Podcast appearances and mentions of Richard Scudamore

There's a new award category at this year's FEVO Sport Industry Awards - Business Moment of the Year. And for the first time, the judging process is revealed, as we chair the conversation ahead of the big reveal on the night of May 15th at Battersea Evolution in London. Our illustrious judging panel is Richard Scudamore, Lucy Wray, Allan Noble and Nick Keller himself, the founder of the FEVO Sport Industry Awards.The award shortlist can be found here.Click here to buy a table for the awards. And include the code UP2025 to receive a free bottle of champagne for your table. This episode of the Unofficial Partner podcast is brought to you by Sid Lee Sport.Sid Lee Sport is a new breed of agency that combines world class creativity with deep sponsorship expertise, flawless operational delivery, and a culture of marketing effectiveness. We've really enjoyed getting to know their team over the last couple of months. They're an impressive bunch, who believe that sports marketing can and should be done better.They have a creative philosophy of producing famous campaigns and activations that build buzz and conversation in a category that too often looks and sounds the same.And they're pioneering a new standard of effectiveness in sports marketing, using econometrics and attribution models to go beyond traditional media ROI.So if you're looking for an agency to take your brand to the top, get in touch with the team at Sid Lee Sport, where brands become champions.Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 400 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner' on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and every podcast app. If you're interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series, you can reach us via the website.

A more reflective Goal/Own Goal this week, as our world burns. How will Arab capital and a Jewish media sector now coexist? Do failed music royalty funds show what will happen to CVC? Why Arsenal should not be ashamed of that photo. And the genius of Richard Scudamore.

Our guest is Richard Scudamore, who was CEO and then Executive Chairman of The Premier League from 1999 to his retirement in 2018, a transformational period in the history of English football and the sports business more broadly.Scudamore's reign in charge saw the media rights for the league rise from £1.2billion for the 2001-04 cycle to over £5billion for 2014-16. He was formerly chief executive of the Football League, now EFL, and is a founding board member of the Football Foundation. A qualified level 5 referee, Scudamore is a lifelong Bristol City fan and was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours.Joining the conversation is Omar Chaudhuri, Chief Intelligence Officer of Twenty First Group.This is an episode of The Product, a series created in collaboration with Twenty First Group the tech-led sports intelligence company which works across multiple sports, using data to help organisations drive sporting success and unlock commercial value.This podcast is sponsored by Leaders Week London.Who could you be joining at Twickenham Stadium on October 18th and 19th?Across the Summit, over 1,800 of the most senior figures in the sport business will be there, from Amazon to the Premier League, adidas to Spotify.This is your opportunity to meet and rub-shoulders with executives from across the sport business ecosystem, to reconnect with old friends and reminisce about your past experiences from Leaders Weeks gone by. And as a listener to Unofficial Partner, you can get take advantage of a 15% discount on your Summit passes - just use UP15 at the point of purchase. Visit  leadersinsport.com/UP for more information.Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter @UnffclPrtnrWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 300 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner' on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and every podcast app. If you're interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series, you can reach us via the website.

Mark Chapman & The Athletic's Matt Slater speak to Richard Scudamore who was the Premier League's executive chairman for 20 years, a tenure that saw it develop into the world's leading sports entertainment product.Scudamore addresses a range of issues including his thoughts why an independent regulator won't work, the failed European Super League, foreign ownership of Premier League clubs, games being played overseas and his role in the infamous 39th game propsal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Chapman & The Athletic's Matt Slater speak to Richard Scudamore who was the Premier League's executive chairman for 20 years, a tenure that saw it develop into the world's leading sports entertainment product. Scudamore addresses a range of issues including his thoughts why an independent regulator won't work, the failed European Super League, foreign ownership of Premier League clubs, games being played overseas and his role in the infamous 39th game propsal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Roscoe is joined by StatCity.co.uk's Adam Carter and, from the Manchester Evening News, Simon Bajkowski to look at how Manchester City bounced back from disappointment in Madrid to smash 10 goals in their last two games. Pep Guardiola has thrust the media coverage of the club into the spotlight, plus we react to the news that Erling Haaland will be a City player from next season. Former Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore remembers Sergio Aguero's goal against QPR in 2012 - and we squeeze some discussion on West Ham into the show, too. Limited Online Music Licence Ref: LE-0027097

