Football: English Premier League to introduce a Salary Cap
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
Association Football is the world’s most popular sport and also the most lucrative one!
The English Premier League is the most popular one and the average income of a Club playing in the League is €323 million.
A plan to introduce, beginning with the 2025-26 season, a salary cap was approved on 29 April 2024 at the shareholders’ meeting of the League.
Under the plan, payrolls would be capped at five times the TV revenue of the Club that finished in the 20th position.
The plan is due to be voted on at the Annual General Meeting of the League, which will be held in June of this year.
Not all the Clubs are in favour of the salary cap: Manchester United, Manchester City and Aston Villa are reported to have voted against the plan, whilst Chelsea abstained.
The plan would work in conjunction with the squad cost controls that will come into effect in 2025, replacing the current Profit and Sustainability Rules. Clubs will be limited to spending 85% of their total revenue on wages, transfer payments and agents’ fees.
The Professional Footballers’ Association, the players’ union, have reserved judgement on the plan, awaiting final details, but are in favour, in principle, of the introduction of a salary cap in the English Premier League.
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
