Why Do Americans Keep Buying English Football Clubs?

Half of all Premier League teams are owned by Americans, along with a third of Championship, League One, and League Two teams, and increasingly even some National League and other non-league teams.
That includes four of the Premier League's big six; Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United, plus 18% of Manchester City, and it is a trend which is only accelerating, particularly since the arrival of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny at Wrexham.
In this video, HITC Sevens takes a look at the influx of Americans into the English game, why the USA's super rich have become obsessed with English football at all levels, and what it might mean for the future of the EFL, which is the oldest football league system in the world.
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[@ninjabiscuit1095]

American sports franchises (because they're not teams in the traditional sense) are highly valued because of the lack of promotion/relegation, meaning they're far more stable in their revenue than a team that could lose almost all of its broadcast payments in the space of a year or two for example, so it's not really a surprise that the values don't match up

[@harryhill-es5jk]

Exactly

[@jayh3283]

Actually, American sports franchises are worth more because of no promotion and relegation, they are worth more because of single entity. Meaning, revenue is split amongst the members. With the addition of SUM, for MLS, that is another revenue that is split amongst the board members of MLS. The only revenue that is not split are things like ticket sales.

[@harryhill-es5jk]

@@jayh3283 we know

[@NR-fd9wv]

the value of a team depends on how much investors is willing to pay. and how much an investor is willing to pay depends on his expected profit. the us sports system is designed to maximize profits. no relegation significantly reduces risks. even if you fail to run a club profitable, you can still sell it for a high price, because it is (i most leagues) the only way to access it. shared profits guarantee revenue and salary caps serve to keep expenses as low as it gets. team locations are chosen because of their markets. the leagues are basically business cartels that collude to maximize profits. and sports were seen as an entertainment business from the start. european leagues and clubs were never designed like that, they were meant as means to hold sports competitions. soccer was an amateur sport for a long time in most european countries and still is at lower levels, the leaue systems were designed to give everybody a chance to compete at any level if good enough. many teams were founded by its players to have an opportunity to compete against others. because of that, the idea of having fair competitions and somewhat equal opportunities is still an important part of european soccer culture. of course the professionalization makes that impossible, but it is still seen as the ideal (at least among fans and the general public).

[@Remianen]

Promotion and relegation is a European concept. It doesn't resonate with the American audience. Just like salary caps are an American concept that doesn't resonate with European audiences. Also, even with promotion and relegation, New York and Los Angeles will still outearn Kansas City and Green Bay/Milwaukee, due to simple demographics.

[@Macho_Fantastico]

It is crazy that a lower placed MLS team is worth more than the likes of Newcastle. You can see why Americans see English clubs with such financial potential. 😮

[@stackhat8624]

Its obvious. Promotion/relegation is the dumbest idea in the history of the universe. $300 million for a team that has been relegated how many times is a lot.

[@NathansWargames]

@@stackhat8624you obviously don't understand Football if you think relegation and promotion is a dumb idea.... it's literally part of the sports history.

[@Bobbiez_editz]

​@@stackhat8624 Go nd watch golf u kid

[@Bobbiez_editz]

​@@NathansWargamesexactly

[@adambrock284]

​@stackhat8624 it literally gives clubs reason to be competitive

[@hlerner]

I think another factor is the purchasability of English teams. In the US, teams in the big 4 leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL) are almost impossible to buy, regardless of wealth. Each league has ~30 teams, and they are almost never available for sale.

[@whosaidthat84]

Even when they are up for sale, they need to be approved by the other owners and it's usually a close buddy of theirs.

[@onlydbrasko]

@@whosaidthat84 Not true. The American leagues learned their lesson from in the 90s when the Japanese mafia-related syndacite owned the NHL's Tampa Bay team for money laundering. The owners are not there to make friends with each other but to ensure those shenanigans don't happen again. The owners don't give a sh*t about other owners as long as the the value of their club continue to rise, which is why they make sure new money invested and the league is run as cleanly as possible

[@whosaidthat84]

@@onlydbrasko of course they're not there to make friends. The Tampa Bay lightning was just unconfirmed rumors. But in the case of the NFL, they only want owners who will play ball with them,not ones who are willing to challenge them. I'm not saying they're noble or anything like that. It's not true.

[@onlydbrasko]

@@whosaidthat84 No shit Sherlock. I would also want all the owners to play ball to ensure the value of MY franchise increase. Look how far the NBA and NFL have come from their dark days on the 70s. Playing ball back then meant turning a blind eye to the drug and alcohol problems in the locker rooms

[@whosaidthat84]

@@onlydbrasko ok. My original point was that these owners are part of an exclusive club. I don't get what the hell you're ranting about

[@ktcalle1740]

I’m Swedish and i am so glad that our clubs have the 51% ownership by members , so it can’t be bought by business men with no passion or intrest for the club. Our leauge may suck, but it is ours.

[@Crapy7]

100%

[@ImperialMJG]

So true. One of the most traditional football teams from Norway, Lyn FK from Oslo which went bankrupt and pushed down to 6th division in 2009 was recently made into a 51% club. And was this year promoted to OBOS Ligaen (2nd tier). And just expanded the stock portfolio, so I bought some. So Iam one of the owners now. Though I own 0,01% of the club it feels pretty cool. And its what have worked to get the team back into the professional leagues. Though there is no regulation on ownership in Norway. I think Lyn is only one of a handful owned like this. And it is absolutely the best way to run a football club.

