 "US-based Friedkin Group acquired Everton, making them the 10th Premier League side to be acquired by Americans. Reuters")
Everton became the 10th English Premier League team to be owned by an American or a conglomerated based out of the USA after Texas-based Friedkin Group acquired the Merseyside club for reportedly an amount of more than £400m.
The other Premier League clubs to be owned by Americans are— Manchester United (Glazers), Arsenal (Kroenkes), Liverpool (Fenway Sports Group), Crystal Palace (John Textor), Aston Villa (V Sports), Bournemouth (William P Foley), Chelsea (Clearlake and Todd Boehly), Fulham (Shahid Khan), and Ipswich Town (Gamechanger 20 Ltd).
Why are Americans so interested in English Premier League?
One of the reasons why Americans have heavily invested in the Premier League is due to the league’s popularity.
In May, earlier this year, the 38th and final matchday of the 2023-24 Premier League season was the most-watched final day in American history with a “Total Audience Delivery” (TAD) of 2.9 million viewers on the Peacock streaming service and NBCUniversal. According to the official statistics, an average 546,000 viewers tuned in to watch the Premier League per match telecast on TV last season in the USA, which was a four per cent increase from the 2022-23 season.
How much the Premier League is worth
According to Transfermarkt, the Premier League’s overall market value is €11.75 billion, which makes it one of the world’s biggest leagues. Its closest competitor, La Liga’s market value, on the other hand, is estimated to be €4-5 billion, whereas the Bundesliga has a market value of €3-4 billion. Serie A has a market value of €2-3 billion whereas Ligue 1 has the lowest among five top European domestic leagues with a market value of €1.5-2 billion.
In terms of other sporting leagues across the world, the Premier League ranks fourth with an annual reported income of €7 billion. The US-based National Football League (NFL) ranks first €19 billion, the NBA with €12 billion, Major League Baseball with a revenue of €11 billion, and then the Premier League.
Another aspect that makes the Premier League the most lucrative league in the world is the amount of money the big Premier League clubs make, particularly the ‘Big Six’. According to research by Deloitte, there was an 11 per cent increase in the Premier League clubs’ revenue that surged to £6.1 billion in the 2022-23 season. That amount is an all-time high as far as the Premier League is concerned. The report adds that each of the Big Six clubs generated a revenue of more than the average of £303 million, whereas the remaining 14 clubs generated a revenue of less than the average amount of £184 million.
Among the Big Six clubs, Manchester City have the biggest total market value of €1.19 billion, according to Transfermarkt.co.uk. They are followed by Arsenal (€1.15 billion), Chelsea (€1.01 billion), Liverpool (€967 million), Manchester United (€794.65 million) and Tottenham Hotspur (€780.30 million).