In our first episode Gary sits down with the former chief executive of the Premier League, Richard Scudamore.We dive into Richard's past and how he became CEO of the Premier League.Gary grills Richard over the power of the big six clubs and question the need for independent regulation, before discussing the impact of the European Super League.Does the Premier League need an independent regulator? And should the 'Big-Six' clubs be punished? Let us know what you think in the comments.Make sure to subscribe to never miss an episode, and let us know who you want to see Gary speak to next. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This was on a par with that day in September 2005 when City were thrashed 7-1 at the Liberty Stadium by Swansea. Brian Tinnion cut a dejected picture slumped in the dug out some while after the final whistle. He knew his short time as manager had run its course and he was gone within days. Losing 6-0, City's performance can only be described as a disgrace and that goes from the way the side was set up by the coaches to the application showed by experienced professionals who, with a few exceptions,  showed no pride in their performance. Ian, Mark, Lezz, Daniel and host David P discuss the action and suggest what the outcomes should be. Will Ashton pull the trigger on Holden to save his own skin or will the Lansdown take the brave decision to axe both of them plus the coaching staff and start building for next season now - sadly I think not. We talk about the mooted idea of Richard Scudamore being a candidate for CEO should Ashton be gone and question whether Tuesday's game against Reading could be make or break for Holden and how on earth the Berkshire side can afford to be paying [allegedly] Lucas Joao £38k per week!!!  

Right now The  Athletic is free for 30 days, bringing you the very best football writing around, including David’s Ozil exclusive - just go to www.theathletic.com/ornsteinandchapman to sign up!  And don’t forget about David’s weekly YouTube Q&A show - Ask Ornstein - answering the very best questions provided by subscribers to The Athletic. Head over to the Tifo Podcast YouTube channel to watch the latest video and don’t forget to subscribe to the channel for more superb podcast content… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin and Kieran take a look into the latest goings-on at both Charlton Athletic and Blackpool, which clubs pay their staff the "real living wage", and the £5m bonus Richard Scudamore received when he left his job as chairman of the Premier League. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/priceoffootball. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hot Topic with Phil Lines - Black Out Rule & Amazon Prime's Premier League Debut. Marcus Luer interviews Phil Lines, the man best known for taking the Premier League Media rights globally to new heights in the early 2000.  Phil started his illustrious career as a Journalist before spending time at ISL and Formula One and then later at the BBC and ITV in the UK. Phil set up the world's first sports news television agency which indirectly landed him the job at the Premier League. Working directly with Richard Scudamore,  the Chairman, Phil grew the rights fees for the League globally from £60 million to over £500 million per season. After the EPL, Phil spent time at major agencies from CAA to Lagadere before starting his own Consultancy firm, Nootka in 2014. 

Former Socceroo and A-League star Mile Sterjovski joins Daniel Garb and Simon Hill to review Round 6 of the A-League, plus the show features a one-on-one Simon did with Richard Scudamore - a guest advisor to the A-League clubs and former Executive Chairman of football in England and CEO of the EPL. Scudamore will potentially help improve football here in Australia.Sterjovski also speaks about his time in Europe, including at FC Basel, Derby County and Lille.Here are the highlights:-What caught your eye in R6? (3:00)-That penalty decision (5:00)-CCM's drop off and Stajcic's big test (9:00)-When Mile's Brazilian dream became reality (17:00)-Mile's alternative view on Italy's controversial '06 win (20:00)-Brisbane's win (23:00)-Ryan Grant, the machine (30:00)-Richard Scudamore chat (35:00)-Mile's time in Europe, including FC Basel and Derby County (39:00)-Listener questions (53:00)

