Football-English Premier League

The English premier league is at the brink of been handed over to the foreign investors who have been  forking  out big lump sum of cash to have a share of the most prestigious league in the world today. Statistics have proven that the English premier league is the most watched as well as most expensive in the world (Conn, 1997).  The financial statements made by different clubs in Europe in the 21 century warrants attention from business analysts, financial institutions and economic professionals (Shackleton, 2000).  The level of borrowings, debts, spending trends and investments quoted in public domain cannot be ignored at all cost. The glaring question is whether the investors have the clubs legacy at heart or their greedy and malicious nature will in the long run leave the face of English premier leagues dented and impoverished.

Some of the notable investment in the recent times include take over of Chelsea by a Russian billionaire, the Manchester united controversy revolving around the investment by the American family, Manchester city by Arab billionaires, the Liverpool controversy and also Blackburn rovers been snatched away from former ardent supporter to an Indian investor.

The clubs revenues have increased over time and the total revenue accrued by the end of 2010 went through the roofs to hit a 2 billion pound mark.  The rise of these revenues has raised eyebrows and investors are in a gold rush to leap from this lucrative business. Hence foreigners have been investing very heavily on the English premier league (Glen, 2009).

Because of the investment factor in the English premier the private owners having been capitalizing on the return to capital. The ticket selling is one of the ways which the investors are capitalizing on to get the revenues. In this case the tickets of games have skyrocketed and the funs have to dig deep in their pockets to enjoy leisure of watching football. This has affected the middle class who used to enjoy watching football without budget constraint. Some of the fans who were watching almost all the games played by their clubs at home ground stadium have slashed the times they would appear for live football watching (Baily, 2007).

As indicated by Heinemann (2010), funs have been losing touch with their clubs because the management by the virtue of profit making has taken full control of everything. The funs are no longer the issue when dealing with critical matters like transfers and signing of players. The recent takeover of Manchester untied by glazier family is case in point whereby the selling of former club striker Carlos Tevez had faced mounting opposition from the funs but the club went ahead with the transfer.

After the taking over of Manchester united in 2007 the club has recorded tremendous success with three premier league titles as well a champion league title in a span of 3 years, Chelsea taking over yielded immediate results by wining 3 premier league titles as well as one a carling cup and 2 FA cups since 2005. Unfortunately this has not been the case with Blackburn rovers and Liverpool because their cup thirst is yet to be quenched (Barthold, 2009).

The worth of these investments leaves a lot to be desired the trend has assumed a euphoric drive which might not augur well with business. Manchester united had been recuperating from debts by the time foreign investor was steeping in but has effectively covered the gap. Chelsea was also under siege of debts and poor condition but the arrival of Russian billionaire salvaged the situation. However the risks of investments may be greater than the benefit it might bring forth to the investor (Deloitte, 2008).

Like any form of business football is not insulated from challenges which are caused by things like inflation, recession, and bad seasons. Since football has been commercialized, the risks and benefits must be forthcoming and they remain paramount to thriving and sustainability of business. In this case, it is paramount to gauge the future of football in its present trend of takeovers. Some clubs have benefited from the takeovers whereas others are yet to experience the benefits from foreign investors.

1.1Problem statement

The developments in the English premier league leave a lot to be desired and there have been takeovers from foreign investor. Since the Chelsea football club went in hands of the Russian billionaires there have been flood gate of interests from the foreign investors. In the last five years, they have taken control of the nine top 20 premier league clubs and more so it is yet to be verified whether they will be coming for more share in this prestigious premier league. the most notable takeovers in the recent years are: Manchester city by the Arab investors, Manchester united by united states glazer family, Liverpool by Gillett and hack and then another transfer in 2010, Chelsea by the Russian billionaire and most recently the Blackburn rovers by an Indian investor( Budd & Levermore 2010).

The takeovers have raised eyebrows from the financial analysts and economists and they often try to come to terms with this kind of wild takeovers. The often asked question is the future of this business and its impact to the English premier league. Since it seems as if the business is at the boom it is likely that it might as well bust and the repercussion might not be well premeditated.

This research seek to find out the impact of the foreign investments on the English premier league focusing on the takeovers of Chelsea, Manchester united, Liverpool and Blackburn rovers. The epicenter of the research would be the effects of commercialization of football to the English premier league as well as the future of the premier league.

1.2Purpose of the research

The purpose of this research is examining the impact of the foreign investment on English premier league clubs. Since the trend of taking over of clubs in the English premier has increased over the years, the research will guide me to conclude whether the sweeping euphoria is for the good or bad. This will help me to establish whether football in England has turned to be more of a business rather than enjoyment.

The research also helps to evaluate how the foreign factor has been affecting the relationships of the club and their funs and also give account of how helpful or damaging these takeovers have turned to be on the communities. In this case the research will be geared to reveal whether the investors have sacrificed the fans at the expense of the profit making motives. In addition, it will help to gauge how the communities around the clubs have been benefiting either through direct employment or direct funding to the community events.