ESPN published its second World Fame 100 list, and one thing is clear: soccer is head and shoulders more popular than any other sport.
A lot of footballers on ESPN's new World Fame 100 list. pic.twitter.com/PNFVNlIkMD
With the 2016-17 Premier League season in the books, we wanted to take a deep dive into how each team performed based on its payroll.
The final table reflected the spending gap between the top six teams and the rest. In fact, the eight teams that spent over $100 million in wages this season all finished in the top 8 of the table.
Although that might seem entirely too predictable, there was significant performance variance among those teams. Also, ninth place Bournemouth had one of the lowest payrolls, suggesting that they found some good players at a discount.
Mathematically eliminated from a top-four finish in the Premier League, Manchester United now know that they need to win the Europa League in order to qualify for next year's Champions League.
Andrea Pirlo was left out of the NYCFC lineup for the third straight week despite receiving a salary ($5.915 million) that’s greater than his entire club’s actual salary cap ($3.85m).
FIFA is up to some nonsense this week. Like, even more nonsense than usual.
The two men overseeing FIFA's ethics committee investigations and sanctions have been let go, as well as all but two ethics committee members.
Per The Guardian:
Lionel Messi has scored 51 goals in 49 games this season for Barcelona. So, it's no wonder that club executives are in a hurry to get negotiations over with and to get Messi's contract finalized.
It appears today that the club and Messi's agents may be close to a deal. Only a day after we reported that Messi's camp rejected Barcelona's initial offer, Barcelona VP Jordi Mestre said "it won't be long" before Lionel Messi signs a new contract with FC Barcelona.
Big ups to Steve Fenn (@StatHunting) for breaking down MLS wages by team and player in a brilliantly interactive infographic. You can get lost in this masterpiece for hours.
Every club that’s had an extended run in the Premier League is a perfect example for the transitive property (If a=b and b=c, then a=c) that affects modern football:
Many applauded MLS for the terms of its most recent TV deal in 2014. At a sum of $90 million per year from Fox, ESPN and Univision, it marked a five-fold increase from its previous annual broadcasting fees. Still, the league has a lot of catching up to do if it wants to compete with other top leagues.