Marcus Luer interviews Phil Lines, the man best known for taking the Premier League Media rights globally to new heights in the early 2000.  Phil started his illustrious career as a Journalist before spending time at ISL and Formula One and then later at the BBC and ITV in the UK. Phil set up the world's first sports news television agency which indirectly landed him the job at the Premier League. Working directly with Richard Scudamore,  the Chairman, Phil grew the rights fees for the League globally from £60 million to over £500 million per season. After the EPL, Phil spent time at major agencies from CAA to Lagadere before starting his own Consultancy firm, Nootka in 2014.    Key Highlights: Phil shares how he got started in the industry and selling the FIFA World Cup and Olympic rights at ISL in the early days Phil shares insider stories of the reasons for the tremendous growth of the Premier League rights globally, including the real reasons behind the 12 noon kick-off time. Phil and Marcus explore where Media rights are heading and how OTT is changing the landscape. Phil shares his lessons learned from working with CAA UK to Lagardere Sports. Marcus and Phil discuss the changing role of agencies in the Media Rights trading space. Big might not be the way forward. They also discuss the challenges the new AFC (Asian Football Confederation) deal could be facing because of the new dynamics in the market. Visit : https://marcusluer.com/podcast

Former Home United coach Philippe Aw and football columnist Neil Humphreys weigh in on the controversial 5 million GBP payout to outgoing Premier League boss Richard Scudamore.

It's coming up to two weeks since the Redmen were last in action, but the latest Allez Les Rouges podcast, hosted by Peter Hooton, and featuring regular guests Kieth Culvin, Ste 'Mono' Monaghan and John Nicolson, has a lot to get off its chest.It starts on a positive - and the amazing efforts of Reds supporters and the LFC Foundation in raising £60,000 for Sean Cox, the fan who was left in a critical condition after being attacked outside Anfield before the Champions League semi-final first leg with Roma in April.'Mono', Kieth and the Spirit of Shankly supporters' group welcomed Sean's brothers, Martin and Peter, to a special ceremony at Liverpool Town Hall on Saturday, and we hear from them on the podcast.It is an inspirational story of supporter solidarity.Sadly, the feelings of fans were not taken into consideration when the Premier League took the universally unpopular decision to hand a £5m golden handshake to outgoing chief executive Richard Scudamore.The lads believe the league, and its member 20 clubs, including Liverpool, have scored a massive 'own goal', and wonder what the fallout will be in the future, especially if there is a rise in ticket prices.They also discuss the impending introduction of VAR to the Premier League before talk turns to two Reds players who have been starring for their respective countries over the international break.Liverpool are back in action this weekend, at Watford, and looking at the fixtures, the panel have the feeling this could be a pivotal weekend in a title race in which the margins for error are smaller than ever. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

John & Paul discuss the England squad, The PFA and Richard Scudamore.

English soccer's elite club competition has its first new leader in two decades, with Susanna Dinnage now confirmed as the Premier League chief executive and successor to Richard Scudamore. SportsPro editor at large Eoin Connolly and print editor Michael Long discuss the hulking in-tray facing the Animal Planet and former Discovery UK chief, from Brexit to breakaways, and fan concerns to a content revolution. As Formula One's 2018 season comes to a close, there's another chance to assess the progress made by owner Liberty Media, with comment from commercial partnerships exec Zarah Al-Kudcy. And with Mitel confirmed as the title sponsor of the MLB London Series, baseball icon Alex Rodriguez explains what the UK can expect from the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, and lays out his own vision for getting another generation of fans enamoured with America's pastime.

Flowz, MK & Kash discuss: England vs Croatia, Would you have Drogba or Henry in this City team? Has the role of the modern day striker changed? How to stop time wasting? Fulham managerial changes, Richard Scudamore £5m payoff

