Prem 'likes idea' of no Chelsea title
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore “likes the idea” of Chelsea struggling to defend their title this season, and told CNN that a new champion would be good for the “competitive dynamic” of the English top flight.
Chelsea finished eight points clear of second-placed Manchester City to lift last season’s title, but Mourinho’s side are 14 points behind league leaders Leicester City after just 13 games this term.
The Blues have lost seven games this season — four more times than in the whole of the 2014-15 campaign — and Mourinho has already suggested that another title is an “impossible mission… maybe Tom Cruise can do it.”
Scudamore says that the Premier League — which has agreed a record £5.136 billion British TV rights deal for the 2016-19 seasons — welcomes competition at the top of the table, but has backed Chelsea to bounce back.
“With no disrespect to Chelsea, we like the idea that the champions aren’t the champions next year and there is a new name on the trophy every year because it shows the competitive dynamic of the league,” he said.
“I don’t think their problems are entirely deep rooted. I think they’ll probably come back and finish the season a lot stronger because they are a very big club with hugely talented players and a very talented manager.”
Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester sit top of the table with 28 points from 13 games, and Scudamore says the form of teams such as the Foxes is positive in terms of attracting more interest in the Premier League.
Scudamore continued: “With Leicester doing so well, with West Ham doing so well, Crystal Palace doing so well, Southampton doing pretty well again, plus you know what we might call the ‘big six’ having mixed fortunes — that’s good for the league from a competitive point of view and from an interest point of view.”
However, the chief executive admitted that the idea of a “39th game” — first floated in 2008 with a view to each team playing a league game abroad for higher revenues — is not as important given the increasing commercial success of the division, as well as fan opposition.
“The commercial imperative perhaps isn’t there like it was seven or eight years ago,” he added. “I don’t think it’s as likely as it was then only because I think the fan reaction to it has been so negative in the UK.
“The core part of our show is that attending fan. Until you can get them comfortable with the idea I don’t think it’s really going to happen.
“It was more of a hedge against our commercial future and of course since that’s happened our commercial success has gone on growing and growing and growing both in the UK and internationally.”
The Premier League is set to overtake the NFL as the highest-earning sporting league in the world in terms of media income by 2017, according to a report by UEFA in late October.
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