The Influence of Money in Modern Football
There is no doubt that money significantly influences modern football in many ways. In the near past football clubs used to be filled with local heroes that earned reasonable pays and clubs relied on sold tickets for their matches. That is now history, as modern football teams no longer belong to local neighborhoods. They grew into global corporations that build huge stadiums and earn money by following specific business models. Football players today earn astronomical wages, while their teams generate huge revenues from sponsorship deals, television rights and merchandise. Modern football is all about business and there is no love of the game or loyalty anymore. Also tickets for games are so expensive that they became a privilege for upper classes that treat football stadiums like theaters. On top of that, the games have become predictable because the rich clubs are getting richer and more powerful at the expense of the poor small clubs.
How Money Affected Football Federations on All Continents
Almost all countries, football federations and clubs are affected by the influx of money. For example, in Asia online sportsbooks are generating millions of dollars in revenue from people that bet on outcome of games. Sometimes these sportsbooks affect how players perform so we are often reading about players and teams that are trying to fix their matches for money.
South America is affected by European money a lot because the biggest clubs in Europe are paying enormous amounts of money to get the biggest talents from the continent. South America is known as place where many football stars are born and rich clubs are paying huge sums hoping to get the next big world football star. There are many scouts that follow the matches in South America and they are also spending big money in search of local talent.
When it comes to Africa, this continent was a place where clubs could get some great players at reasonable prices, but that is long gone now. Today African football stars make transfers for very big amounts of money. There are many talented players on the continent, although the youth football program is still not at highest level. However, many famous European clubs have opened their youth academies on the continent, hoping to find the next big football star from the African continent.
Regarding Europe, that is where all the money in football is. The biggest clubs in Europe are splashing cash without thinking when it comes to getting best players from all parts of the world. This has led to big gap between top clubs and smaller local clubs, and that gap is expected to continue to widen. Today surprises rarely happen in football as the best clubs are almost impossible to beat unless they have a very bad day.
At the end, we can conclude that the romantic dream of football as a game between two equally matched teams led by a charismatic and creative coaches trying to win is slowly fading away.