Welcome to the Telegraph Audio Football Club, joining Thom Gibbs today it's Jason Burt, JJ Bull and Matt Law.There's reaction to the the mighty footballing nation of England, and their greatest year since 1966. Ruminations on the mighty Nations League, the greatest football competition since the ICC. We come crashing down to earth with a summary of the rest of the UK and Ireland's national football teams, and explore a change at the top of the Premier League which happened without a ball being kicked.  Plus a look ahead to next week's fixtures and an intriguing suggestion for what should replace penalty shootouts.Subscribe to Audio Football Club to make sure you never miss an episode and email us at afcpodcast@telegraph.co.uk See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gab Marcotti is joined by Matt Dickinson and Matt Hughes in the aftermath of England’s progression to the Nations League finals after victory over Croatia. Iceland feels like a long time ago. In the best Wembley atmosphere since Springsteen, Gareth Southgate continues to find answers to questions as England manager, including proving his tactical flexibility and showing the squad does have strength in depth. We show some love to Southgate and to Fabian Delph. Following the backlash to the news that Premier League clubs have been asked to contribute to a £5million bonus for outgoing chairman Richard Scudamore, we ask whether he has been hard done by. Do people truly understand the nature of the payment or misunderstand it as a present? And does his work at one of the UK’s biggest brands of all time merit that reward? Matt Hughes also has the inside track on proposed plans for top Championship clubs to break away and form a Premier League 2. Could they be overplaying their hand and overestimating their value? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Gae hosts Randi and Mollie as the #liverbirds discuss CL form home and away, winning when we should, midfield rotation and how a challenging Dec fixture list could be pivotal in our season. We also touch on Nations league and Richard Scudamore. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Chelsea FanCast on Love Sport Radio - the only 100% Chelsea show on the radio! Stamford Chidge, Jonathan Kydd and Jake Watson are joined by very special guest Neil 'Spy' Barnett, former Chelsea TV presenter and stadium announcer, talking about his 30 years behind the scenes at Chelsea!On the show we discuss the fall out surrounding the £5m 'golden handshake' for outgoing Premier League Chief, Richard Scudamore and what this and the appointment of new Premier League Chief, Susanna Dinnage , will mean for supporters.Neil gives us his thoughts on Joe Cole after he announced his retirement from the game at the age of 37 plus the news that struggling Chelsea striker, Alvaro Morata, has been seeing a Psychologist in an attempt to turn his form around.For the second half of the show, we talk to 'Spy' about his 30 years behind the scenes at Chelsea, complete with some hilarious anecdotes;his relationship with Roman Abramovich, the players and the managers; how he became the on-pitch announcer and why he nearly got arrested for winding up opposition supporters and why it all came to an end.Former Chelsea player, Paul Canoville, a great friend of Neil's joins us on the phone to talk about the pitch presentations and their overseas tours together.Plus we have questions for 'Spy' from the listeners who phoned in.Chelsea Fancast is broadcast on Love Sport Radio every Friday from 7.00-9.00 pm. LOVE SPORT is a London radio station and is broadcast on 558 AM and on London DAB along with numerous digital channels. You can listen from anywhere in the world. You can visit lovesportradio.com to listen live to the station and of course you can download LOVE SPORT apps in the android and IOS app stores. You can also listen to LOVESPORT radio through Radioplayer and TuneIn.The best thing is that you can phone in and join in the show and the debate with us, live. The number to call is 0208 70 20 558Follow on twitter: @lovesportradio and facebook: www.facebook.com/lovesportradio See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's the international break but that hasn't stopped our Blood Red team from sitting down and discussing all the latest from Anfield. The continued rise of Trent Alexander-Arnold continues after his first goal for England, with a discussion over whether he will eventually become the midfielder he was meant to be. There is also chat on Steven Gerrard's legacy, Richard Scudamore's £5million goodbye, the introduction of VAR and Jurgen Klopp's January transfer plans. Keep listening until the end for a special competition, too.You can follow our Blood Red Podcast Facebook page and leave your comments, ideas, questions and feedback HERE For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

► SUBSCRIBE to Ball Street: http://bit.ly/BallStreetSubscribeFlav and James discuss if it's right that outgoing executive chairman Richard Scudamore will receive a £5m farewell bonus paid by clubs, the Premier League has confirmed.We also discuss England vs Croatia in the final Nations League game, their victory over USA, Wayne Rooney's final game for England and Harry Redknapp entering the jungleLike us on Facebook

Liverpool are enjoying their joint best start to a Premier League season, and are just two points behind Manchester City, but universal acclaim for Jurgen Klopp's high-flying side is in short supply.So, for our latest View from the Kop podcast, Sean Bradbury, Paul Philbin and debutante Emilia Bona join host Paul Wheelock to question why that is the case.Is it pressure? Expectation? Or is it Klopp's change in tactics? That in turn leads to a discussion over the merits of - if not boring - less entertaining football v winning football.Or is the form of the players? Paul Philbin, for one, believes the fact that the Reds have yet to truly blow a team out of the water this season, unlike on countless occasions last season, could be down to the way that Roberto Firmino is being utilised.Firmino has scored just one goal in his last 11 games and just four in the 22 since Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's serious injury.But is he being given a chance to score? And what kind of problem does the form of Xherdan Shaqiri cause both Firmino and Klopp?Liverpool's Champions League chances, and what priority they should give the competition they went so desperately close to winning last season, are then mulled over.And the podcast rounds off with a passionate debate about the decision of the 20 Premier League clubs, including Liverpool and their Merseyside rivals Everton, to hand a £5m farewell bonus to outgoing executive chairman Richard Scudamore. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

