"Spain's by far the best league." - Paul Scholes

sportsczy wrote:ffs... I didn't say this a few years ago.  I said ONCE the new media deal takes effect, which is this season.  The new deal was signed almost 2 years ago but just started taking effect this season. Until now, the EPL was getting paid under the old media deal.

Either all the money doES now is make foreign players premium go way up. The other leagues can make up the quality by having superior scouting coaching and recruitment so their levels wouldn't dip. Let's wait and see what the epl does in Europe over the next few years.

He's stating that it's about entertainment and business everywhere but the EPL... where it's all about business.  Because it's all about business, the entertainment value suffers. I neither accept his premise nor his conclusion.

Entertainment is a business.  They're not mutually exclusive.  Football is selling entertainment and it cannot succeed as a business if it doesn't entertain the fans.  The fact that the EPL is so successful means that it offers a product that provides entertainment people are willing to pay for.  

That's your opinion Bill.  If it was true and people were bored, they wouldn't pay TV subscriptions, buy tickets to go to the games or buy merchandising.  The fact the the EPL signed a media deal that is exponentially higher than all others both domestically and internationally...  means that most people who like football are entertained by the EPL.

Simple irrefutable logic based on fact rather than opinion.

sportsczy wrote:That's your opinion Bill.  If it was true and people were bored, they wouldn't pay TV subscriptions, buy tickets to go to the games or buy merchandising.  The fact the the EPL signed a media deal that is exponentially higher than all others both domestically and internationally...  means that most people who like football are entertained by the EPL.

Simple irrefutable logic based on fact rather than opinion.

That could be because most people are sheep and simply go for the most exposed league?

Nah there are other entertainment choices, both in sports and other things.  It's a competitive marketplace.  World is a small place now and there are a million ways to entertain yourself regardless of where you live.

Only hardcore fans pay money even if they're bored... and that's not enough people for a media company to pay billions of dollars to own the rights.

futbol_bill wrote: That is also true if you look at the boring, lack of technical play in EPL compared to Spanish game.

there are many who like what they see when they watch epl games. obviously it isn't the same as watching madrid or barcelona, but let's not act like valencia vs betis will be a show in technical superiority. i follow both leagues, and enjoy what both have to offer. you could say la liga sides have shown superiority in european competition, and probably their national team most recently (which has been mainly from their big two, primarily barcelona players).

but 'boring' is subjective, and based on their market, stadium turn out, the appeal for what they have to offer on global television outside of europe, i'd say 'boring' is probably inaccurate. also inaccurate is the "lack of technical play", because i'm sure you're describing technical play solely as "the passing game", which it isn't.

nichabr wrote:

sportsczy wrote:That's your opinion Bill.  If it was true and people were bored, they wouldn't pay TV subscriptions, buy tickets to go to the games or buy merchandising.  The fact the the EPL signed a media deal that is exponentially higher than all others both domestically and internationally...  means that most people who like football are entertained by the EPL.

Simple irrefutable logic based on fact rather than opinion.

That could be because most people are sheep and simply go for the most exposed league?

This is true in many cases I have lived to learn when it comes to the PL. I ask people why they cheer for their team, which is always Manu, Arsenal, Liverpool and even Chelsea. When I ask why they often say it has just been that way since they were kids, as long as they can remember, meaning they got influenced strongly by media (at least where I come from, which is the market I know well) and then friends, family etc who kept it going and PL-focused. So when you grow up now its already PL everywhere so you are going to stand out alot if you are following Serie A for instance. Most kids dont like to stand out so its an easy pick, the 2 spanish or the bigger PL teams. (not saying im a special snowflake either, I got my biased reasons as well for Serie A)

@elvindo, the counterargument to that point is that the epl is also huge in many markets outside england. your point seems to take solely into account the domestic market; hence someone from merseyside supporting liverpool or everton because that's what they grew up on.

but what about the markets outside and the huge following that those four clubs appeal to? they weren't always supporting them as kids, some were probably not even watching the sport. and now city too are also attempting to make a name for themselves in the US and Asia

I guess PL is more known or popular while La Liga gets a much more action-packed games.

titosantill wrote:@elvindo, the counterargument to that point is that the epl is also huge in many markets outside england. you're point seems to take solely into account the domestic market; hence someone from merseyside supporting liverpool or everton because that's what they grew up on.

but what about the markets outside and the huge following that those four clubs appeal to? they weren't always supporting them as kids, some were probably not even watching the sport. and now city too are also attempting to make a name for themselves in the US and Asia

EPL was the only league that had any real coverage here. It's only in the last 10 -15 years that anyone has had any real exposure to anything outside of the EPL, by which time it was already well entrenched, to the extent that it gets the same treatment as if it were a local league.

Personally, I see EPL popularity more as a result of their successful marketing than the product itself. Similar to beats headphones. You might get one or two that somewhat justify the high price, but more than anything, their perceived quality is a result of the high price rather than the sound quality you actually get.