English Premier League

The English Premier League, or Premier League or EPL is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system.

Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League (EFL). Seasons usually run from August to May, with each team playing 38 matches: two against each other team, one home and one away.[1]

Most games are played on weekend afternoons, with occasional weekday evening fixtures.[2]

The competition was founded as the FA Premier League on 20 February 1992, following the decision of First Division (the top-tier league from 1888 until 1992) clubs to break away from the English Football League.

However, teams may still be relegated to and promoted from the EFL Championship. The Premier League is a corporation managed by a chief executive, with member clubs acting as shareholders.[3

The Premier League takes advantage of a £5 billion television rights deal, with Sky and BT Group securing the domestic rights to broadcast 128 and 32 games, respectively.[4][5] This deal will rise to £6.7 billion for the four seasons from 2025 to 2029.[6]

The league is projected to earn $7.2 billion in overseas TV rights from 2022 to 2025.[7] Clubs were apportioned central payment revenues of £2.4 billion in 2016–17, with a further £343 million in solidarity payments to EFL clubs.[8]

Sky and BT Group

Sky and BT Group are two major companies that have played significant roles in broadcasting the English Premier League (EPL) in the UK. Their involvement has shaped the way fans experience football and has had a major impact on the league’s financial success. Here’s a deeper look at their history with the EPL:

Sky Sports and the Premier League:

Sky Sports is perhaps the most influential broadcaster in the history of the Premier League. Its first partnership with the league dates back to the 1992-93 season, when the Premier League was formed and broke away from the Football League First Division. Sky, under the ownership of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation (later part of 21st Century Fox), secured the exclusive rights to broadcast the new league.

First Deal (1992): In 1992, Sky agreed to a £304 million deal for broadcasting rights, a landmark agreement that began a new era of commercial football broadcasting. This was Sky’s entry into football, and the deal fundamentally changed the way football was consumed in the UK. Sky’s coverage helped establish the EPL as one of the world’s premier football leagues.
Subsequent Deals: Sky continued to secure the majority of the EPL’s broadcasting rights in subsequent years, regularly renewing its deal for substantial sums. As the league grew in stature, Sky’s investment increased. By the late 2000s, the EPL had become a global phenomenon, and Sky played a significant part in that expansion by ensuring its content was accessible to millions of viewers.

BT Group and the Premier League:

BT Group, historically a telecommunications company, entered the football broadcasting scene in 2013 when it acquired a share of the EPL’s broadcasting rights. BT’s involvement marked a shift in the dominance of Sky as the exclusive broadcaster of the league.

First Deal (2013): BT Sport, a subsidiary of BT Group, secured the UK broadcasting rights for 38 live matches per season, starting in the 2013-2014 season. This deal marked the first time BT had entered the football broadcasting market, and it competed directly with Sky. BT’s strategy was to offer competitive pricing and high-quality coverage to challenge Sky’s dominance.
Subsequent Deals: BT Sport later expanded its coverage, and in 2015 it secured the rights to show the Champions League as well. Its relationship with the Premier League grew stronger over the years, with BT continuing to air a selection of live matches, including key fixtures and top-of-the-table clashes.

Impact of Their Partnership and Rivalry:

Competition and Financial Growth: The competition between Sky and BT for the EPL’s broadcasting rights has had a massive impact on the financial growth of the league. The bidding wars between the two broadcasters have pushed the value of broadcasting rights to extraordinary heights, with the most recent deals (2022-2025 cycle) worth £5 billion. This is a major source of income for the league and its clubs.
Coverage and Access: Sky continues to hold the lion’s share of broadcasting rights, with exclusive deals for many of the most-watched games, including the opening matches, Sunday fixtures, and high-profile matches. BT Sport, on the other hand, broadcasts a selection of games, and both companies have contributed to making the EPL more accessible to UK viewers.
Streaming Services: Both companies have invested in streaming technology to expand their reach. Sky introduced Sky Go and NOW TV, while BT launched BT Sport app to provide fans with greater flexibility in how they watch games, especially with the rise of online streaming platforms.
Partnership with International Markets: Both Sky and BT have helped the Premier League become a global product. Sky’s international partnerships, such as with Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland, have enabled the EPL to reach viewers worldwide. BT’s involvement in football broadcasting has also increased its global visibility, despite its smaller share of the overall broadcasting rights.

