Can the Premier League Maintain its Dominance in Asian Market?
The Premier League is the most powerful football league in the world, enjoying a reach to all corners of the globe. The brand has been built on the reputation of top-flight-quality football being played by superstar players, who produce high levels of skill and jaw-dropping moments on a weekly basis. In particular, teams like Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal have entrenched themselves with supporters around the world due to their exploits in the Premier League and Champions League. Expansive television deals have certainly helped.
In recent years, Manchester City and Tottenham have followed suit, with City enjoying a dominant hold over the Premier League crown over the last six years since the arrival of Pep Guardiola. It is no surprise to note that the Premier League is exceptionally popular in Europe, but interestingly, it has also branched out across the Atlantic to the United States with a number of clubs taking pre-season tours to the USA. The amount of clubs owned by Americans has strengthened the ties between the Premier League and the States.
The Premier League has also enjoyed an excellent run in Asia, with clubs traveling to the continent every two years since 2003 during pre-season for the Premier League Asia Trophy. It has not only allowed fans to witness the leading lights of the top flight such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester City, but also other clubs such as Fulham, Newcastle, Sunderland, and West Ham. The Premier League Asia Trophy has historically been well attended and staged in countries such as Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Shanghai, and Singapore.
The scope of the tournament has brought a new audience to the Premier League and opened up the possibilities for television deals to bring matches to the market on a weekly basis during the regular season. Not only has it opened up the possibility of watching matches, but also the prospect of betting on the Premier League in countries in Asia (even those that did not stage games in the Asia Trophy such as Vietnam and Thailand).
The Premier League is arguably the most popular league to bet on in the world, and notably in the Asian market. Due to the strong commitments made by the league to find roots in Asia, you can turn to any football betting site (trang cá cược bóng đá) to find great value odds and markets on the Premier League. For those that are entering betting for the first time, there is no shortage of offers to use on England's top flight, highlighting the special hold that Premier League football has on the region. It looks to only strengthen its presence with reports suggesting that the hierarchy is looking for a position to take a regular-season game overseas, with Asia one of the destinations mooted.
Although the Premier League remains the dominant force in the world for football, other sports in the world are beginning to spread their wings into new markets. For example, the cricket market is dominant in Asia, especially in India and Pakistan. The Indian Premier League is growing in strength and harbors ambitions of matching the reach of the Premier League, and has recently signed a substantial television deal to match those seen elsewhere in world sport.
In addition, sprawling franchises such as the NBA have already played pre-season matches in China and are aiming to position themselves as the leading sport in the nation. Players of the ilk of LeBron James could have the opportunity to grace the court in China in the future. Of course, there is ample room for growth for the NBA, with a number of Chinese players already playing in the league.
The NFL is also a danger to the Premier League. It does not have widespread appeal for the Asian market yet, but it is starting to branch out deeper into Europe with an international game added in Munich for the 2022 campaign. The NFL has been the boldest league to play a slate of regular-season games in London for the past 14 years. They may continue that approach to conquer the Asian market.
Therefore, even though the Premier League already has strong roots in Asia, more work is required now and in the future to ensure it remains the integral force. The Asia Trophy will no doubt return in the future, but a regular-season game might have to be in the offing to keep its legions of fans satisfied.