The Premier League, by many accounts, should be enjoying its offseason, preparing for the next campaign, and working on ways to expand a post-pandemic economic recovery. Instead, the most dominant league in the world’s most popular sport is ensconced in infighting—in turn threatening that market-leading position. 

Manchester City, winners of the last four and six of the last seven EPL titles, are in the midst of two separate but interrelated issues that could upend the current league framework. The club is appearing before an arbitration tribunal this week, part of a larger effort to challenge existing EPL sponsorship rules. Those provisions—designed in part to discourage improper inflating of the value of clubs’ commercial agreements—are aimed at promoting competitive and economic fairness. 

But Man City has described that as a “tyranny of the majority” holding back its business and, as a result, is directly attacking the Founders Agreement of 1991 that serves as the EPL’s charter document.

The club, meanwhile, will also face this fall 115 charges of financial impropriety and failing to cooperate in a subsequent investigation. Some of the alleged breaches involved sponsorship deals tied to Man City’s owners in Abu Dhabi, and should the club successfully argue its case this month, it will be much harder for the league to win its offensive in the fall.

Some of this is slightly similar to challenges made in the 1990s by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to the NFL’s economic model, a situation resulting in dueling lawsuits that ultimately were settled. But the Cowboys—even at their height in the era of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin—never achieved the level of on-field dominance that Man City has, and much more money is now at stake in the EPL matter. 

More Problems

There are even more signs of stress within the top level of English pro soccer. Among them:

• Everton is again searching for a new owner after the collapse of a proposed deal with U.S.-based investor 777 Partners, and had two points deductions this past season for breaches of financial rules. 
• Nottingham Forest openly questioned the integrity of referees in a late-season loss, prompting an investigation from the U.K.’s Football Association. 
• The Wolverhampton Wanderers failed to garner any support for its bid to scrap video assistant referee (VAR) technology, but unease remains over the much-debated system.
• Economic imbalance also continues to be heavy as the 2023–24 player payroll for Man City of $278.5 million was more than nine times the $30.3 million outlay for Luton Town. By comparison, the Mets’ payroll of $308.6 million that leads MLB is less than five times Oakland’s $63 million.

Speaking recently with official club media, Man City chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak acknowledged an unease with the rush to judgment regarding his club in some circles.

“Of course, it’s frustrating,” he said. “I think the referencing is always frustrating, having it being talked about the way it’s being talked about.”

Americans love to get behind Team USA in pretty much every sport. From soccer to basketball to swimming, gymnastics, figure skating, and more, supporting the red, white, and blue is always a favorite pastime. 

This month, well before the Olympics are set to begin in Paris, another Team USA is gaining steam—this time in cricket, at the International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup taking place Stateside and in the West Indies. The U.S. beat Canada in its opening match last week and then pulled off a stunning upset of global cricket powerhouse Pakistan. On Wednesday, the U.S. will face the pre-tournament favorite, India, before its final group-stage match against Ireland on Friday.

It’s on … What?

The U.S., playing in its first T20 World Cup ever, needs a victory in one of those two matches to advance to the next round, which is called the Super 8s stage. Sounds like must-see TV, right? The only problem is you’ve probably never heard of the channel showing the game. If you thought truTV was obscure when it got some March Madness rights, buckle up.

Willow by Cricbuzz, a niche cricket-focused broadcaster, has ICC rights in the U.S. and Canada. Willow has said it is accessible in more than 70 million households, but typically only as part of premium-tier sports packages or South Asian packages, and sometimes only with a separate monthly subscription fee of at least $10 or more. Willow chief operating officer Todd Myers tells Front Office Sports the service is currently in four million homes.

Expanding Reach

To remedy that problem, Willow has worked out a deal with several of its provider partners to offer a free TV viewing of the U.S.-India match. Subscribers of Fubo TV, DirecTV, and Optimum will be able to watch the game without buying a subscription or more premium tier. That will boost Willow’s reach to 15 million households for Wednesday’s match. 

Willow ran a similar promotion during the first week of the T20 World Cup. However, the two largest providers in the U.S., Charter and Comcast, are not included. “We reached out to a number of our other partners, and some of them really wanted to do it; they just couldn’t, operationally,” says Myers. “In all disclosure, this is a last-minute request that came from us.” He says this will likely be the last free preview of the tournament, even if the U.S. advances.

Willow is owned by The Times Group, an Indian media conglomerate with several English-language outlets. One of the company’s executives, Satyan Gajwani, is an investor in Major League Cricket, which will play its second season this month and has a five-year media-rights deal with Willow.

A New Frontier

After the U.S. played its first two matches of the T20 World Cup in Texas, Wednesday’s contest will be held in New York, where 34,000 fans watched India beat Pakistan on Sunday. On Monday, USA Cricket released—and quickly sold out of—an extra allotment of tickets for the India match that were priced at $350 each.