The European soccer version of parity
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Jan 4, 2016) US Soccer Players – For anybody suffering from MLS withdrawal, you can get your soccer fill each weekend by following some of Europe’s major domestic leagues. While many Americans already do both, the focus on Europe grows more intense when there is no Major League Soccer team to root for either in person or on TV. Those who enjoy both MLS and say the Premiership or Serie A may be asking themselves a question this season. Has MLS parity reached Europe?
Well, not exactly. Europe’s five major leagues – England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France – may be very exciting to watch (millions upon millions around the world take in matches), but there is one key ingredient to all of them. That ingredient is a measure of predictability. Indeed, for all the attention we give the Premiership, Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1, each title race usually features one or two clubs. It’s the usual suspects each season: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Chelsea and PSG.
That’s changing somewhat this season, particularly in England and Italy. England’s Premier League, considered the best in the world, and Italy’s Serie A, once considered the best, have reached some common ground. Both have featured topsy-turvy title races, usual suspects that have struggled and wide-open relegation fights. That has made for great viewing. Predictability has gone totally out the window. And this could become the new norm in some of Europe’s leagues given the recent infusion of TV money that has filled the coffers of top-flight teams.
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000, satellite television contracts revolutionized the game, adding more in the coffers of big clubs like Manchester United and AC Milan. That allowed them to dominate the transfer windows and buy up the best players, turning these two clubs into global brands. That resulted in league titles and Champions League trophies. In other words, the rich got richer. These days, TV rights are worth even more money and leagues are doing their best to spread the wealth. That allows for all clubs to invest in better facilities, academy programs and ultimately first-team players.
England and Italy couldn’t be any different in terms of soccer and the game’s culture. However, one thing occurred to both domestic leagues – an abundance of cash generated by TV contracts that have allowed middle-tier clubs to buy better players. More TV money usually means bigger transfer fees and higher player wages. That has been the biggest threat to the top clubs in both leagues. Also, clubs across the continent are buying up in demand players in competition with the English clubs. Add to that a little arrogance and some luck and what we’ve gotten are league tables that are almost unrecognizable. Even without salary caps, this creates something recognizable as parity among teams as they compete for players, coaches, fans, sponsorships and marketing revenue.
Let’s look at England. TV rights money negotiated last year resulted in Sky and BT Sport paying a record £5.13 billion pounds over three years. The windfall splits equally among all 20 to flight clubs. Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore hailed the deal as unprecedented last year. “You can’t find me another sport that is committed to this level of sharing (among its clubs). You can use other fancy words like redistribution, but this is sharing. It’s sharing in the success of English football,” he boasted to reporters.
Let’s look at the prize money teams earned at the end of the 2014-15 season. Every team got 54.1 million pounds as part of the TV revenue-sharing deal. Chelsea, who finished first, took home a total of £98.99 million if you include the merit scale for finishing first and facility fee, which a club earns each time its games air live domestically. Second-place Manchester City took £98.5 million pounds and Arsenal, who finished third, £96.5 million. Even Leicester City, who came in 14th last season, made £71.6 million, an unprecedented infusion of cash for a club whose main aim is to avoid relegation.
On the field over the past few weeks, teams were busy during Christmastime since the EPL remains the only one of the major domestic contests not to institute a winter break. Chelsea, fresh from firing its coach Jose Mourinho last month, has struggled from the start. The defending champions got off on the wrong foot, failed to recover, and now flirt with the relegation zone. By contrast, it has reached the knockout round of the Champions League. No one really knows which Chelsea team will show up each week or whether it could ultimately win the Champions League while doing so poorly domestically.
Going into this weekend, only four points separated the top four teams. The biggest surprise in that quartet is second-place Leicester City. The club has proven consistent all season. No one would have predicted that Leicester City would be in this position midway through the season. The team hired journeyman manager Claudio Ranieri as its coach, a man who had failed to get Greece to the recent Euros. Instead, he’s taken a club that has spent wisely, and invested in several young players, and built them into title contenders. Ranieri, known as “The Tinkerman” for his constant lineup and tactical changes, has proven his critics wrong five months into the 2015-16 season.
While Leicester is flying high, it could be Arsenal who takes advantage of the situation and wins the title. Arsenal, a team that has a roster virtually unchanged from last season, is now in first place. If anything, the team is worse off than last season. Injuries are the problem, including the loss of strikers Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez. At this time last year, Arsene Wenger’s team had 39 points and was in sixth place. This season, it has 42 points – just three more than last season – and is in 1st-place. That’s another sign that the points are spreading out across more clubs compared to the 2014-15 season.
While Arsenal has been a model of consistency over the past 10 years, regularly finishing third or fourth with regularity, the team has little else to show for it. It last won the Premiership in 2004. But Arsenal is benefiting from a poor Chelsea and Manchester United, two clubs who had been poised to win the title at the start of the season.
Meanwhile in Italy, the league reached an agreement last summer with its 20 clubs with broadcasters Sky Italia and Mediaset to televise games domestically. The deal – worth €943 million euros per season through 2018 – gives title-holders Juventus €123 million euros. In addition, the clubs split 40 percent of the overall amount. Performance bonuses based on the previous five seasons will produce additional revenue.
In Italy, which is in the midst of its annual three-week Christmas break, the top four teams are incredibly separated by a mere three points. Inter Milan is in first place, followed by Fiorentina, Napoli, and Juventus. This last club got off to a really bad start, but was able to amass points later in the fall that helped catapult it to the top half of the able. The surprise teams here are Fiorentina and Napoli, although both clubs have spent a lot of money over the past five years but have not had a title to show for it.
AS Roma and AC Milan, fifth and sixth in the table, respectively, have had poor seasons thus far for their standards. Either one, but especially the American-owned AS Roma, was supposed to contend for the title. In reality, both sides have the money and rosters to compete, but have been unable to, dropping points to mid-table teams and unable to score big wins with those in the top four.
Whether or not an outsider club like Fiorentina or Leicester City can actually win the league title is an open question. In the end, a team like Arsenal or Juventus could walk away with it, returning us to the old normal. In the meantime, enjoy the ride – and the unpredictability – of two domestic leagues that have been very predictable over the past few years. Or maybe, this is the new norm for two leagues that haven’t quite achieved MLS-style parity, but put enough money in the pockets of many to create more than one title contender each season.
Clemente Lisi is a New York-based writer. Contact him at: CAL4477@yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/ClementeLisi.
More from Clemente Lisi:
