Terrence Voon wonders if Spanish is the new language of football.
REAL Madrid's summer of extravagance has resurfaced an age-old question: Has the La Liga wrested the seat of power away from the English Premier League?
At first glance, it sure looks that way.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Xabi Alonso and Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be trading their Italian and English clubs for Spanish ones this season.
And with memories of Barcelona's dismantling of Manchester United in May's Champions League final still fresh in the mind, it is not inconceivable that Spanish may soon be the first language for football fans the world over.
Or so it might seem.
Spain's dominance on the cash and continental front can be attributed to just two clubs - one with a blank chequebook and the other with extraordinary footballing artistry.
In this case, two swallows do not make a Spanish summer.
And the Spaniards still have some way to go, before they can catch up with their English neighbours in the popularity and money stakes.
Thanks to years of full-scale television bombardment, fans in many parts of the world have emotional ties that bind them to teams like Manchester United and Liverpool.
Hurl a stone in any direction at Orchard Road, for instance, and you are likely to hit someone who's a fan of an English club.
I, for one, grew up watching now-defunct TV programmes like Big League Soccer and EPL highlights on World of Sport. For the life of me, I can't remember watching a single Spanish league match until I was well into my teens.
Maybe it's because the football product churned out from British shores is still unrivalled in terms of excitement, if not sheer passion.
The Spaniards have one fixture all season that thrills - the El Classico. In the EPL, United vs Liverpool gets our blood pumping as much as a showdown between Chelsea and Arsenal.
Simply put, there are more teams in the EPL to watch, to love, and to admire.
Money-wise, Real Madrid's spending spree has skewed financial reality.
In Deloitte's latest football report this year, the Premier League still outstrips its rivals in terms of wealth.
In the 2005-06 season, it had an average revenue of US$700m. The La Liga was a distant fourth with US$275m.
Newer figures would likely show that the gap has narrowed, and will continue to do so, given the talent drain from England to Spain that will draw more fans who crave Ronaldo's magic on a weekly basis.
But as most fans will tell you, it is the club they support, not the player.
And if that holds true, fan loyalty is still the biggest asset that the EPL commands - and that is something the Spaniards have yet to emulate, at least in this part of the world.
Read The Saturday Special Report here
Tags:
england,
singapore,
soccer,
spain
The EPL has as you say, been much more thorough and serious about business adapting their league than any other football leagues in the world. In that strategy, maximizing exposure to the rest of the world has certainly been a important step. Just look at all the English teams touring Asia during their training season, let me assure you, its not because of the nice weather over here...
That strategy has brought them a lot of wealth and as a whole, I have to agree with you that EPL has a higher standard of players when counting in even the teams in the lower end of the table when compared to La Liga for example.
However, (I know I risk getting bashed by saying this) In many ways I think EPL is risking a lot by this super capitalizing way of promoting itself.
EPL is NOT the peoples league any more, ticket prices are through the roof, and many speculators now are from Big companies with deep pockets that has bought season tickets for their employees, or foreign tourists. In many ways, I feel it has transformed from being a European style league to more of an American one where teams are bought up by wealthy or corporate owners, teams are moved to where the new owners wants them etc, in short, stripping the culture from the game.
This is NOT the case with La Liga. Sure, Real Madrids crazy spending isnt exactly close to common peoples standards either, but it has been like that for many years now and still tickets are availible for "decent" pricing and "normal" Madrid citizens still follow the team (although Atletic is said to be the locals first choice).
In short, my point is that the insane amounts of money in the game is sort of "ok" as long as the ownership of the clubs stays with the fans.
Otherwise, they might just as well move half of the EPL games to stadiums in Asia, the US or other places in the world where the majority of the fans can be found nowadays...