The Premier League continues to cast a shadow over the rest of the world’s soccer leagues.
Nine of the 20 biggest clubs by revenue belong to the English league, according to Deloitte. The Premier League makes more from its overseas broadcasting rights alone (£2.1 billion/$2.8 billion a year) than any other league makes from its total broadcast revenue; its clubs generate almost twice as much from ticket sales (£920 million/$1.2 billion) as its nearest rival, LaLiga in Spain.
The Premier League is turning cash into trophies. Its clubs won the Europa League and the Europa Conference League last season, just as they did the previous year. Arsenal came within a penalty shootout of winning the Champions League. These victories, in turn, generate more prize money.
European soccer is now a case of the Premier League and the rest. However, there is one measure in which it is failing to pull its weight: star power.
One of the defining features of the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup was that the sport’s biggest players came to the party. But Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior, and Lamine Yamal all play in Spain. Harry Kane and Michael Olise are in Germany. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, respectively. Only one big global star, Erling Haaland, plays for an English club.
