curb what clubs are able to host at their various stadiums in the future.