Richard Masters, the Premier Leagueâ€s chief executive, has denied that the English top flightâ€s transfer spending is damaging European football, arguing instead that it “breathes life†into rival competitions.
Masters made the claim as he took stock of the Premier Leagueâ€s global position and laid out plans for its growth. Noting that Englandâ€s elite clubs had a “bigger share of the worldâ€s best players†from this summerâ€s record-breaking £3bn spending, Masters said: “Seven of our clubs were net recipients in lots of inter-Premier League transfers. But a lot of that money does percolate out of the big European leagues, a substantial portion of that, and breathes life into their own transfer markets. So I donâ€t see how itâ€s suffocating [the European game].
“I think there is a clear juxtaposition between the amounts of money being spent on the Premier League and the other leagues. But I think thatâ€s a good thing. Provided itâ€s within the rules, itâ€s a good thing. It shapes our competition. And itâ€s an indication that our clubs want to drive supporter interest, and itâ€s the interest in the audience which drives our media values.â€
The Premier Leagueâ€s financial dominance has long been underpinned by its media revenues and Masters, who was speaking at The Summit, part of Leaders Week London, said the competition had seen 27% growth in revenues “term on term†in international markets. He defended the longstanding model of selling deals to broadcasters in individual markets but said the Premier League was also “stepping towards†launching its own one-stop digital broadcast service, with a revamped Premier League Productions set to open new studios in the capital.
“Premier League Studios is opening up in Olympia next summer,†Masters confirmed. “So weâ€re putting ourselves in the supply chain, the content supply chain, principally to serve our international broadcast partners and so that we have stronger control over the content.
“But it also gives us the option to go forward, and we have also relaunched our digital platforms this summer with the objective of getting closer to fans. So weâ€re stepping towards that optionality. I donâ€t think there will ever be … a switch-on-switch-off moment for the Premier League.â€
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On the subject of the 3pm blackout, by which UK broadcasters are prevented from showing live games played at the traditional Saturday kick-off time, Masters said the Premier League remained committed to it for “a certain foreseeable futureâ€. But he argued there was no room to further grow broadcast offerings without a shift in the policy. “Our current domestic broadcast arrangements means that we are now essentially licensed to the outer limit,†he said.
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