Correcting/Clarifying my Premier League Podcast assertions

So I was technically correct but lacked proper context around my statements which was irresponsible.

Earlier today we released a podcast that discussed Premier League fandom in the United States. I had claimed in the podcast that the Premier League was a lot less popular in England than the NFL is in the United States, though I would readily concede globally the Premier League is FAR more popular.

I went through my experiences in England, which I visit a lot and how many football fans in England were turned off Premier League fandom. Two people I respect enormously challenged my assertions privately. I take accountability seriously and thus if I make a mistake I OWN it.

So as a result I reached out to a former television executive who knows the numbers and knows this stuff cold to ask if I was wrong. As it turns out he listened to the audio version of the podcast and said I was technically correct based on TV and streaming numbers but quite possibly incorrect based on the context.

So here is the clarification:

• Based on the numbers watching the Premier League within the UK on Sky and TNT, I was absolutely correct. In fact, based on those numbers the Premier League is less popular than college football in the US he said, let alone the NFL. In fact he said the numbers aren’t if extrapolated out that much better than the best NBC Prem broadcasts here. But...

• He stated because so many fans are AT MATCHES on Saturday’s and Sunday’s outside of the Premier League (mirroring my point about lower divisions) whereas American Football especially with the NFL is basically a MEDIA PROPERTY. There are 47 pro football (soccer) matches each weekend within England, and the country is the size of Florida. Whereas there are only 16 pro football games in the US each weekend in a country much larger geographically. So football in England is a more attend your local game thing, thus you must look at things like merchandise sales, traveling fans etc. He said based on that the Prem is roughly equivalent domestically in the UK to the NFL in the US- though he conceded again the TV/streaming numbers are much lower, representing less than 10% of a potential television audience in the UK unlike what the NFL or college football does in the US. Those of us tracking TV numbers (I have not done this since I left World Soccer Talk in 2024, but when I did, wow, NFL numbers were stunning) in the US are often blown away by the numbers the NFL does- it’s off-the-charts compared to ANYTHING else on American television except maybe Election night. But as this contact reminded me the NFL is A TV-ORIENTED PROPERTY. English football is not.

So the bottom line is it is complicated. I should not have asserted something definitively which I concede was based on television viewership numbers backed up by my own anecdotal evidence. As time has evolved the NFL and College Football to a lesser extent have become media-driven whereas football in England in spite of all the complaints about big money and kickoff times being changed etc is still about in-person attendance AND buying kits, scarves, etc.

• As for my assertion that the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup was driving new fandom, he agreed totally but said that was largely driven by the tournament being in France, this the start times being PERFECT for UK TV. Other Men’s and Women’s World Cups have had huge audiences around England matches specifically but rarely the casual buzz of people watching every match like that WWC- because it was right across the channel. I must admit that was not something that crossed my mind while recording the podcast.

• In terms of my 2008 conversations he said people were bitter at the time England missed qualifying for Euro 2008 and thus people were REALLY DOWN on the Prem at the time blaming it for England’s failures. Now that England regularly makes Semifinals of major tournaments that attitude while not totally gone is less evident.