Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, but what is its most popular competition? While international tournaments like the World Cup, Euro, or Copa America get the crowd emotionally involved, we can’t look at them as the most popular events in the sport due to several reasons. Firstly, these tournaments occur every two or four years and last for no longer than a month. Secondly, the quality of the game at the international level is usually lower than the one in club soccer.
So, what is the most popular soccer competition in the world? It is, by all means, the English Premier League. Stay tuned to learn the main reasons for its massive supremacy both in Europe and worldwide.
1. The Players
Although some of the best players in the world like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar do not actually play in the Premier League, the English top-flight gather the highest number of high-profile internationals overall. BettingTips4you.Com have compared the popularity of the players in the top ten English teams and the top ten clubs in La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, or Ligue 1, and have figure out that the English top tier has the most strength in depth.
2. The Teams
While most other leagues have one, two, or three top-quality sides in their elite divisions, the Premier League has at least six big outfits. Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, and Liverpool are now the traditional top six sides, but we should not forget to mention the likes of Leicester City, West Ham United, or Everton who have all been quite impressive in the last several years. In Spain, you just have Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid, in Germany and France nobody can hurt Bayern Munich and Paris Saint Germain respectively, while in Italy Juventus won the title nine times in a row in the last decade.
3. The results in the top European competitions
We’ve witnessed a huge dominance of English teams in the elite continental competitions over the last few years. In 2019 we’ve thus had the Champions League final between Liverpool and Tottenham and the Europa League final between Arsenal and Chelsea. In 2021 we’ve seen Chelsea beating Manchester City in the Champions League final, while Manchester United were also involved in the Europa League final (they lost on penalties to Villarreal).
4. The Infrastructure
Let’s say that you follow soccer occasionally. If someone asks you to name ten stadiums in the world, what would your answer be? There is a high chance you’ll name at least five (probably even more) English stadiums. In England, you do not need to travel far to run into top-class venues with fabulous seating, viewing, and facilities. You’ll come across the highest standards anywhere you go, from the Old Trafford, the Anfield, and the Stamford Bridge to the Emirates, the Etihad, or the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
5. TV Coverage
Last but not least, we’ve come to the TV coverage. At present times, more than 800 million people in over 200 countries in the world regularly watch the Premier League games. The overseas broadcast rights bring massive income to the league. The league then distributes the money collectively to all 20 clubs. Today it is no longer all about games either. You can watch numerous pre-match/post-match shows featuring popular former players and coaches like Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Thierry Henry, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, etc.
We all have to accept the fact that soccer has become a genuine business. The Premier League have obviously done so just in time to recognize the potential and make the competition more and more popular with each new year.