[@jackjones1629]

As a Swansea fan I wish we had the same. Before the Americans we were owned by a group of businessmen who supported the club and 21% by the members. The Swansea businessman sold their shares to Levine and the other Americans who have got our club relegated not because of asset stripping but stupid avoidable errors like appointing managers who were clearly awful and wasting money on crap players. I’m glad is members still hold a large amount of the club but we have no power over what happens. I fear we’ll be going back Down to where we were 20 years ago in the 4th division a real low point in our history before we return to the prem.

[@Jout8-re1ij]

@@jackjones1629 Why you support club, that has lazy swan in its logo. Maybe it belongs back to the fourth tier of english football then.😂

[@Mynipplesmychoice]

That’s why no one watches your poopy league . Last thing I want is a bunch of dumb whiny fans having any say on how a team is managed

[@ezraezra2928]

"What on Earth is Going On at Birmingham City?" This might be the next big video. The club had just sacked Wayne Rooney after an abysmal run that could relegate them to League One, just only 13 years after a surprise League Cup triumph at Wembley (and the last time they played in Premier League).

[@camspears6921]

They were 5th when they sacked John Eustace and appointed Rooney. They sacked Eustace because he was ‘misaligned’ with the club’s leadership team. It’s more that Wayne Rooney is an awful manager. Birmingham have spent the majority of the premier league years outside of the prem though so it’s not like it’s anything totally abnormal. Just a horrible change in management. There wouldn’t be that much to talk about in that video tbh.

[@stugreenhouse6680]

Would have to be a series starting with the money laundering to win the league Cup.

[@BOABModels]

Portsmouth's purchase by Michael Eisner's Tornate Company was more democratic than most. As we were community owned at the time, the sale was put to a vote which was successful. Their ownership has been mostly popular - they are transparent and speak openly about the club's progress and development. Some fans are unhappy they aren't splashing the cash, but we will see what happens when we go up to the Championship (currently top of League 1 so 🤞)

[@glencurtis6052]

I'm in Ipswich fan and while it's early days, our American owners have been nothing short of miracle workers

[@MrRafting]

​@@glencurtis6052same for us at Wrexham. Not even just on-field results

[@NR-fd9wv]

i'm happy for you guys that it turns out good so far. the problem with that democratic decision however is the same with electing a dictator. once you give away control, you'll not get it back. if the owners decide to change the way they run the club or sell it at some point, there is nothing you can do. you're at their mercy now. democracy is gone.

[@surferpip]

Let's hope they get us pompey back to the old glory days

[@Jout8-re1ij]

Why would they need to splash cash stupidly, like Chelsea does currently? They buy better players, when they move up the order, because in lower leagues they aint making big enough revenue for it being worth to splash cash to buy so many better players, when their still first in the league currently with the players got, so it dosent make sense to splash more cash to just lose more money, when the league dosent give as big revenue. They will propably buy better football players, when they move to Championship, that will again help them get even forward to the Premier League. Its the same strategy Wrexham has, that over time will start buying better football players once they move up the divisions.

[@BeefLettuceAndPotato]

As an American.. I feel bad. I respect and admire sports abroad and wish we'd leave it mostly untouched. Don't get me wrong. I'm a sucker for playoffs and salary caps etc, but that's our thing, we don't need to Americanize soccer anywhere outside of America. For the sake of the footy fan all over, I at least hope you get more Rob and Ryan's and less Glazer/Boehly's. Love from Miami.

[@yoloswaggins7121]

I mostly hate the way American sports are run but salary caps are a great idea that should be implemented in soccer

[@davidsaville5239]

The MLS isn't the only Football (Soccer) League to have play offs!!

[@johnmitchell2269]

We have playoffs as well. Football needed salary caps about 20 years ago. Paying players over half a million a week is unproductive and immoral.

[@spmoq]

You explained this in such a concise way, good stuff man 🙌🏻

[@ryancoackley3660]

Mate its ballenced with what football actulky makes ​@@johnmitchell2269

[@BroadwayJoe99]

It should be pointed out that the Memphis Grizzlies used to be the Vancouver (CA) Grizzlies, so named because grizzly bears (ursus arctos horribilis) are indigenous to British Columbia. Teams with nicknames that only make sense because of where they'd been previously located are nothing new to the NBA, with the New Orleans Jazz moving to Salt Lake City in 1979, and the Minneapolis Lakers moving to Los Angeles in in 1960.

[@churn_diesel]

Salt Lake City is a hot bed for jazz music and culture.

[@KanyeTheGayFish69]

@@churn_diesellol

[@TheOscarhernandez264]

@@churn_diesel I guess you’re not familiar with the New Orleans Jazz,

[@whosaidthat84]

Yeah I was wondering why he had to take a moment for the Memphis Grizzlies. I guess it just sounds funny to him?

[@kiroolioneaver8532]

The crazy thing as well is that Toronto FC's owners (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, MLSE, the owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Raptors) bought TFC back in 2006 for only $10 million (when the MLS was only a ten team league lol)

[@camspears6921]

Crazy to think that it only took $10M to get them in the league. Unthinkable nowadays.

[@JH_O4]

Didn’t think I’d see a TFC reference in here lol. Also I think MLSE back in the day were thinking about buying Southampton, Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday and Reading as well

[@gcgcgcg]

MLS had 12 teams in 2006, TFC made it 13 in 2007 but yeah $10 million is crazy. It's now worth $690 million, 6th most valuable club in the league

[@TOTN17]

@@JH_O4 They also looked at Chelsea Recently when it was for sale but they were not contenders.

