Yesterday's FT reports that Germany's Bundesliga is the most profitable football league, and which is also in the most healthy financial state (the graph above comes from the FT. Note that Spain somehow got left off). The English Premier League spends 67% of revenues on players whereas the Bundesliga spends only 51%. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the FT reports that:Following the World Cup, I'll discuss in more depth the relationship of pay and team performance.The survey also found little correlation between pay and league position achieved outside the very top and bottom of England’s top division.
Total revenues across England’s top 92 clubs rose by £100m to more than £2.5bn, though debt levels also increased to £3.2bn.
“We accept that it’s right that revenue finds its way to talent, but we have tried to argue that there needs to be a healthy dose of restraint on the business side,” said Mr Jones.
In addition to the healthiest finances, Germany also has the most passing, dribbling and goals per game and the highest attendances at matches. The English Premier League may have the best players, but Germany has the best league.
3 comments:
Thought you would be interested in this "virtual" video tour of all of the stadiums hosting the games.
Explore the South African stadiums in 3D:
http://sketchupdate.blogspot.com/2010/06/explore-south-african-stadiums-in-3d.html
Eli believes he pointed this out to you, but your conclusion is a bit off.
What Germany has is a league dominated by a single team which has generated enough income to purchase the players it needs. The DFG has long been a creature of Beckenbauer and Hoeness. They enforce financial limits on the other teams which limit their ability to buy players in the same way that Real Madrid does (by going into debt). The only way to get around this straight-jacket is to find a billionaire who wants to spend on players the way Hoeffenheim did.
The other (non-German) version of this game is Ajax, which "raises" players from pre-teen years with the intention of selling their contracts and making a bundle.
What Germany has is a league dominated by a single team
And yet five teams have won the German competition in the last ten years. While remaining a financially viable league.
Meanwhile Spain has a league where only 9 teams have ever won it, and is totally dominated by two teams. Such release from the "straight-jacket" coming at the expense of suicidal financial arrangements.
I find it very hard to see how the Spanish version is better in any way.
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