有很多原因可以解釋為什么英超可以成為現象級的商業體，一是英國對出售版權至海外市場持開放態度，二是英超俱樂部都很擁護和迎合全球觀眾。在未來一段時間里，英超依然會是全球最吸引人的賽事之一。
如果說今年英超的俱樂部有什么參賽原則，那就是：千萬不要降級。
原因很簡單，下賽季起，英超新的國內電視轉播合同就將生效。根據2015年2月份的官方聲明，2016至2019賽季之間的3個賽季，英超和俱樂部得到的合同金額是破紀錄的51億英鎊。
天空電視臺（Sky）在競標中，以42億英鎊的價格拿下了7個電視轉播套餐中的5個，競爭對手BT則用9.6億英鎊競拍得到另外二項。總體而言，新合同的價值比雙方上一份合同高出了71%。
一些評論員由此預計，即便是下賽季英超排名墊底的球隊，也可以獲得1億英鎊以上的英超獎金分成，這就是為什么本賽季英超球隊堅決要避免降級的命運。
新的電視轉播合同幫助俱樂部獲得更加豐厚的財務回報，而作為英超主流消費模式的衛星電視也同樣如此。事實確實如此，除非住在大不列顛的人們向Sky或BT支付訂閱費用，不然他們就無法在未來3年看任何英超賽事。
這種現象并不新鮮，英超俱樂部的富有和全球存在感都是建立在衛星電視這個平臺上的。對于那些只能觀看地區性無線電視的英國人，他們一般只好通過觀看英超集錦來滿足自己。
不過，英國電視直播足球的歷史與現狀截然不同。俱樂部賽事和國家隊比賽分別由BBC在1937年和1938年進行了第一次錄播，而第一場俱樂部賽事的電視現場直播，則發生在1946年。
盡管如此，接下來的十年只有部分的國家隊賽事和足總杯決賽在電視上轉播。具有重大意義的是，后者在日后成為了英國體育的“王冠（Crown Jewels）”賽事并延續至今。
所謂“王冠”賽事，是指極少部分，被政府定義為對國家認同感和社會幸福感有重要促進意義的賽事，因此在法律上，此類賽事不可以在付費電視上獨家播放。因此，足總杯甚至到今天都是在無線電視直播的。
60到70年代之間，英國對足球節目的胃口逐步成長，一些賽事集錦節目也在這段時間熱播。與此同時，英足總也意識到了全世界對英國足球的興趣。
▲ 萊斯特城這支球隊的異軍突起使英超精彩程度大增。
由此，這段時間也因為英國體育賽事海外版權的熱銷而著名。在某種程度上，這先行一步所獲得的競爭優勢也解釋了為什么如今英國足球的商業力量會排在與其競爭的歐洲其他聯賽之上。
到了80年代后期，得益于英國電視節目對現場直播需求的增強，這種競爭優勢得到了擴大。其結果就是電視版權價格的巨大上漲。1988年，ITV(一家獨立電視公司)以4400萬英鎊購買了4年的電視版權。而在1983年，兩年的合同只花了520萬英鎊。
版權價格的激增預示了一些事件的到來；1992年，當英國的頂級聯賽被重新打造并以“英超”的形式推出，天空電視臺成功拍得電視轉播版權。此舉標志著足球轉播從無線電視轉至衛星電視，與此同時，這也史無前例的使得更多比賽在不同時間段（大部分比賽在周日和周一下午），在電視上被轉播。
1992年，英超和天空電視臺最開始的合同價值1.91億英鎊；而天空電視臺與英超簽下2004至2007賽季的電視轉播合同時，和同價值已增至10.2億英鎊。在此期間，英國國內和歐洲賽事機構開始緊密關注天空電視臺和英超是如何完成電視轉播合同的買賣業務的。
由此產生的效應是，從2007年開始的新一輪英超電視轉播權由一支市場新軍Setanta和天空電視臺以17億英鎊一同購得。到了2013年，前身是國家電信公司的BT成為了另外一支進入市場的新軍。天空電視臺和BT共同購得版權，價格總值31億英鎊，兩家公司分享賽事轉播版權。
當國內的版權價格在急劇地增長，海外轉播收益也在增加。1992年，英超將賽事版權出售至200多個國家，賺得3800萬英鎊。到2016年，這個數字有望達到11億英鎊，甚至更多。
有很多原因可以解釋為什么英超可以成為此等現象級的商業體，一個原因是英國一直對出售版權至海外市場持開放態度，德甲就做不到英超這樣的態度。
同時，英超和英超俱樂部都很擁護調整開球時間以迎合國內和全球觀眾。一些如同西班牙一樣正在遭受經濟危機的聯賽，其失敗的原因正是因為沒有對變化的市場和不同地區球迷的需求做出回應。
同樣地，因為歷史上西班牙俱樂部往往以單個球隊的形式談判電視轉播合同，而英國俱樂部則通過英超以整體的形式談判轉播合同。對轉播方來說，這使英超成為了更具吸引力的產品，從而加強了英超和球隊的談判籌碼。
當然，這種轉播權的銷售模式也存在著諸多為題，比較顯著的是俱樂部將轉播版權的控制權讓給了英超。一些人也質疑英超分配獎金的方法是否合理、公正和可接受。話雖如此，一些關于俱樂部從英超分離出來的傳言并不意味著他們對現在的制度存在著不滿。
展望未來，英超轉播合同還會繼續上漲，一些天空電視臺的競爭對手花了很長時間來監測市場，特別包括探索頻道（Discovery）、半島電視臺（Al Jazeera）和ESPN。同時，數字科技和社交媒體的進步也意味著市場并不缺少機會。
因此，至少在不短的時間內，我們仍然可以期待英超繼續成為全球最吸引人的賽事轉播之一。
??英文原文：
If there has been a guiding principle forEnglish football’s Premier League (PL) clubs this season it is this: ‘don’t getrelegated at the end of the season’.
