E15: Matt Slater On The Rise of The Premier League

Matt Slater joins us to discuss the rise of the Premier League. Matt is a senior football news reporter for The Athletic UK. Before that, he spent 16 years with the BBC and then three years as chief sports reporter for the UK/Ireland's main news agency, PA. Follow Matt on ⁠Twitter⁠ to keep up to date with top-tier reporting, and check out his latest articles for The Athletic. Timestamps: 00:00 - Welcome Matt Slater! 00:20 - Insights from the FIFA Congress in Rwanda 08:25 - Matt’s role at The Athletic 10:08 - Why was the Premier League founded in 1992? 15:51 - The English football pyramid - and should more money flow down to the EFL? 19:22 - The need for an independent regulator in English football, and the ‘Owners’ and Directors’ Test’ 24:56 - How did the Premier League become the most lucrative league in the world? 30:41 - Distribution of broadcasting revenues in European football 38:21 - Expansion of the Champions League, Super League, cross-border leagues, and creating an OTT streaming service  39:56 - The pandemic hurt all leagues, but hurt the Premier League the least 41:03 - How Brexit has driven up prices for Premier League prices 41:53 - Premier League clubs are putting their foot on the accelerator 43:19 - International fans have easier and cheaper access to televised Premier League games than UK fans 46:28 - Challenges for the Premier League If you're enjoying the podcast, follow, subscribe, and rate us on ⁠Spotify⁠ and ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠, and YouTube. Instagram: @⁠whatsgoingon.podcast⁠ Twitter: @⁠wgofootball YouTube: @WhatsGoingOnPodcast