The English Premier League (EPL) is widely considered to be the most lucrative football competition in the world, and as such it is a real magnet for football fans everywhere.
With top clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal fighting for the title every single season, and lighten up England, every Premiership campaign seems to be even more interesting than the last.
But these attributes are likely to fade off in the years to come following Britain vote to exit from the European Union.
Last summer transfer window spending of £870 million was the richest in the Premier League history, as total spending for the calendar year reached £1 billion for the first time.
The richest money spinning soccer league also recorded £3.3 billion revenue in 2014/15 season, but this may suffer big decline over the #Brexit.
Here, we analysed the three key critical areas that may be mostly affected. These include: Drop in TV rights revenues, Exodus of players, and possible Drop in transfers spending are major effects of #Brexit on the Premier League.
Drop in TV right earnings
According to recent reports published by Deloitte, the Premier League revenues soared to its highest, revealing that the Premier League earned £1.5 billion more than the Bundesliga in 2014/2015.
Increasingly, large TV deals boosted English Premier League clubs with a strong and sustained financial performance. The current TV deals saw Premier League clubs generate £3.3 billion record revenues in 2014-15, up by 3 percent.
Top-flight clubs also recorded a second straight year of pre-tax profits in 2014-15, for the first time since 1999.
The report further shows that the English football is breaking all kinds of financial records and only looks set to grow further, according to the reports revealed by top financial and auditing firm, Deloitte in its Annual Review of Football Finance for 2016.
The wide coverage that the Premier League enjoys may drop as European countries may pull out of the deal to broadcast the league, thereby dropping the earnings generated from the right.
Drop in transfer signings
The just concluded 2015/16 Premier League Transfer signings prove richest ever at £870 million.
Brexit vote could change EPL landscape, according to financial expert, Keith Harris, saying 432 European players were registered to play in the Premier League last season; a host of star players would not have played in the Premier League last season had the United Kingdom already left the European Union.
Harris, who has helped oversee the sale of numerous football clubs including Chelsea and Manchester City, told Sky Sports News HQ that N’golo Kante, Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku and Dimitri Payet would not have been allowed to join their clubs.
Some of the players are likely to leave following the vote and new players will not have an automatic right to live and work in the UK.
Before now, players from countries within the EU can work in Britain without a work permit, but that is set to change following the vote to leave, although it is likely to be several years before the effects are felt.
“It was a shock result,” said Harris. “There are four players that we can reflect on and the impact they had on their clubs last year, who may not have been able to come in.
“Kante, who had a huge impact at Leicester, Martial at Manchester United, Lukaku at Everton and Payet at West Ham.”
Exodus of players
The result of Friday’s historic vote could have serious consequences for English football, former Napoli and Chelsea idol Gianfranco Zola said.
Zola highlighted that the Premier League would no longer be an attraction for top players from other nations.
“It is inevitable it will affect the football world,” the Italian said.
“It will be more difficult to come and play here for a lot of footballers, and it could cause problems taking into account that clubs from other countries now may have a slight advantage.
“In any case, we are talking about something so important it will cause a shock in every world market, not just in England.”
Also, Chelsea star, Thibaut Courtois, said Brexit would make him leave England. “I will never finish my career at Chelsea,” the Belgian categorically stated to Sporza.
The Belgium shot-stopper also lamented on how the Brexit would affect foreign players and the Premier League.
“The pound has already fallen in value. It will have a big impact on the economy and everyone who plays or wants to play in England.”
“There is also the rule that you have to play 70-75 percent of the matches for your national team to get a work permit in England. That used to be only for non-Europeans.
“If this rule is not modified, the Premier League will have issues,” he said.
In the immediate, all current contracts will be honoured and the working permits system reformed over the next two years. Further repercussions could arise as a result of the British pound devaluing, which it has done so rapidly in the hours since the referendum, which could result in players demanding higher wages and foreign clubs demanding more money for the transfer of players.
Anthony Nlebem
