The English Premier League is one of the most popular and commercially successful football leagues on the planet. Not only do millions of people watch matches in the United Kingdom and Europe, but many more have a fanatical interest in the league around the world.
The current format of the Premier League consists of each team playing 38 games in a season, with the team that finishes with the most points winning the championship. The money men associated with the Premier League have longed to set up a 39th match for each team, which would take place outside the UK.
Let's find out more about why the league hopes to add a 39th game in future and why it may never happen.
Europe's most popular league
When fans look at soccer odds to consider on various betting sites, Premier League matches are often listed near the top. This is because the English Premier League is significantly more popular in Europe and around the world, compared to the Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, German Bundesliga, and French Ligue 1.
Teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, and Bayern Munich are popular with many millions of fans around the world but their leagues still do not match up to the Premier League in popularity.
Prize money is one way to assess whether a league is healthy. A quick glance at European soccer financial tables shows that even the teams that finish in the bottom half of the Premier League bring in as much TV money as some of the top sides in Italy, Germany, and France.
Sacred league format
While American sports typically involve a regular season, playoffs, and then a championship match to decide who wins the trophy, the Premier League has a set method for determining its champion.
The Premier League relies solely on a league structure, with each team having to play the other 19 teams in the league twice, with one match at home and the other away from home. Games typically take place between August and May, with the Christmas and New Year period exceptionally busy, as teams play matches every two or three days during the holiday season.
Not only have English fans and other followers of the Premier League grown up with this format, they also believe it is the best way to determine the eventual champion. Any team can beat another on a given day, but the most consistent team that earns the highest number of points at the end of the season is a worthy champion.
Attempted breakaways
Controversy hit European football in the spring when shock news came through from the New York Times and other sources. Certain top European clubs had decided to breakaway from their domestic league structures and the UEFA competitions to form a European Super League.
The “big six” in the Premier League: Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Tottenham, joined the Super League. Other clubs included Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Milan, Inter, and Atlético Madrid.
As news emerged, fans, pundits, football officials, and government officials in the UK had found a unifying cause. They did not want the breakaway to happen, as it meant those clubs would always play each other in a separate league, with no promotion or relegation.
The present English soccer structure sees the bottom three teams in the Premier League relegated to the second division, while lower divisions also have promotion and relegation every year.
Depending on who wins cup competitions, the top six to eight teams in the Premier League compete in the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, or Europa Conference League with other European teams. These places are earned on merit every season, which would not have been the case with the Super League.
Within a few days, all six Premier League clubs abandoned their Super League plans, and the project was all but cancelled as a result of fan backlash.
Adding a 39th game to the calendar
Another idea that English clubs have floated is to host a 39th game each season, with every team playing one extra match a season. The Premier League hopes that by setting up such a game, they can enhance the league's appeal to fans worldwide.
Premier League clubs routinely visit countries in Asia, Africa, and North America for pre-season tours, selling out large capacity stadiums for games that have no stakes. Officials at top Premier League clubs are aware that playing competitive games abroad would lead to a more significant demand for tickets to those matches.
The issue with adding a 39th game to the Premier League calendar is that it would require a change in the league's rules. Adjusting the format of the league, where every team plays each other at home and away, would be a significant undertaking with no simple or elegant solution.
Premier League officials are also aware of fan sentiment around the issue. While some fans of English clubs around the world find the idea appealing, the clear majority of supporters in England find the idea reprehensible. Such fan animosity towards the idea is why the Premier League is yet to give the go ahead for any proposal to add a 39th game to the calendar.
Fan backlash to Super League and 39th game proposals
Clubs in England were stunned at the way supporters reacted when news of the European Super League came through. Sports fans in other countries may have found it interesting that Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham, and Chelsea would play other European heavyweights throughout the year in a league format. However, English fans were having none of it.
The Premier League, Football Association, UEFA, and even the UK government stepped in to ensure that the Super League did not go any further. Watching that proposal disappear within days, as the six English clubs withdrew and pledged to remain within the Premier League and UEFA parameters, shows that fans are still the champions of English soccer.
Hosting a 39th game for each team, and having those matches abroad, is a fantasy for the owners of Premier League clubs. They do believe that one day such a round will be added to the league, but there does not appear to be any appetite from fans to see a 39th game in the near future.