It's the Interlull but we still have a show for you, and today I chat to the BBC's David Ornstein about Reiss Nelson. David was in Germany to chat to the on-loan Arsenal youngster who is making a big impact in the Bundesliga, so we discuss his development, young players looking beyond the Premier League, whether he might come back in January and more, before we move on to other matters at Arsenal like the new executive set-up, the January transfer window, Danny Welbeck's future and beyond. There's also a bit of a rant from me at the start about the Richard Scudamore thing, and a wiffle of waffle.s See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Brexit is screwed, it's another international break and Wayne Rooney is playing for England again - but at least we have a bumper episode of DICTL for you! This week, Rebecca and Alex look back at the Manchester Derby, the gulf in class and the performance of the two goalkeepers. There's also more VAR discussion in light of Liverpool's win and Chelsea struggled as Everton marked Eden Hazard out of the game. Plus, Claudio Ranieri is back in the Premier League, Richard Scudamore is getting a ridiculous going away present, and the King himself Didier Drogba is the candidate in a special 'Fame or Fame' for one week only. ***Please take the time to rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts, as it makes it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

Claudio Ranieri takes over at Fulham, apparently after Arsene Wenger passed on the gig. Richard Scudamore is set to receive a golden handshake, but is 5 million quid too much? Sir Ben forces Mike to rock his baby to sleep.  1. Support EPLpod 2. TEAMtalk 3. EatMyGoal

It's sod's law. You produce an in-depth podcast on TV rights and then someone drops a digital bombshell a week later When I spoke to former head of BBC Sports Rights David Murray about the current market for the Sport: Digital and Social podcast, little did I know that the Premier League were just about to announce that Amazon had made their much-anticipated move into football. Then there was more on BT, Sky and the departure of the Premier League's executive chairman Richard Scudamore. It was worth a revisit so here's an updated podcast specifically on Premier League rights deal 2019-2022.

Leaders CEO Jimmy Worrall sits down with English Premier League Executive Chairman Richard Scudamore.   In a rare and comprehensive one-on-one, Scudamore reflects on his tenure at the top of England’s biggest sports league, and arguably the country’s most visible and successful foreign export.   Since taking charge in 1999, Scudamore has spearheaded an era of unprecedented and extraordinary growth in English football, cementing and extending the Premier League’s status as the number one league in world football. Financial growth has been built largely on the back of pioneering work on the league as a broadcast product. Under Scudamore, domestic rights deals have grown from $900 million for a four-year cycle, to the current three-year domestic deals which are worth over $6.7 billion. International rights in the current cycle are worth another $5.1 billion.   Last week, shortly after concluding a game-changing deal with Amazon that will see the digital retail behemoth move into Premier League broadcasting for the first time, and having reached an agreement with the 20 Premier League teams to tweak the revenue distribution model, Scudamore announced that he would be stepping down from his role at the end of the year.   In the first of a series of conversations between Leaders CEO Jimmy Worrall and the most senior figures in world sport, Scudamore sat down for a recording of the Leaders Podcast in the final week of the Premier League season, a few weeks before the announcements were made.   On the conversational agenda:   p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Geneva} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Geneva; min-height: 17.0px} li.li1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Geneva} span.Apple-tab-span {white-space:pre} ul.ul1 {list-style-type: disc} The future of media consumption and why ‘moderated content’ will remain compelling and valuable; The Premier League’s commitment to social intervention and community programming; The league’s ambitions in esports; The potential consequences of Brexit for English football; The skillsets required to keep 20 Premier League teams together, all ‘equally dissatisfied’; The benefits of government and media scrutiny; The leaders Scudamore most admires and his advice for his younger self.  

