“There’s a lot of new about it,” is Premier League chief executive Richard Masters’ sales pitch for the new season, which starts on Friday evening when Arsenal, the newish champions, host Coventry City, the newish competitors.
With Pep Guardiola on sabbatical again, Manchester City are one of nine teams under new management. Mohamed Salah, one of the league’s icons, has moved to Turkey, but Premier League sides have already spent more than £2billion ($2.7bn) on new talent, with more sure to come.
Aston Villa and Crystal Palace enter the season as champions of European competitions, Palace for the very first time, Villa for the first time in a long time, while Bournemouth can look forward to their first set of European club fixtures.
This will also be the first season played under a fully operational Independent Football Regulator, which partly explains why the league’s 20 clubs will also be following new financial rules and we may even get a new financial settlement between the Premier League and the English Football League.
New, new, new… that was certainly the word of the day when Masters hosted a scribble of football writers at the Premier League’s London HQ this week to answer as many questions as we could squeeze into half an hour of his busy schedule. And as he seemed not to completely hate the experience, we managed to get seven minutes of added time.
Given the fact that opportunities to get the boss of the world’s most popular domestic football competition on the record for this long do not happen very often, we thought we would share pretty much all of it with you, bar a few snips here and there for readability and to avoid repetition.
The forever war: Manchester City v Premier League
However, we are going to start with some very obvious repetition, as Masters has given a version of this answer every year for what seems like most of my adult life.
When asked, without any hope of receiving a fresh response, if there will ever be an outcome to the Premier League’s case against Manchester City, the small matter of those 100-plus charges for a decade of alleged cheating, Masters said: “Yes, there will be an outcome, but I literally can’t say anything about it.
“There’s only one available outcome, which is to allow the process to reach its natural conclusion. I can’t talk about the substance of the case. I can’t talk about the timing of the case. I’ve always been very clear about that. I accept it’s taken longer than anyone expected and obviously people are eager to know what the outcome is, but the process is the process.”
For those of you still counting. It is now eight years since German outlet Der Spiegel published the hacked emails at the centre of the controversy, six years since Manchester City overturned its two-year ban from European competition at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, three and a half years since the Premier League charged the club and two years since an independent panel started a 12-week hearing to assess those charges.
(Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Has something gone wrong? Does this delay suggest something needs to change?
“No,” he said. “We’ve always said the commission needs the time and space to do their work.
“It’s the league’s job, providing the evidence is there, to put serious allegations in front of an independent commission to let it establish the truth. That process shouldn’t be qualified by the amount of time it takes.”
But the commission has been mulling it over since December 2024?
“I just have to accept the fact that people are frustrated and want to know (the result),” he said. “The process is independent. It will take as long as it takes.”
And those frustrated people include the other clubs in the league?
“I talk to clubs all the time and it’s not top of the list,” he said. “There are lots of other things to talk about.”
Chelsea’s hidden payments
We can imagine, we all nodded, like how they feel about the £10million fine and suspended transfer ban the league gave to Chelsea earlier this year after they admitted making £47million worth of off-the-books payments to agents and third parties between 2011 and 2018?
For some added context, those payments helped Chelsea recruit the likes of Samuel Eto’o, Eden Hazard and David Luiz. Players you would think provide a team with a sporting advantage.
The Premier League, however, like UEFA before and the Football Association after, was in a difficult spot, as it had to balance the undoubted seriousness of the offences — and their impact — against the equally undisputed fact that these organisations only knew about the offences because Chelsea’s new owners discovered them during the due diligence they did when they bought the club from Roman Abramovich in 2022 and promptly fessed up.
“In the end, a sanction agreement was reached and it was the largest fine in Premier League history by quite some distance, and it was also the only sporting sanction, albeit a suspended one, that’s been given outside the PSR cases,” said Masters, when asked a question that suggested the sanction was a tad too generous.
The mention of PSR was a reference, of course, to the points deductions Everton, Leicester City and Nottingham Forest have been hit with for breaching the league’s old financial rules, the prof and sustainability regulations.
“(The Chelsea) sanction had to go to an independent commission and part of their job is to opine on whether the sanction is unduly lenient,” Masters added. “They did not in this case.”
(Steve Bardens/Getty Images)
Other people’s problems, the best kind
Having spent at least until the first hydration break of our allotted time with him on parochial matters, we started to branch out into more global issues.
