The big five comprises of the five best leagues in Europe and arguably in the whole world, they are the leaders in Revenue, talent attraction and competitiveness this invariably attracts more revenue, global viewership and more silverware, these were clearly manifested in the late 20th century until now. Interestingly, these big 5 are the only European teams to have won the world cup Germany and Italy with four each, France with two and England and Spain with one also, they have won 11 of the 17 European championship, having the only teams with multiple titles Spain with 4, Germany with 3, France and Italy with 2, since the inception of the prestigious champions league in the 1955/56 season, in 69 editions they have claimed 56 of them, a whopping 81%, an impressive statistic that highlights the gulf in class between them and the rest, since 2004 when Mourinho`s Porto won the champions league, no other club apart from this elite group have emerged as champions. Spain is the most successful country at the national regional competition and has produced Real Madrid the overwhelming best club side in the world with 15 champions league titles both are the defending champions in Europe respectively.
Even in the present reformatting of the champions league into a Swiss model, the top seeds comprising of nine clubs are all occupied by the big 5 with Germany 3, Spain 2, England 2, Italy and France sharing 1. The big 5`s influence cuts across the playing field and stretches into the fabrics of society distorting the competition and destroying a level playing field. A circle of dominance that money, talent and other prerequisite can deliver.
Although it could be highlighted that during the 2011/2012 season the Portuguese league overtook the French League according to the UEFA national league ranking but the status quo has been restored and maintained ever since.
The big 5 leagues attract the very best players and managers with the world best player award given to the best player in that season which has usually been within this territory, the 1986 Ballon d`Or was the last time a player not from the big 5, won it Belanov with Dynamo Kiev while the world player award has never had anyone that did not play in the big 5. At the managerial level Ancelotti is the only coach that has won league titles in all the big 5 leagues (AC Milan, Chelsea, PSG, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid) a precedence, the Italian also has the most European titles with five. He is the benchmark for success. Every playing career in professional football will be measured by the big 5 standards, it is a yardstick for quality, an assessment of the level reached. Hardly a wonder that they have dominated the world club competition winning 16 times from the 20 editions which had started in 2000.
Sportumentary will delve into insights that makes the big 5 tick and compelling to follow, all the important trends, milestones and historical antecedence that have made them successful.
THE DOMINANT BIG 5
The Big 5 lead the indices in almost all the stats at both club and international football
In terms of Revenue generated according the 2022/23 season Deloitte football money league, rated Real Madrid €831.4 million) in first position with Manchester City in second (€826 million a club record) Paris Saint-Germain (€697.2 million) in third, Barcelona (€695.8 million) and Manchester United fourth and fifth (€648.5 million) in that order with the top two winning the last three champions league. The French giants PSG is the major reason that French football is consistently part of the big 5 with revenue among the best, premium star players at their disposal, at a point they had Messi, Neymar (the highest goal scorer in Brazil`s history) and Mbappe. Commercial income rose as high as €4.4 billion with the income of the top 20 clubs comprising members of the big 5 increasing by about 14%, match day income was able to surpass broadcast rights income due to the COVID pandemic.
The big five dominates both the sporting and commercial success which compliments each other and also help to attract other favorable conditions. outside Europe, emerging markets like the American and Saudi Arabian markets are becoming a retirement haven for players on the decline and may become a major player in the ratings but it is left to be seen how the big 5 can slip up. They remain the benchmark for football. We will continue highlighting the important features in subsequent articles.