Rog delivers a BlazerCon recap, plus the entire opening keynote event: NBC's Rebecca Lowe in conversation with Premier League Executive Chairman Richard Scudamore.

The Premier League's chief executive talks about the work of the League's Enterprise Challenge.

Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore joins Evan Davis and guests to discuss the economics and business of football. In light of the recent Premier League TV deal, worth a staggering £5 billion pounds, this week Evan and guests discuss its implications for football both in the UK and in other markets. Whilst the top players can expect even bigger salaries, how will the deal impact on fans and clubs outside the top division? Three top football executives discuss including Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore. Producer: Jim Frank.

We're back again for another voyage around the world of football. On this week's show we talk about the death of Christian "Chucho" Benitez and some of the media's attempt to hijack the story to use as anti-Qatar World Cup propaganda. We discuss Richard Scudamore's reaction to a possible winter World Cup, Human Rights Watch connecting Manchester City to UAE's issues and, reluctantly, the MLS All-Star Game. There's also headlines, this week in football history and listener questions and feedback.

It’s the English Premier League’s birthday! On this day twenty years ago, all twenty-two clubs of the First Division resigned from the 104-year-old Football League and declared their plans to create a new, breakaway league.A lucrative television deal with Sky Sports followed soon after, bringing plenty of seed money to the new league.At the time, however, English football was not a certain investment.Attendance had been declining for decades, and in the EPL’s first season stadiums were filled to less than 70 per cent of capacity. In terms of revenue and star players, the top European leagues were in Spain and Italy.In fact, the EPL couldn’t even boast the biggest money-making club in Britain.That team was Rangers, playing in the Scottish league. What a difference two decades make.The EPL today is the biggest revenue-generating league in Europe, and its top clubs are among the valuable sports properties in the world.The league draws international investors, and its matches are televised in more than 200 countries.In a recent interview, EPL chief Richard Scudamore remarked on the league’s worldwide popularity.The parity in American professional sports was enviable, Scudamore admitted, but “theirs is an incestuous, contained, domestic world. . . . I wouldn’t swap our global appeal.” But as sociologist Peter Millward points out, the Premier League’s global success has had its discontents.In his book The Global Football League (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), Pete looks at supporters of the league’s most successful clubs, Manchester United and Liverpool, examining how they responded to the arrival of new, affluent fans and new, American owners.For many of these fans, the on-field results that this money brought was not worth the loss, as they saw it, of the clubs’ traditions.In looking at these supporters and their protests, Pete’s book deals with questions that go well beyond English football.This is a study of how sports fans find meaning and identity–and how the yearning for local connections can outweigh success and riches in the global market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the English Premier League’s birthday! On this day twenty years ago, all twenty-two clubs of the First Division resigned from the 104-year-old Football League and declared their plans to create a new, breakaway league.A lucrative television deal with Sky Sports followed soon after, bringing plenty of seed money to the new league.At the time, however, English football was not a certain investment.Attendance had been declining for decades, and in the EPL’s first season stadiums were filled to less than 70 per cent of capacity. In terms of revenue and star players, the top European leagues were in Spain and Italy.In fact, the EPL couldn’t even boast the biggest money-making club in Britain.That team was Rangers, playing in the Scottish league. What a difference two decades make.The EPL today is the biggest revenue-generating league in Europe, and its top clubs are among the valuable sports properties in the world.The league draws international investors, and its matches are televised in more than 200 countries.In a recent interview, EPL chief Richard Scudamore remarked on the league’s worldwide popularity.The parity in American professional sports was enviable, Scudamore admitted, but “theirs is an incestuous, contained, domestic world. . . . I wouldn’t swap our global appeal.” But as sociologist Peter Millward points out, the Premier League’s global success has had its discontents.In his book The Global Football League (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), Pete looks at supporters of the league’s most successful clubs, Manchester United and Liverpool, examining how they responded to the arrival of new, affluent fans and new, American owners.For many of these fans, the on-field results that this money brought was not worth the loss, as they saw it, of the clubs’ traditions.In looking at these supporters and their protests, Pete’s book deals with questions that go well beyond English football.This is a study of how sports fans find meaning and identity–and how the yearning for local connections can outweigh success and riches in the global market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices