Which clubs would make up the most financially attractive Premier League?

[Sheffsteel]

This question was asked today on the "Question and Answer" segment of the latest "The Price of Football" podcast.

This bi weekly podcast is run by 2 Londonders.
Comedian Kevin Day, who is a Crystal Palace fan and
and University of Liverpool finance lecturer Kieran Maguire, who is a Brighton fan.

Kieran Maguire answered the question and admitted that he has the stats regards history, wealth and commerciality of every club
saying that if we could choose the biggest and most commercially viable clubs for the PL.

He said you would drop 5 clubs, Bournmouth, Brentford, Fulham, Crystal Palace and Brighton (notice how they are all Southern clubs)

and replace them with Sunderland, Sheffield United, Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday and possibly Middlesboro (notice how they are all Northern clubs)

Kevin Day commented that he agreed with the list apart from he wasn't sure about Middlesboro and said he would probably swap them for Norwich City.
Maguire admitted that those 2 clubs are close regards size/ attractiveness however he said he was also thinking about hubs and powerhouse areas.
He said in his opinion it's good for football when the 3 North East clubs (Newcastle, Sunderland and Boro) are all in the top flight.

Kieran also commented that his list was based on the current situation and he did mention
that in a few years time you might find that a club like Wrexham would be seen as an attractive preferred addition to the Premier League.

 

[Houston_Blade]

I found out what Kevin Day looked like recently, it was on one of those 'Top 50' type shows and he's not what I expected at all. Also not very funny for a comedian.

I used to listen to Price of Football but I find it very noddy in terms of the points Maguire makes (I know he's trying to dumb it down for people but he's actually wrong a lot of the time) and the 2 presenters and their 'bantz' really wear thin after a few episodes.

 

[wak1889]

If you were going on history then West brom would have to be in ahead of some like Southampton who are of a similar size and fan base ,

 

[Sheffsteel]

If you were going on history then West brom would have to be in ahead of some like Southampton who are of a similar size and fan base ,

Agree West Brom have a great history, more seasons in the top flight that us, more FA cups wins, more league cup wins, the same number of titles though.

I think it's their low stadium capacity that lowers their stature.
In the last 50 years their highest average attendance is only 26,731 and they've rarely averaged over 25K in that time.

The last time they had more than 30K in their stadium was during the 1980-81 season but they still averaged only 20K that season.

 

[Charlieblade]

It should be based on football ability, otherwise, millionaires would dominate the top end of the game. Oh wait …..

 

[Revolution]

I found out what Kevin Day looked like recently, it was on one of those 'Top 50' type shows and he's not what I expected at all. Also not very funny for a comedian.

I used to listen to Price of Football but I find it very noddy in terms of the points Maguire makes (I know he's trying to dumb it down for people but he's actually wrong a lot of the time) and the 2 presenters and their 'bantz' really wear thin after a few episodes.

I listen to every episode but of all the podcasts in my rotation it's my least favourite.

Pros: Maguire does good research and has good connections, they are a good source of football business news (probably the best free source going) their views on wealth distribution in football are similar to my own (they have both supported their teams for decades and have suffered at times as we have suffered).

Cons: The bantz is awful (you need to listen to it with your finger over the 30 second skip button) and when Maguire strays outside accountancy he's not so good. Many of the questions they field are more legal than accountancy based and he's often wrong or guessing.

Kevin Day comes across as a really nice bloke and he's a decent presenter, but I agree, he's just not very funny.

 

[JJBlade]

Agree West Brom have a great history, more seasons in the top flight that us, more FA cups wins, more league cup wins, the same number of titles though.

I think it's their low stadium capacity that lowers their stature.
In the last 50 years their highest average attendance is only 26,731 and they've rarely averaged over 25K in that time.

The last time they had more than 30K in their stadium was during the 1980-81 season but they still averaged only 20K that season.

This is the problem with low capacity stadiums
You eventually get a fanbase that reflects it

Perhaps that's what Sheffield City Council are trying to do to us

At the time of the Hillsborough disaster our stadium held 49,000, and we can now only get 29,000 in.

Even the death trap itself hasn't lost 20,000 spaces

 

[Eels]

"Biggest and most commercially viable". Does that mean richest owners? or who gets the best viewing figures when they're on TV? or the most likes on social media?

 

[Sheffsteel]

"Biggest and most commercially viable". Does that mean richest owners? or who gets the best viewing figures when they're on TV? or the most likes on social media?

It was part of the question and answer section and a listener asked the question basically asking them

if you could hand pick which clubs you wanted in the Premier League in order to make it more of a spectacle, more commercially viable with all the big clubs in it.
Which clubs would you pick?

They said this could be relevant this season as it's possible that 3 big clubs could all be relegated down the Championship.
He quoted Everton, Leeds and Wolves as clubs that could easily go out of the PL this season.

So Kieran Maguire clarified that he does have some data that determines the size of a club
and he said he would drop Bournmouth, Brentford, Palace, Brighton and Fulham
and replace those 5 with Sunderland, Sheff United, Derby, Sheff Wed and he said probably Middlesboro.

However he kind of inferred that geographical hubs played a part in his decision.
So he's kind of saying there are too many PL clubs based in London so that is already a massively strong hub and can lose some clubs. Therefore he felt that English football needed a strong North East hub (with Sunlan, Newcastle and Boro) and a strong Yorkshire hub (with Leeds, United and Wednesday).

He also said that his list is only based on now, and he mentioned Wrexham
explaining that in 10 years time Wrexham might bee seen as a preferred addition to the Premier League to make the league better.

Obviously the league should be decided on merit but that wasn't the question he was asked,
he was asked if you could hand select the biggest/ most commercially attractive 18 clubs to compete in the PL which clubs would they be?