[@miguelcrespo5545]

I love how you never shy away from being political and anticapitalist. You are by far my favorite football channel

[@chicknbangr]

🤡 🤡 🤡

[@HungNguyen-qr7bt]

U dont shy away from things u advocate, bud.

[@DB-uf6md]

Its his second love from the amount of detours he takes every 2nd video

[@lemigod4475]

I love his takedown of Amerikkka's imperialism and how they push their influence around the world through music,sports ,entertainment and military.Its appalling how they treat the global south as source of plunder.

[@damstardunc7060]

The guy only touches the surface so I’d heavily disagree. Now, he’s clearly a smart chap, so I’m assuming he doesn’t go full bore due to videos being pulled down/demonetised etc

[@Seba-bp9rd]

The reason why American clubs are evaluated much higher is that there is no relegation in those leagues. They're franchises. So the income flow is stable and will rise with every better deal. Also a salary cap keeps expenditures at a certain level. So buying a club in the MLS basically carries no risk. Hence the higher price. Edit: after continuing watching tge video you mentioned that

[@cryptocris9598]

i think that an investor in MLS is just a bet on the positive growth of soccer in the america. Less about the format,mostly about the potential of money to be made if mls ever get to replace one of the major sports

[@williamcross210]

American sports teams are not all franchises in the American sense of the word, which has more to do with licensing the name and providing equivalent product than anything to do with relegation/promotion. McDonalds is a franchise, probably most MLB clubs are franchises, NFL, NBA and MLS are not really franchises

[@KanyeTheGayFish69]

@@cryptocris9598that’s not why

[@HarryWessex]

Pretty much anything American is drastically over valued.

[@Stand663]

I watched an NFL game the other day and it was 70% adverts Omg.

[@austa1999]

Michigander who grew up in the UK. I fell in love with football (soccer) there and have been a die hard Mackem (Sunderland fan) since I was 8 and going to the Stadium of Light during the Short days. I feel terrible whenever I see a Birmingham or someone else being taken over. Naturally, he brings up Birmingham who fell off a cliff once they changed manager and now fired Rooney this morning. The focus on marketability can be good a la Wrexham, but can turn on a dime and burn the good work of others like Eustace by turning to inept but big name leaders.

[@BlackThoughtTheOverLord]

I'm sure someone has already pointed this, but the thumbnail to this has a picture of Ryan Reynolds, who is Canadian. Now if it had Rob McElhenny(totally mispelled surname) then that makes sense.

[@BOABModels]

Whilst Ryan Reynolds was born Canadian, he does now hold dual citizenship with the USA. Also, Canada is North America. You're right though that too many people just assume Canadians are from United Statesians.

[@williamcross210]

You do know that Alfie covered this in the video

[@craydussy]

​@BOABModels It's understandable, the two countries cultures are nearly identical

[@tatata1543]

@@craydussyNo they are not.

[@nickbolton1133]

As an Plymouth Argyle fan - I'd like to point out that our owner - Simon Hallet - is English and was born and raised in Plymouth. He lives and works in the US - but (according to my understanding) has retained his UK citizenship

[@HarryWessex]

Surprised Chris Dawson hasn't put in some interest.

[@mahbodeslami8789]

Hey alfie can you explore why certain big and historically significant clubs like Roma dont have any money to spend? It was recently published that uefa have imposed a ban on the club that they will only be allowed to spend €1.5m To me its very strange that a club that historically has had good pull in terms of recruitment, employed top managers, is located in one of europe's most important cities and has reached the europa league final whilst also winning the conference league, is practically broke and consistently been restricted by uefa ffp regulations all the while certain bottom level clubs from other leagues (namely premier league) can spend a fortune while not even coming close to the shear size and popularity of roma

[@munaali840]

premier league has a lot of money and is viewed internationally. the italian league is not watched that much out of Italy. La Liga teams other than real madrid and barca have the same problem as the leagues money is predominantly given to real and barca as they claim the rest of the world is watching for them. The premier league is different as the prize money is split depending where you finish in the table so if a team does well like Aston Villa finishing 7th, they get a lot of money and can then buy the top goal scorer from Leverkusen

[@pjkerrigan20]

This video has me thinking, I’d love to see one on MLS’s continued attempt to quash the USL and all other potential for pro soccer in the US. With the recent US Open Cup bullshit they tried to pull, now seems as good a time as ever to see Alfie do one of his classic takedowns against Don Garber. The people in power in our nation’s top league are greedy monopolists who care very little for the sport, its history in this country, and its culture. The USL’s culture is better than MLS and the 3-tiered league is spreading rapidly to cities all over the country, building actual grassroots support and local connections. Would love a video on the topic at some point!

[@txbill2512]

It's still amazing to me that MLS is single entity. Actually, it isn't as it allows the league to place players in top destinations and make the league "more attractive" to the casual fan. Garber has outlived his welcome in that respect and MLS needs new leadership, and new rules regarding single entity.

