- In the knockout round of the Champions League, 13 out of 16 teams were amongst the top 20 richest clubs in the world; the exceptions being FC Porto of Portugal, Lille in France and PSV Eindhoven in Holland. In the quarter finals 6 out of the 8 were in top 11 with only PSV and Valencia out of the loop. Of the remaining teams, 3 out of 4 are in the top 5, with only Liverpool being 8th. Of the top 10, only Juventus of Italy has not been involved and that's due to their relegation due to match fixing in last year's Calciopoli scandal.
- With that in mind, is football really a popular sport?
Are you back? Ready for my answer? Ok
Football is not a popular sport.
Clearly the game is popular, the sheer numbers of people and resources that have been mobilized to support a culture that is far bigger than political, social or economic boundaries. It still is a sport watched by practically the entire world, played by all the creeds and colors of Bennetton, but there has been a shift in the paradigm. Soccer is not really popular anymore.
Here's a definition. Sorry, I won't be brief, but I will explain. This is from an online dictionary that I have lost the links to, with again some additions by me: mea (latin not spanish I beg you) culpa.
- Popular: regarded with great favor, approval, or affection especially by the general public. Refers to popular tourist attraction"; or of music that has new and general appeal. "cabbage patch dolls are no longer popular" Soccer is popular because people by the kits, buy the boots, that in turn pays the salaries for the clubs that win matches that increases the net worth of the league or the club. In a sense this is a validation of economic necessity. People buy it because it's popular, or vice versa.
- Popular: Widely used term, literally meaning ‘of the people’. Refers to "the popular vote or a popular representation, institutions of popular government.
- In a sense the distinction that I want to make is that popular is "democratic: representing or appealing to or adapted for the benefit of the people at large, democratic art forms, a democratic or popular movement" Soccer is popular because it is the last truly democratic sport. It's rules, the way it is played, and much of the mythology surrounding it are unchanged from the days when it was codified by the schools in England.
Champions League money: in 2004-2005, television money alone to CL clubs ranged from 3.8 million Euros to 30.6 million Euros and a total of 430 million Euros for all. That does not include gate receipts, hotels, merchandising, etc. The economic impact is enormous above and beyond domestic leagues. Football has never been this popular.
Yet, it has never been less popular. People are voting democratically with their pocketbooks. In Spain, only Real Madrid is at or near capacity, and on the average stadia are averaging 77% capacity. In Italy, the percentage is 30% below Spain. Even in the Premiership, where only Middlesborough, Wigan and Blackburn are under 80% full on the average, only Arsenal, Manchester United and surprisingly Fulham, have shown any consistent growth over the last 5 years. The rest are stagnant or have seen up and down attendance. The northern cities of England have seen the biggest drop off.
- I blame prices: for the price of club ownership, for salaries and agents, for television contracts, for state of the art stadia is driving the common man out of the sport.
- I also blame lack of competition: the rich teams who can afford all of the above are generally going to do well in those competitions that pay more money. The poorer teams will have to do without the star player they nurtured, and yes they get compensated, but the supporter will always recognize that their great players will never play for your team. How many will stick by?
- How popular will it be?
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