Football is Back
The pull of the Big Five European Leagues
Hello Everyone. TGIF.
How’s the week been for you?
I was down with a cold for a few days but I feel much better after getting medication.
The newsletter gained four new subscribers between last Friday and today. Musa suggested some interesting ideas I plan to execute in the coming weeks.
Please keep the feedback and suggestions coming.
If you missed last week’s newsletter, you can read it here.
Here’s a quick fun fact before you read today’s newsletter
1,246 goals
Highest goal tally in the history of the Premier League. That total beat the previous record of 1,222 goals, set in 1992/93 when there were 22 clubs instead of the current 20, and 462 matches instead of the 380 fixtures we have now.
Now to this week’s newsletter:
Football is considered by many to be the biggest sport in the world. The numbers back up the assertion. With 3.5 billion fans across the globe, no other sport comes close. 1.5 billion people watched the 2022 World Cup Final. For context, it’s 10 times more than the total viewers of the 2024 Super Bowl event.
The World Cup is held once every four years, leaving football fans to make do with club football. Out of the multiple professional football leagues, a group stands out.
The Big Five
The Big Five refers to the association football markets of England, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France. As of 2024, they are the five European leaders in size and popularity of the main domestic football leagues – the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1 respectively in men's football, and the Women's Super League, Frauen-Bundesliga, Liga F, Serie A, and Première Ligue respectively in women's football.
How much revenue have these leagues made in recent times?
This group holds 58% of the European football market share. There’s no better example of this dominance than 11th-placed Bournemouth signing Porto striker Evanilson for a club-record €47m. While Bournemouth finished 11th in the English Premier League, Porto finished 3rd in the Portuguese League.
That’s not all, Porto is the most decorated Portuguese team in international competitions, with seven trophies. In UEFA, Porto ranks 9th in the all-time club ranking and also ranked 20th in the club coefficient rankings at the end of the 2022–23 season.
Bournemouth, on the other hand, is yet to win any major football honour. Such is the pull of the big five.
Now to a fun activity:
What team do you support?
Do they stand a chance of winning a trophy this season?
Please share in the comments.
An interesting article to read ahead of the new season:
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This was a good read. Informative!
Another (different) ride to the top with Arsenal