[@jayh3283]

There seem to be a misunderstanding of the United States franchise sports business structure versus the merit based soccer division system. MLS franchises are not worth more than some European teams because they don’t have promotion and relegation. Truth is, MLS clubs on their own is actually worth less than most 3rd division European teams. What you are seeing is actually an inflated amount that’s coming from Soccer United Marketing (SUM) and revenue sharing (meaning, they all benefits from each other’s revenue). All the clubs in non-single entity leagues are independent of one another, thus generate less revenue depending on the individual club. The clubs that makes the most money get to keep it to themselves while the ones that make less just have to deal with it. At the same time the comments are right because the money that would usually do to the other divisions are just going to MLS thanks to the closed system and USSF favoring only MLS’s growth. So there is that. Just going to put it out there that even though MLS teams are worth a lot does not mean anyone would want to buy MLS clubs over the European clubs that’s worth less. In the end of the day, European fans care more about the sport where those clubs have a higher value in respect worldwide while nobody would consider owning an MLS club lack the prestige and respect in comparison. I hate seeing the increase of United States businessmen owning European clubs because they don’t topically respect the fans that love the franchises in the USA. While American fans are known to be thin skinned and easy to walk over, foreign soccer fans take it very personally if you dare disrespect their soccer culture, their club, and fellow fans of that club.

[@LucasOliveira-tt2ll]

The willingness of americans to push measures "for the show" can also be seen in F1. Since Liberty acquired the commercial rights we're seeing a even bigger push of races being held in the US and other places who are willing to pay big money for it while team staff are burning out having to stay more than half of a year traveling while with no more career prospects because of budget caps. Meanwhile they increase races and forbids new entrants to the championship "to preserve the revenue of existing teams". Weird enough that the most keen new entrant is an american with a large experience in the sport and backing from GM

[@atalayaltin1614]

Nice insight in the valuations of football teams. Fenerbahce video would be cool to see.

[@Mr78monkey]

Quite the eye opener mate. Happy new year

[@PLC11]

Before watching: 1) great investment into a global sport 2) becoming more popular in the US 3) WAY cheaper then buying an American sports team

[@waffle.supply]

Day 2: Hi Alfie, i'd love it if you can do best XI of players who are/were bald by choice please? I know Victor Valdes, Skrtl, Scott Brown, Konchesky already

[@bijikedelai]

Lol that would be fun list 😅

[@a.e.a.]

Pepe has got to be included im that list. He looks younger at age 40 in Porto than during his Madrid days

[@waffle.supply]

Yeah good shout, 100%@@a.e.a.

[@FozzQuaker]

Class... Barthez in goal and... Temuri Ketsbaia up front destroying sponsor boards

[@kevaughnhunter9054]

Please make a part 2 on this. Brilliant video

[@safespacebear]

Rob and Ryan finally showed that some rich North Americans actually get it and understand. If not redemption it at least shows that some of Britian's yankee cousins have respect for the game.

[@ViceroyIcarus]

Quality video again Alfie. Another banger

[@mrannonymous4822]

Being a Pompey fan I'm happy our owners aren't going out of their depth by taking the Hollywood approach. Sure the progress on the pitch has been slower than expected but the infrastructure off it is now upto speed so when we do make that step up we are ready.

[@johnw29]

There has been talk of a documentary featuring our Women's team. Amazed the ex Disney CEO hadn't already considered doing it.

[@johnw29]

The Eisners/Tornante didn't get more than a photo but they've been quietly "brick by brick" building the value of Pompey since getting an absolute bargain deal. The rules around our supporter ownership meant the club sold for the amount we paid £5.6m. We got one safety certified stand, no training facilities and just 3 youth players for that money. The Eisners got a ground brought up to a standard to allow full use, a training ground in the city and a team that had just won promotion with some players worth millions. There were millions in the bank for further ground works and money coming in on transfers. A great deal for a club valued at double the purchase price (more now). The crowds have been consistently over the 14k break even point too. They said they wanted to make a profit and they are in the 3rd division. However, my real concern is who they might sell to. They learnt early on that Americanised football wouldn't be accepted after they said they wanted to copyright the word "Pompey"! 🙄 The club seems in good nick with them right now and a promotion challenge looks more genuine than before.

[@raccoon5705]

you should definitely make a whole video on man united right now, there situation seems horrendous in a lot of ways

[@T.E.S.S.]

wow I bet he never thought of that

[@Solarislikestoplay]

There are enough videos on the boring big 6

[@gabsnandes7818]

Honestly, no surprises there, the club has been on a crisis before Fergie left, mainly sir Alex somehow kept a pretty mediocre squad at the top which shows how good he was And the issues are still the same, to the point where both Ronaldo and Ragnick have talked about them at length, while being employed by the club The club also has either terrible scouting, transfer management or the manager has too much power over transfers In my opinion is the combination of the three

[@archstanton6102]

*their situation

[@onlydbrasko]

The Glazer brothers are no different from former Liverpool owner David Moores. Both built nothnig on their own and are too incompetent to compete at the level where their clubs need to be but are surrounded by yes-men leeches. Liverpool's current owners are self-made men who succeeded in moneyball before owning Liverpool so they immediately hired football analytics guru David Comolli from Spurs who brought with him a protege in Michael Edwards(Wynadjum, Mane, Salah, Robertson, Firmino, etc).

[@bhobg]

Thanks for the shout-out on the Philippines. The reality isn't quite as you say but thanks for putting us on the map!

[@kjwilson862]

Always love your stuff. Very informative n intelligent with a bit of dry humour, keep up the good work 💪👏👏👏

[@lookitthis6101]

Ah yes, my favorite American, Ryan Reynolds

[@silviofelix1991]

He is american. American from Canada. Just like an european from Albania for example.