The Future:

Looking ahead, the competition between Sky and BT, along with the emergence of other streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, will likely continue to shape the future of Premier League broadcasting. The increasing demand for digital streaming platforms, along with the desire for more flexible viewing options, could lead to further changes in the structure of broadcasting deals in the coming years. Sky and BT Group’s relationship with the English Premier League is a key part of the league’s commercial success. Sky’s pioneering partnership in 1992 helped transform football broadcasting, while BT’s entrance in 2013 created a competitive dynamic that continues to benefit fans and generate significant revenue for the league.

Which League is the most-watched sports league in the world?

The Premier League is the most-watched sports league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million homes, with a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people.[9][10] For the 2023–24 season, the average Premier League match attendance was 38,375,[11] second to the German Bundesliga’s 39,512,[12] whilst aggregated attendance across all matches in a 38-game season is the highest of any association football league.[13] Most stadium occupancies are near capacity.[14] As of 2023, the Premier League is ranked first in the UEFA coefficient rankings based on performances in European competitions over the past five seasons, ahead of Spain’s La Liga.[15] The English top-flight has produced the second-highest number of European Cup / UEFA Champions League titles, with a record six English clubs having won fifteen European championships in total.[16]

Fifty-one clubs have competed in the Premier League since its inception in 1992: 49 from England and 2 from Wales. Seven of them have won the title: Manchester United (13), Manchester City (8), Chelsea (5), Arsenal (3), Blackburn Rovers (1), Leicester City (1), and Liverpool (1).[17] Only six clubs have played in every season to date: Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur.[18]

Fifty-one clubs have competed in the Premier League since its inception in 1992

Here is the list of the 51 teams that have played in the English Premier League since its inception in the 1992-1993 season:

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Bournemouth
Brentford
Brighton & Hove Albion
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Leicester City
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Norwich City
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
Watford
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Blackburn Rovers
Bolton Wanderers
Bradford City
Charlton Athletic
Coventry City
Derby County
Ipswich Town
Leicester City
Middlesbrough
Newcastle United
Portsmouth
Sheffield United
Sunderland
Swansea City
Wigan Athletic
Cardiff City
Hull City
Queens Park Rangers
Stoke City
Burnley
West Bromwich Albion
Birmingham City
Reading
Norwich City
Watford
Hull City
Swansea City
Blackpool
Wigan Athletic

These are the 51 clubs that have participated in the Premier League since its inception in 1992. Some clubs, such as Leicester City, Norwich City, and Watford, have been in the league multiple times.

The clubs featuring in the English Premier League (EPL) are of significant importance for several reasons:

Global Visibility: The EPL is one of the most-watched football leagues in the world, attracting millions of viewers across the globe. This exposure boosts the profile of participating clubs, making them internationally recognized brands.
Financial Impact: Participation in the Premier League offers lucrative revenue streams through broadcasting rights, sponsorships, and matchday income. Clubs gain financial stability, enabling them to attract top players and coaches, invest in infrastructure, and foster long-term growth.
Development of Talent: The EPL attracts some of the world’s best footballing talent, both on and off the pitch. This helps elevate the standard of football and provides a platform for emerging stars to showcase their skills on a global stage.
Cultural Influence: EPL clubs often represent the local identity and pride of their communities, helping to build strong fan bases. These clubs contribute to the social fabric of their cities and are key parts of local economies and culture.
Competitiveness and Entertainment: The high level of competition in the Premier League ensures that the games are thrilling, and the unpredictability makes it one of the most exciting football leagues. The involvement of clubs across the spectrum, from historic giants to newcomers, creates diverse and engaging storylines.

These 51 clubs that have participated in the English Premier League are vital not just for their immediate sporting impact, but for their broader economic, cultural, and global significance. Manchester United (13), Manchester City (8), Chelsea (5), Arsenal (3), Blackburn Rovers (1), Leicester City (1), and Liverpool (1) that have won the titles are even more gainers of the English Premier League magic. Their fans are global and their funding also global. While 51 clubs have played in the EPL, only six clubs have played in every season to date: Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur. We consider these clubs as the finest there is in English Premier League.