As you may have gathered, there was a football tournament in North America this summer. Lots of people really liked most of it, but there were a few issues that caused a bit of a flap there and elsewhere.
What impact will all of that have on the Premier League?
“I’m a big fan of the World Cup,” said Masters.
“It’s a great recruiting sergeant for bringing new people into the game. Normally, everyone gets a little lift post a World Cup or Euros, as there are just more people interested in the game or who want to follow players they’ve met along the way.”
Indeed, we nodded, but what about those less savoury moments? The rows about certain teams being favoured by the referees, inconsistencies with new pieces of technology or, dare we say, the world’s most powerful politician calling a football official to have a star player’s ban suspended?
“I do scroll through social media every now and then, (and) I bump into some of the stuff that people are saying out there,” he said.
“But I believe that when our fans turn up — we’re 99 per cent sold out — and they look at what’s on the pitch, it’s everything it should be. Everyone is trying their best. The referees are trying their best. There’s lots of controversy but it is what it says it is.”
Speaking of football officials and lots of controversy, we were all eager to hear his take on the recent travails of FIFA boss Gianni Infantino. A touch of schadenfreude, perhaps?
Gianni Infantino has had a testing few weeks (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
“I don’t think the (short-lived FIFA Forward Enterprise) concept is the only thing that has contributed to the split in the confederations,” he observed sagely.
“It’s an accumulation of things over a period of time — the expansionism, the taking football in a particular direction — that has led to this situation where we have a split FIFA.”
To be fair to Masters, he has been talking about FIFA’s arrogance and overreach for some time.
“This proves what we’ve been talking about for five years: the calendar, competitions, decisions that impact on domestic football competitions,” he continued.
“The Premier League has been the same size since 1994. It begins in August and ends in May. All the new football is either at regional or global level, and the amount of football that players play now… we’re at saturation point.
“Leagues don’t have a meaningful seat at the table at all. We’re not consulted on the big decisions. We think that’s wholly wrong and that’s why we’ve regrettably had to put in a complaint at the European Commission. We’ve all seen what’s happened over the summer, but it feels like more of the same.”
That complaint was lodged in October 2024 by European Leagues, the umbrella group that represents the interests of Europe’s leading domestic leagues, and FIFPro, the global players’ union. They want the Brussels-based body to investigate FIFA for potential breaches of European Union competition law, namely the abuse of a dominant market position.
Surely this summer’s FIFA drama is all the grounds the commission needs to open an investigation?
“The European Commission moves at its own pace,” said Masters, pumping the brakes.
“The European Leagues team is in pretty regular dialogue with the people there and at some point a decision will be made. We’re not going to put pressure on that process today.”
And while we wait for that, whither FIFA?
“What needs to happen is for another candidate to emerge with a new, different offer that can unify the confederations,” said Masters.
“Part of that offer should be to look at governance reform. That’s not to say it should be Europe dictating that reform — that’s not what this should be about. But, given what’s happened, it would be right to look at those governance structures and the role of the president.”
New money, great returns
While we were on the subject of FIFA, one of our number asked if any exciting, new private-equity fund had ever offered him a large cheque for a small slice of the league’s future revenues.
“We’ve never had those discussions with anybody,” he said firmly.
Really?
“Perhaps we don’t give out the right signals,” he said. “Even during Covid, when people had big problems in front of them, we didn’t go near a solution like that. The Premier League model works very well. We have a very strong media rights business, we’re number one in that market, and there’s no need for us to access that sector.”
That does not mean the league is against any of its clubs bringing in new investment, though. On the contrary. Asked how he feels about the prospect of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos being involved with Liverpool, Masters said: “That is proof positive that people still look at the Premier League and think it’s a strong investment.
“It’s also a testament to the job (current owner Fenway Sports Group) has done. Think about the club they bought all those years ago, the position it was in then and the position it’s in now, the progress they’ve made and all the trophies they’ve won.”
Jeff Bezos is part of a consortium that has bought 38 per cent of Liverpool for $2.7bn (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Quantity, not quality?
And Masters is right — nobody could accuse Premier League clubs, of all sizes, of not investing in new talent. No other league gets close to the Premier League’s net spend these days.