[@lookitthis6101]

@@silviofelix1991 have fun asking a Canadian if they’re American

[@williamcross210]

@@lookitthis6101 Reynolds did take US citizenship, though

[@ToasterPizzaFun]

@lookitthis6101 22:06 is the point in the video where this is addressed, but evidently you didn't watch that or missed it.

[@silviofelix1991]

America isn't just USA. Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, etc are in America continent. So they are all americans. I know I know. We use the American term to the USA citizens but there are other meanings to the same word.

[@EJassassin1530]

The last three minutes is hilarious, YOU GUYS ARE IN LOVE WITH US

[@willflint5014]

Just hearing Alfie say “South Carolina,” which is my home state, made my day. Great video as always! Cheers!

[@temujanradari1105]

Love how it is a Canadian on the thumbnail 😂🇨🇦

[@Mynipplesmychoice]

Canadians don’t matter, calm yourself. It’s only a matter of time before we absorb u into our country

[@Ramandeep247]

Great analysis Alfie 👏

[@brandonwade8094]

Just wanted to explain the MLB system a bit as the Brooklyn Cyclones which you showed at the 20 minute mark are a single A team meaning they would be about the equivalent of league two as Single A is the lowest level and triple A is the highest level before the MLB. Additionally every MLB team has one team in each of these three divisions typically to give playing time to prospects to earn their way up so technically each team has a massive number of players in total.

[@michelle5for]

Alfie mate would love to see a Video on the AFL, Australian Football League.

[@F1Krazy]

5:15 Alfie talking about how Championship clubs haemorrhage cash and get into massive debts while showing a picture of Millwall, who (despite being American-owned) are extremely well-run by Championship standards and not haemorrhaging cash in the slightest

[@matthewcoombs3282]

The Late John Berylson and now his family on this passing are widely seen as being one of the best American owners in the league and are well liked and respected by the Millwall Fan base.

[@GeoffC19]

A lot of revenue that American teams have is the box office - season tickets can run into the hundreds of thousands for the luxury boxes alone. From what I've seen, PL tickets are still very affordable for everyone still (which I love), but does account for the disparity of value of the leagues. Don't even get me started about Super Bowl or playoff tickets - the average fan gets priced out of the experience of their clubs success. Another is transfer fees - free agency is NA is just that - free to sign with any team without paying an fee just to negotiate a contract or being viewed as property. Straight up player swaps are far more common in the Big 4 leagues here, with sign and trades becoming more and more popular. MLS uses the FIFA model because we do more business with Europe than the others, but the thought of paying transfer fees is still anathema to the Big 4

[@arthurdorman9934]

Excellent video !! PS I’d just like to put in another shout for a video on the human interest story of Chapecoense FC.

[@noeldown1952]

As more Americans are buying EPL and EFL clubs, the is going pyramid to suffer. American owners will want the same returns as they're getting from NFL, NBA and MLB. This means - they'll want to retain revenue, and they'll want guaranteed participation in top league football. It's going to end up a disaster for English football.

[@SI-cd7xs]

it already is a disaster, all the top english clubs are poorly run except city, the rest have clueless american owners

[@Mynipplesmychoice]

The sun sets on the American empire!!

[@Moinul987]

They saw how easy it is to do nothing and make millions, like the glazers

[@matthewcoombs3282]

All funded by debt leverage. This is what worries me about the current ownership model of Chelsea. The Media keep calling Boehly the owner, he only owns a minority stake. The largest stake is owned by Clearlake a PE company. PE funds are not sentimental about their investments and look for a high return. Often they leave with a pile of cash, exiting leaving a hollowed out asset.

[@tsybze]

Brilliant video!

[@mateogarcia3866]

Argentina teams now can be bought and the day after they announce this we got like 50 petitions from americans and city group to buy our teams. You have no idea how much potential south american leagues like Argentina and Brazil have but the lack of money never allowed us to have that.

[@Rossoneri2]

It sounds like a dream but it can turn into a nightmare, ask Brazilians how it's going

[@mateogarcia3866]

@@Rossoneri2 On Brazil is weird, some clubs benefited from it others did not.

[@Luonguyen457]

​@@mateogarcia3866 Argentina potential Bigger than LaLiga without Tebas silly salary cap . By the way how many division in Argentina futbol ? And how much Lowest division club cost ? It's very big bussines Build Seller club like Brighton in Argentina .

[@mateogarcia3866]

@@Luonguyen457 Argentina potential it's so big like the only issue will be the ultra fans some are ruthless. There are at least 5 Divisions the biggest are the 1st (Liga profesional) and the (second division primera division). All argentina clubs except the two biggest like Boca and River are really really cheap just look at how our best talent cost 25M and the teams don't have that much money. Chelsea can buy like 10 clubs if they wanted.

[@Luonguyen457]

@@mateogarcia3866 dang , that's would be Big competitor for Spain LaLiga , Italy serie A , French Ligue 1 , & Bundesliga bro . Boca , River plate , Independiente , Velez , & Newell's old boys already has many fans overseas . If Investor & marketing team doing the right thing Argentine league Will compete with Top 6 Europe league Except EPL .