History

Origins

Despite significant European success in the 1970s and early 1980s, the late 1980s marked a low point for English football. Stadiums were deteriorating, supporters endured poor facilities, hooliganism was rife, and English clubs had been banned from European competition for five years following the Heysel Stadium disaster between the fans of Liverpool Football Club and the fans of Juventus in 1985.[19] The Football League First Division, the top level of English football since 1888, was behind leagues such as Italy’s Serie A and Spain’s La Liga in attendance and revenues, and several top English players had moved abroad.[20]

By the turn of the 1990s, the downward trend was starting to reverse. At the 1990 FIFA World Cup, England reached the semi-finals; UEFA, European football’s governing body, lifted the five-year ban on English clubs playing in European competitions in 1990, resulting in Manchester United lifting the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1991. The Taylor Report on stadium safety standards, which proposed expensive upgrades to create all-seater stadiums in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster; between the fans of Liverpool and the fans of Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield, Yorkshire on 15 April 1989, was published in January 1990.[21]

More information on the Hillsborough Disaster occurred on 15 April 1989 during an FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, Yorkshire.

The Hillsborough Disaster occurred on 15 April 1989 during an FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, Yorkshire. The disaster resulted in the tragic deaths of 96 Liverpool fans, who were crushed in overcrowded stands, specifically the Leppings Lane end, which was allocated for Liverpool supporters.

The incident was caused by a combination of poor crowd control, inadequate safety measures, and a failure to manage the influx of fans into the stadium. Police allowed large numbers of fans to enter through narrow gates, leading to overcrowding and a fatal crush in the pens of the terrace. The tragedy remains one of the darkest moments in English football history, with widespread criticism of the authorities’ response and the aftermath, including misleading media coverage that initially blamed the fans for the disaster.

The Hillsborough disaster had a profound impact on football stadium safety, leading to changes in stadium regulations, including the introduction of all-seater stadiums in top-tier football. The victims’ families campaigned for justice for years, and in 2016, a new inquest ruled that the 96 victims were unlawfully killed, and their deaths were a result of gross negligence by the authorities.

During the 1980s, major English clubs began to transform into business ventures, applying commercial principles to club administration to maximise revenue. Martin Edwards of Manchester United, Irving Scholar of Tottenham Hotspur, and David Dein of Arsenal were among the leaders in this transformation.[22] The commercial imperative led to the top clubs seeking to increase their power and revenue: the clubs in Division One threatened to break away from the Football League, and in doing so, they managed to increase their voting power and gain a more favourable financial arrangement, taking a 50% share of all television and sponsorship income in 1986.[22] They demanded that television companies should pay more for their coverage of football matches,[23] and revenue from television grew in importance. The Football League received £6.3 million for a two-year agreement in 1986, but by 1988, in a deal agreed with ITV, the price rose to £44 million over four years, with the leading clubs taking 75% of the cash.[24][25] According to Scholar, who was involved in the negotiations of television deals, each of the First Division clubs received only around £25,000 per year from television rights before 1986, this increased to around £50,000 in the 1986 negotiation, then to £600,000 in 1988.[26] The 1988 negotiations were conducted under the threat of ten clubs leaving to form a “super league”, but they were eventually persuaded to stay, with the top clubs taking the lion’s share of the deal.[24][27][28] The negotiations also convinced the bigger clubs that, in order to receive enough votes, they needed to take the whole of the First Division with them instead of a smaller “super league”.[29] By the beginning of the 1990s, the big clubs again considered breaking away, especially now that they had to fund the cost of stadium upgrades as proposed by the Taylor Report.[30]

In 1990, the managing director of London Weekend Television (LWT), Greg Dyke, met with the representatives of the “big five” football clubs in England (Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, and Arsenal) over a dinner.[31] The meeting was to pave the way for a breakaway from the Football League.[32] Dyke believed that it would be more lucrative for LWT if only the larger clubs in the country were featured on national television and wanted to establish whether the clubs would be interested in a larger share of television rights money.[33] The five clubs agreed with the suggestion and decided to press ahead with it; however, the league would have no credibility without the backing of the Football Association, and so David Dein of Arsenal held talks to see whether the FA were receptive to the idea. The FA did not have an amicable relationship with the Football League at the time and considered it a way to weaken the Football League’s position.[34] The FA released a report in June 1991, Blueprint for the Future of Football, that supported the plan for the Premier League, with the FA as the ultimate authority that would oversee the breakaway league.

List of Premier League seasons

References

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