But that does not mean all the best players in the world play in the Premier League. Far from it. In fact, some might say almost none of the world’s best players play in the Premier League. Is that true? If so, is it a concern?
“I don’t think the Premier League has ever been led by stars — it’s the whole league offer, the competition,” said Masters.
“If this season has a title race, a race for European spots, a relegation battle and another few surprises along the way, that’s its inherent beauty. You never quite know what you’re going to get.
“It’s different in other leagues where they only have a couple of teams who can potentially win it, and they have star-studded line-ups. Of course, you’d like as many big names as you possibly can, but the Premier League has just under 50 per cent of the world’s top 100 players, so there is no shortage of quality within the league. And while we have a few big names leaving the stage, new stars will emerge.”
Fair points, all of them, but another of the Premier League’s great strengths was that it might not have been home to all of the world’s best players, but it was where the planet’s top coaches wanted to be. Is that still the case?
“I think you’ve got to give (the new managers) a chance,” he said.
“There are nine new managers and to get into a Premier League technical area you’ve got to be at the top of your profession. It’s a chance for the Premier League to look slightly different this season. One era finishes, another one starts.”
New deal or no deal
The English Football League will be hoping that sense of renewal applies to the topic of how English football shares its wealth. After all, the Premier League used to be known as Division One until the country’s biggest clubs realised that pay-TV channels were going to revolutionise sport and it would be nice if they got to keep more of that money for themselves.
Fair enough, you might think. That’s capitalism. All fine until you remember the Premier League remained connected to the rest of the game, with three teams coming up from the EFL each season and three teams going the other way.
Those broadcast billions do not belong solely to whichever 20 teams are in the top division in any given season. The Premier League has become a global sensation because it sits atop the world’s deepest and most vibrant professional football pyramid. That pyramid deserves a fair share of the credit and annual revenues.
So, how are talks going on between the Premier League and EFL to replace a financial distribution model that has been in place since 2019 and nobody thinks is fit for purpose anymore?
“Two weeks ago, our clubs unanimously approved a new proposal,” said Masters, encouragingly.
“It includes all the financial elements you’d expect: an increase in solidarity funding, a phased reduction in parachute payment and a whole bunch of other things.
“But we’ve agreed not to talk about it in public while we’re still negotiating how to make a deal work.”
Oh. And he meant it.
When asked if he was confident a deal can be done without needing the IFR’s involvement, he added: “We’re very much in favour of an industry-led solution and not having to use what could be a very damaging backstop process to find a resolution.
“I’m very optimistic. We think the proposal is fair to both sides.”
Any other business?
By this point, we had entered added time and we could hear the whistles from the league’s media team at the back of the room. It was time to fire random questions at him, speed-dating style.
When are we going to scrap the domestic TV blackout on Saturday afternoons?
“It’s not just our decision,” he sidestepped. “It’s us, the EFL and FA, and we’re all backing it for the next three seasons. In about 12 to 18 months, we’ll think about whether we’ll continue that. It’s an all-football decision and it’s quite a big one. But it’s a decision for the future.”
The Premier League keeps taking teams to North America for summer friendlies. Have you given up on China?
“No, we’re looking at it for next summer,” he said. “Our Asian fans are very important to us. We may end up there next summer.”
Like Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and the rest, the United Kingdom has a new gaffer in the dugout. What do you make of him?
“I haven’t spoken to (British Prime Minister and huge Everton fan Andy Burnham) since he’s taken over — he’s obviously a very busy man,” said Masters. “But we know he’s a big football fan, and he’s going to talk about football.
“But the Premier League is politically neutral; we have to get on with all governments and we think we can help. We will produce £33billion (in gross value added) over the next three years, with billions going to the exchequer. We support 110,000 jobs, all over the country, and we’re a fantastic global export, rooted in our communities.
“There’s so much good work that can be done with the whole of English football. We’re talking to the government about how we can help young people, how we can help with regional regeneration. We can be a real asset.”
And how about you, Richard? You have run the Premier League for seven years (which makes Burnham his sixth counterpart in No 10) — are you getting sick of our questions yet?
“It’s eight, actually. I include the interim year (in 2018),” he said, with a smile.
“No, I really enjoy it. It’s a privilege and opportunity to be involved in this incredible league.”
A positive note on which to finish and a good starting point for the new campaign. Good luck, everyone.