[@asminde]

Isn’t the promotion/relegation the major factor in the prices of football clubs? As much as you can gain by promotion, you will lose a lot more money if your team is relegated especially more than once. You have to invest in the team to stay up which american teams don’t really have to. It doesn’t matter how shit the team is it will be back at it next season. Several years back the Cavaliers were so shit in the NBA that they were pretty much the equivalent of 07/08 Derby County and they were able to rebuild and win the league a few years later. I believe only way to get the club prices to the hight of american sports are to “close the leagues”, which would bring up huge hate from all the football fans as we have seen with the super league

[@franohmsford7548]

Tell that to the New York Jets or the Las Vegas Raiders! The NFL's claims of parity are getting less and less acceptable as the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers are yet again closing in on the Play-Offs and the Kansas City Chiefs have just won the AFC West for the 8th straight year! You want to talk about the Lions finally getting that elusive NFC North title? It's their first in 30 years and there's only four teams in that division! How about the Browns actually being good? Again it took them like 3 decades of consistent failure! Or the Patriots falling apart with Brady gone - They had 20 years of dominating their division and winning 6 Superbowls! It's about time they had an off-season or two!

[@asminde]

@@franohmsford7548 huh?????

[@williamcross210]

That's why sports also need a salary floor that is larger tan the league minimum salary times the number of players.

[@franohmsford7548]

@@williamcross210 Significantly larger in the case of the NFL as there's such a huge discrepancy between the wages of players in different positions and of course back-ups too. The current 240 mil / 53 players on an NFL roster equals an average of only 4.5 mil per player - Some Quarterbacks are getting 10x that!

[@td7221]

​@@franohmsford7548 I'm so confused, parity as compared to what? What is an acceptable level of parity to you? What do you think the NFL does that hurts their goal of parity in the league?

[@jerryrodriguez867]

You do a great job mate

[@Chris-ni4mk]

As a half Yank, this was really really interesting, such an awesome documentary piece like always Alfie, thanks for your work! 🎉

[@sadiqabazz2999]

the last 3 mins really summed it up

[@luqeduqe]

Yet another brilliant oeuvre from the master of soccer subtlety ❤

[@ItsTheGofa]

36:27 Is that Jasper Carrott 2nd from left?? Was always a huge City fan aye...

[@downthebanks]

I believe Ryan Reynolds is Canadian.

[@BALHAM69]

#thepeopleschannel a video on the Bangladesh premier league and the rise of Bashundhara kings would be good A team who went into the top flight after promotion and won the last four league titles now! Are they the next Newcastle? Are they a team to keep a eye on next few years? Thanks Alfie 😊

[@joso7228]

Brilliant idea! - do your own Video

[@BALHAM69]

@@joso7228 thank you Yea a new League for the viewers

[@mycomment293]

Really I think the point that people are really missing is who gives a damn what your club is worth? English football isn’t all about money, the clubs weren’t created to be better money making machines. That’s what American sports team are, they are money first and sport second. English teams are sport first and money second. That’s just how it is, neither is wrong or right, that’s just how they are set up.

[@Intheflesh1]

15:29 this is my favorite moment in the history of your channel

[@hendrikbraem5891]

The Grizzlies used to play in Vancouver, they moved in 2001 to Memphis but kept their name.

[@neilmajor8578]

Happy that Brad Galinson bought the Gills.....saved us from years of Scally mismanagement and the real danger of getting relegated to non league.

[@Not_Sal]

The crazy thing about MLS club valuations is that both the PL and liga MX are both more popular in the US than MLS

[@galloneye64]

Well is the B tier league. Kinda like how Euroleague, Bellator MMA, KHL, TNA or CFL is to the NBA, UFC, NHL, WWE or NFL

[@davetissue]

video idea: 'what if' Philippines 11 for the next installment in the series. there are some quality players like David Alaba and Alphonse Areola

[@crystalneth994]

I feel like the next step RE TV rights is the move over to streaming. Only a matter of time until Netflix or similar get involved and allow people to pay for a subscription for either all of an individual team or the whole league’s games

[@sadiqabazz2999]

well showmax and apple tv are already doing it

[@williamcross210]

MLS games are now only available through AppleTV+

[@MrExplodium]

The US college sports system has been exploring this and it seems like you just can’t get these streaming services to pay as much as traditional media.

[@anguspaterson5713]

It’s been surprising to me to see that since RR McReynolds took over Wrexham, American club takeovers have mostly been in higher divisions (like Brady at Birmingham, Dude Perfect at Burnley etc), even though it’s much cheaper to buy a league two or national league club and the potential upside of getting promoted up the leagues is huge.

[@dcapitan7]

🇺🇸 owners and entities generally *hate* promotion/relegation. They generally ❤ the ideas of protected investments and exclusive clubs and leagues. Give them some time and they will attempt toundermine the promotion-relegation system in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿. ⚽️ fans should rightfully be wary of them.

[@eashansaju8106]

the power Alfie would have if he could post a 2 hour directors cut ver. of his videos on his own channel

[@Revolutionary10]

In the not to distant future, a big 6 club or heavily invested club will face the brink of relegation and next thing relegation and promotion will be “postponed” then it will just be obsolete. This happened in Mexico with Liga MX because that’s how the MLS does it.

[@jontalbot1]

It’s not possible in England. The pyramid is deeply embedded. The attempt to create a super league demonstrated it very clearly. And politicians have noticed.

[@somethinglikethat2176]

Idk. A lot of big European clubs have dropped down in recent memory and nobody was stopping it.

[@ChangingCrisis]

That would just kill the sport people won't wanna watch it

[@joso7228]

Or Brazil going from 20 to 24 teams.

[@donermeat]

Is it too late for an Ipswich Town video?

