Raise your hand if you watch the NFL. Image from bet.comImage from gq.com

U.S. vs. Europe Last 7 Super Bowl WinnersLast 7 Premier League Winners 2009 – Pittsburgh Steelers2009 – Manchester United 2010 – New Orleans Saints Chelsea 2011 – Green Bay Packers2011 – Manchester United 2012 – New York Giants2012 – Manchester City 2013 – Baltimore Ravens2013 – Manchester United 2014 – Seattle Seahawks2014 – Manchester City 2015 – New England Patriots Chelsea

Clarence Htoo Independent Research G/T Reservoir High School MONEY CAN BUY TROPHIES: THE INFLUENCE OF MONEY IN EUROPEAN SOCCER

PRESENTATION’S OBJECTIVES Discuss the differences between sports leagues in the U.S. and Europe Describe the influence of money on the success of teams Explain how the transfer market system functions Identify the differences in competitive balance in the U.S. and Europe

STRUCTURE OF THE LEAGUES AMERICAN LEAGUES NFL Baltimore Ravens Washington Redskins New York Giants EUROPEAN LEAGUES Manchester United Arsenal Chelsea ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

FINANCIAL HEALTH OF TEAMS Americans sports leagues are businesses and the purpose of the organizations is to make money for the owners. Most teams are financially stable. Inage from European sports leagues are more focused on winning instead of making a profit. Many teams end up in debt because they spend money they do not have in order to win. Image from

SALARY CAP American sports leagues use a salary cap system. The salary cap limits the amount of money that teams are allowed spend on the salaries of their players. Highest Spenders – Philadelphia Eagles $150,222,296 Lowest Spenders – Tampa Bay Buccaneers $123,920,922 (82.49% of the amount spent by Philadelphia) No salary caps in European soccer leagues. Highest Spenders – Manchester United £215.8m Lowest Spenders – Burnley £21.5m (9.96% of the amount spent by Manchester) Data from totalsportek.com and spotrac.com

TRANSFER WINDOW A period during the year where soccer teams buy and sell players from one team to another. Rich teams use this as an opportunity to buy the best players from small teams by spending huge amounts of money. The world record for the highest transfer fee has been broken 3 times in the last 15 years. World Record in £46m World Record in £85m Data and Image from telegraph.co.uk

MY RESEARCH Conducted correlational research to show the relationship between amount of money spent on salaries and the results in the Premier League. Calculated the correlation coefficient to see the correlation between the two variables. The correlation coefficient for all 8 seasons were closer to 1.0. (Closer to 1.0 = positive correlation, closer to 0 = no correlation, closer to 0 = negative correlation) The two variables have a positive correlation.

RESULTS Correlation coefficient (r): Correlation coefficient (r): 0.878

SOLUTIONS Implement a American-style salary cap in European soccer leagues. Will prevent the rich teams from acquiring all the best players. Will keep the teams financially equal. Challenges:

FUTURE PLANS Create a movie explaining the economics of European soccer leagues compared to American professional sports leagues Present the movie in an AP Government class. Image from videomaker.com

CONCLUSION The influence of money in European soccer competitions is growing European soccer teams are much more financially unequal compared to American sports teams. The financial inequality results in competitive imbalance in European soccer leagues.

QUESTIONS?