The reason for this is very clear; at thestart of next season, the PL’s new domestic television deal begins. Announcedin February 2015, the deal is a record breaking one worth ￡5.1 billion to thePremier League and its clubs between 2016 and 2019.
Sky paid ￡4.2 billion for five of seven TV packages on offer, whilerival BT paid ￡960 million for the other two in a TV rights auction. In total,the deals are worth 71% more than Sky and BT’s previous contracts with the PL.
Some commentators have therefore predicted that even the club finishingin last place at the end of next season’s league will be likely to earn upwardsof ￡100 million in PL prize money alone. This is why for clubs in this season’sPL relegation has not been an option.
While the financial returns associated with being a PL club have beenstrengthened by the new deal, so too has the PL’s main mode of consumption –satellite television. Indeed, unless someone in Great Britain pays asubscription to either Sky or BT, they will be unable to watch any games liveon their television over the next three years.
Yet this situation is nothing new, satellite television has been theplatform upon which the financial power and global presence has been built. Forthose British people who only have terrestrial television at their disposal,then they normally have to satisfy themselves with watching short edited PLhighlights programmes.
The history of football on British television is rather different thoughfrom the current situation. Club and international games were first broadcaston the BBC (the country’s state broadcaster) in 1937 and 1938 respectively. Thefirst live club game was then broadcast on television during 1946.
However, for the next decade little football was shown on television,part from England internationals and the Football Association (FA) Cup Final.Significantly, the latter became one of British sport’s ‘Crown Jewels’, aposition the competition retains today.
The ‘Crown Jewels’ is a small number of sporting competitions that arethought by the government to be so important to national identity and socialwell-being that, by law, they cannot be shown exclusively on pay-TV channels.Hence, the FA Cup even today is broadcast on terrestrial television.
Throughout the 1960s and 70s, the appetite for football on televisiongrew in Britain and several highlights format programme emerged during thisperiod. At the same time, the English FA always became aware of significantglobal interest in its football.