[@SamButler22]

Not all EPL games have been played in England; Wales has hosted nearly 350 games

[@jameswilkinson9192]

Good stuff

[@stackhat8624]

Well, most teams are a lot cheaper than NBA, NFL, MLB teams. Its either a football team or a minor league team

[@jgreenberg]

As always, love the video. But as a Barbadian I must correct the statement of us being part of North America. In The Caribbean we absolutely do not identify as North American at all and they definitely do not see us that way either.

[@PythonAsAPillow]

In a technical sense, the Caribbean can be seen as a subcontinent, kinda like the Scandinavia, the Balkans, and the Middle East. However, because there are seven recognized continents (North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia, and Antarctica), Barbados is in North America by that metric.

[@jgreenberg]

@PythonAsAPillow agreed but per the tone of the video and wider channel, the social identity matters far more than geographical.

[@aryamanmani4025]

Great timing now that Rooney got sacked lol

[@mcwildo2617]

I didn't realise that the constant advertising in American sports made that much money... MLS teams being worth more than most Premier League teams is a crazy revelation

[@gabsnandes7818]

For me it's surprising, but not that much American businesses do seem to be weirdly overvalued all of the time And MLS games do seem to have decent attendance

[@franohmsford7548]

No it's not! It's not crazy at all when you understand the MLS itself is the Draw not the teams! The way US Sports work is a closed shop with the prestige of owning a team in that closed shop being worth billions by itself! The Washington Commanders nee Redskins are a complete mess who haven't won anything in three decades and have a stadium that is falling apart yet when their owner was forced out for being awful they were sold for just over 6 billion dollars!

[@lilbaz8732]

They actually make a profit. Unlike 90% of premier league clubs.

[@KanyeTheGayFish69]

@@gabsnandes7818yes because the average us consumer is far wealthier than the average uk consumer. Not that surprising when you think about it.

[@TheOscarhernandez264]

I’m an American and I love futbol obviously but you guys do not understand the level of marketing and money there is in sports in America the funny thing about this is he didn’t mention college sports if we could put a price on Alabama they would be worth more than any of the top six teams he barely touched the surface.

[@twit_t9668]

You gotta wonder if American sports teams are a bit of a false economy in valuations, given the lack of prestige and stakes in a closed system. Personally it's a bit of a bubble for the past 20 years, too much money being spent on advertising rights and stadiums despite the insulated market and the eroding purchasing power of their fans within the economy... And they still expect American sports to rise in value. At what point do the fans run out of money? When do advertisers realise their money spent is way over the top of what is necessary?

[@stenic10]

What I really want to know is when will Taylor Swift buy a majority stake in Preston North End?

[@phakamaningcobo8243]

Feel better , waiting for the other time. ❤

[@Inveterate-introvert]

Promotion and relegation really isn't anything like AAA or farm affiliate sports. Firstly most farm teams are owned by their parent club and most of the players are drafted and free agent prospects of the parent club. The franchised and draft system works well in America due to the enormous distances involved and the way sport was set up. I'm a British hockey fan and I like the draft system in the NHL, except for the crap money European teams get for developing talent, but it's not a system that would work in Europe in much the same way as introducing promotion and relegation in North America would be like having Real Madrid B in La Liga.

[@sdeepj]

Most of the European hockey leagues have promotion/relegation and there are many clubs with ties to football clubs, like Sparta Prague and Djurgarden in Sweden

[@Inveterate-introvert]

@@sdeepj Yep, I'm aware of that. That's because European hockey leagues are built on the club format football is based on. However That's not uniformally true. The British Elite League is franchised. The French and German leagues have complicated licensing laws that restrict relegation. The Austrian/Slovenian/Hungarian/Romanian Erste League is confusing... Fun fact, FC Barcelona also have an ice hockey team in the Spanish hockey league under their club umbrella. See, something foreign to English football fans is the club umbrella system you mentioned and many teams in Europe have covering their football, ice hockey, basketball, handball, volleyball departments etc. That wasn't always the case in England. In the early 1900's many English football teams also had baseball teams. Aston Villa and West Ham both had pretty decent baseball teams.

[@thomasrisbjergschrder9341]

Video Idea: The expansion of the World Cup to include 48 teams, and it's impact, for better or worse, on the sport.

[@deejmalik]

Get well soon Alfie

[@nert-13]

As an American, this all makes no sense. There's no way that EPL teams could triple their revenue in the 10 years the owners expect

[@MissSnowFire]

As an American and just re watching the video about how in debt the Champion League is. I think salary caps could help keep the teams from going under. I'm a Vikings and Twins fan being from a smaller market. These teams don't have the ability to have budgets like the teams in New York or LA. Salary caps help keep us competitive. They may also help with all the issues of violating the profit and sustainability rules. How many clubs are in trouble now? Are we ever going to see City punished for breaking over 100 rules? Probably not. I know the world looks down on the MLS, but we haven't had the same Champion of the League for the what decade. It does make it more interesting to watch if it's not a forgone connection who will win before the season starts. It is why i prefer the lower leagues in the English system.

[@MatheusFernandes-xf4zm]

I hope that one day MLS will end the limitation of foreigners in the league, Latin American families need a means for social growth (BR here)😅

[@NegaRenGenX2gay2lift]

Miami is my prediction to win next season. also alot of Miami fans who are just messi fans that had the hubris to think bottom of the east table miami would make it to the playoffs and win the cup. but were humbled because of how even the playing field is in MLS and got knocked out by Cincy fc. glad Colombus won and said fuck you to Don Garber. this season was a real Ohio w. also Texan with Houston getting some silverware

[@SuperFilthiest]

Prem games def gettin played in the us in the future

[@BabsW]

3:04 🤣

[@jakenh8264]

SOMEONE TELL ME THE NAME OF THE BACKGROUND MUSIC PLEASE

[@24burnaa74]

The thing that I like about ryan and Rob is that they could've easily went for a championship club or maybe even a prem club but chose s non league Welch team which I respect.

[@dcwalton90]

Have you ever considered a Spotify channel, uploading these to be listened to like podcasts?

[@shaunnichols1743]

I think MLB lead the way in showing Americans how much money is being made in broadcasting rights and they see that on an even grander scale with football. NBC doled out $2.7bn to show PL games in the early/mid US mornings. One thing that was not mentioned is the impact of stadiums in team valuation. Every NFL team has gotten either a new or heavily renovated stadium in the last 25 years and they all get factored into the team's value. The LA Chargers are absolute garbage on the field with bad management and a miniscule fanbase but they play in a $5bn stadium that makes them far more valuable on paper.

[@Fanaro]

31:30 American football, baseball, and hockey are also extremely expensive sports to practice.

[@rockerjim8045]

and hardly anyone actually plays them

[@dacops2394]

about the disparity of american vs european sport teams valuation makes me think how much of that is based in the existence of relegation and risks associated. Any american team with no relegations are guaranteed to have the same stable return every year; however in any european team if the team ain't going well you can quickly go down and lose a huge chunk of your investment out of nowhere

[@Zentrum234]

It is not rocket science… Step 1: buy as many clubs, preferably big ones, as possible. Step 2: get rid of promotion and relegation to lower financial risk. Step 3: introduce a salary cap to limit spending and increase their return on invest. In short, they want to create an NFL-ish league because the combination of the NFL‘s business model and the global appeal of european football would be a license to print money.

[@abdulahibeats1947]

Happy new year Alfie. From Nairobi. Kenya

[@chrisfrank2664]

The backlasch at idea of an All-Star game in the Premier league Bohely recieved was hilarious. If rotated around different parts of England/Wales, opposed to just at Wembley, really ShowCasing the city for a weekend while giving most players few days off & ones selected to play gaining All-Star on their name are all positive reasons All-Star game was intended for but hard to see now. No need to worry about American Owners until first Club is moved across the country to new City to build new stadium, has larger population, owners are Jackasses, or 1 of 1000 ways Owners show how selfish they truly are!

[@SI-cd7xs]

whats the point? everyone knows who the stars are in the premier league, we dont have a break period either

[@chrisfrank2664]

@@SI-cd7xs The 10 day break could be 2 weeks with All-Star game as game that weekend. Each team has at least 1 player chosen. Game itself hopefully would be fun exhibition, players performing trick shots and fun plays. Rotation to Showcase stadiums in Cities around England (generates revenue - more vital for smaller cities) Average player having that one great season of career is Named an All Star ⭐️ Best players have 3-5-10 time All-Star added to names/legacies. I’m not advocating that it should, or ever will be done, I’m just saying there are positive results, If done in respectful manner, I think fans would enjoy it.

[@SI-cd7xs]

@@chrisfrank2664english football is a product of 150 years of culture, we shouldn't have to americanize everything. we already have pfa player of the year, pfa team of the year, young player of the year etc

[@chrisfrank2664]

​@@SI-cd7xs Relax Man! I said I'm not saying to have one, but only pointing out some positives about an All-Star Game. Rotating around to different cities & Club's stadium is my favorite part. Only Baseball does it well. NBA & NFL are a joke. MLS should play each other, not a PL team on preseason tour, which they started doing again. A club being moved, which is unlikely to occur, though not impossible, due to being ingrained in the city & community. Many American fans have seen their team(or all teams like Oakland ) they love just up and leave. Usually for some tax breaks or state funded new stadiums. I don't know if that would happen in England? What about if a Club moved from England to Wales or vice versa? If anything like that ever happens then there will be ugly scenes.....

[@gregmathurin4670]

Fantastic video, level of research, the satir are Pultizer worthy!

[@ImperialMJG]

As long as they dont change the system of relegation or make them into franchises then they can buy whatever they want. But dont f ing change anything about the game.

[@dohboy88]

Americans buying English teams haven't changed anything about the game. The Glazers are unlikable simply because they're bad owners whose club has been less successful after they took over, not because they tried "Americanizing" anything about the team or the game.

[@joso7228]

Can you tell Swansea's American owners its trendy to sell? plz

[@sethmeadors1274]

As an American, Ello’ Alfie.

[@psmart4948]

Think the logistics company buying Carlisle utd are equally interested in developing the airfield into an airport. Cheap flights to Florida maybe???

[@MatheusFernandes-xf4zm]

9:02 Um minuto de silêncio pelo fã do Maguire

[@wecomingforyou1388]

the war crimes part was hilarious

[@FootballClubGroup]

We're an American cooperative looking to buy a football club, and we are primarily looking into clubs in Europe instead of USA because the promotion and relegation system would allow us to buy a club in the lower divisions and try to rise up through the ranks. The closed American system is preventing true growth to the sport in the USA

[@thomasjohnson2862]

Clearly Alfie didn’t watch the music video of Ryan Reynolds’ song on how to pronounce Rob McElhenney’s name 😂

[@Dkmo94]

Take it from Americans, nothing good can happen when wealthy Americans take interest in something regular people care about

[@KanyeTheGayFish69]

Lol. You think they haven’t always cared about sports?