The period was therefore also characterised by a growing number ofoverseas broadcasters acquiring the rights to show English games. In part, thisfirst-mover competitive advantage explains why English football today retainsits commercial power ahead of its rival European leagues.
By the late 1980s, such had been the rise in demand for televisedEnglish football that games were increasingly being shown live on television.This was reflected in a massive increase in the value of television rights. In1988, ITV (an independent television company) acquired the rights in a fouryear deal worth ￡44 million. In 1983, a two year deal had cost only ￡5.2million.
This proliferation in values was a portent of things to come; in 1992, asthe English First Division was re-branded and re-launched as the PL, Skysuccessfully bid for the television rights. This marked the move of footballfrom terrestrial to satellite TV and at the same time resulted in more gamesthan ever before being shown on television, and at different times too (mostnotably Sundays and Monday evenings).
In 1992, its original deal with Sky cost ￡191 million; by the time Skysigned its deal with the PL for the period 2004-2007, the new deal’s value hadincreased to ￡1.02 billion. Around that time though, domestic and Europeancompetition authorities had started to pay close attention to the way in whichSky and the PL were buying and selling television contracts.
As a consequence, in the next deal running from 2007 the PL soldtelevision rights to both Sky and a new market entrant, Setanta, for ￡1.7billion. By 2013, another company had entered the market – BT, the former statetelecommunications company. With Sky and BT successfully bidding, this deal wasworth ￡3.1 billion, both companies sharing the right to broadcast games.
While rights values were surging dramatically at home, overseasbroadcasting revenues were also growing. In 1992, the PL made ￡38 million byselling the rights to show games in more than 200 countries; by 2016, thisfigure is expected to be ￡1.1 billion or more.
There are several reasons why the PL has become such a commercialphenomenon. One reason is that the English have always been open to sellingrights overseas, in a way that the likes of Germany’s Bundesliga has not.
At the same time, the PL and its clubs have embraced the idea of needingto change kick-off times to suit TV audiences, both domestically and overseas.In countries such as Spain, leagues have suffered financially by failing torespond to the changing nature and location of TV audiences.
Similarly, whereas Spanish clubs have historically negotiated televisionrights deals on an individual basis, English clubs negotiate as a collectivethrough the PL. This creates a more compelling product proposition forbroadcasters to buy, while strengthening the negotiating position of the PL andits members.
There are clearly some issues with this model of selling rights, notablythat clubs effectively cede control of broadcast rights revenue generation tothe PL. Some also question whether the way in which the PL allocates suchrevenues is appropriate, fair or acceptable. That said, any talk of clubsbreaking away from the PL is non-existent implying their general satisfactionwith the current system.
Looking ahead, one can only see further growth in the value of PLtelevision rights values. Several rivals to Sky have long been monitoring themarket, most notably including Discovery, Al Jazeera and ESPN. At the sametime, developments in digital technology and the likes of social media willpresent ongoing opportunities.
In the medium-term at least, we should therefore expect the PL to retainits position as one of the world’s most appealing broadcasting properties.
作者簡介：西蒙·查德威克，任教于英國索爾福德大學，被聘為“92班“教授，教授“體育企業”，“體育戰略”等課程。同時他還擔任2022卡塔爾世界杯研究項目主任。與西蒙·查德威克教授合作過的世界頂級體育組織包括巴塞羅那足球俱樂部、歐足聯、德國足球甲級聯賽、阿迪達斯、米其林、國際網球聯合會、德勤和Repucom。
Simon Chadwick is 'Class of 92' Professor of Sports Enterprise at Salford University Manchester and Director of Research for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. He has worked with many of the world's leading sports organisations including FC Barcelona, UEFA, the Bundesliga, Adidas, Michelin Motorsport, the International Tennis Federation, Deloitte and Repucom.
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聲明：文中觀點僅代表作者本人觀點，不代表懶熊體育。
