"I commissioned a group of American sports economists to study the business models of the major leagues over there," Ethan said. "The Premier League's annual revenue is approaching $2.5 billion, which already puts us ahead of every other domestic football league in the world. Commercially, English football has become the strongest league in the sport, and that's something we should be proud of."
He left his seat and began walking slowly around the table where the Premier League owners and executives were gathered.
"But we're still behind the NBA in total revenue. To be fair, our average income per club is actually higher, but the NBA has more teams, so its overall figure is larger. More importantly, we're nowhere near the NFL. Their annual revenue is around $6 billion."
Most of the people in the room were experienced businessmen, but few had ever seriously compared the Premier League with the major American sports leagues. The figures Ethan had brought with him were detailed enough that nobody dismissed them lightly.
"We're all pleased with the increase in domestic television money over the next rights cycle," he continued. "But do you know what the NFL earns from broadcasting in the United States alone? Roughly £2 billion a year."
The room immediately grew noisier.
That figure was greater than the Premier League's entire domestic broadcasting package across several seasons.
"The NFL's clubs don't all earn the same amount. The biggest franchises still sell more tickets, attract more sponsors, and generate more commercial income. But the gap between the highest and lowest earners is roughly two to one. A lot of sports economists consider that close to the ideal range, because it preserves commercial ambition without destroying competitive balance."
Ethan smiled.
"Now, would anyone like to guess our ratio?"
Nobody volunteered.
Even David Gill remained silent. Manchester United had generated more revenue than any other English club the previous year, including the champions, and in purely commercial terms that was something to be admired.
"Five to one."
A few people shifted in their seats.
"More than twice the gap you see in the NFL. Their national television revenue is shared far more evenly. Ours is influenced much more heavily by league position and exposure. That does increase competition, but it creates another problem as well: the strongest clubs keep becoming richer, while everyone else is forced to chase them with fewer resources."
Ethan stopped walking.
"The clubs that received the largest distributions last season are also the clubs most likely to qualify for Europe next season, which means more prize money, more television revenue, stronger sponsorships, and even greater commercial income. What happens to everyone else?"
He raised a hand before anyone answered.
"People will say Manchester United or Arsenal deserve more because more supporters watch them. That's fair to a point. But imagine a Premier League in which Manchester United only ever played Leeds United twenty times a season. Would anybody still care?"
His voice had risen without him noticing.
Ethan had prepared for this meeting carefully. The commercial department had spent weeks assembling figures, comparative studies, financial models, and long-term projections. West Ham's decline and Leeds United's collapse had provided two painful reminders of what could happen when clubs stretched themselves too far.
"I'm not denying what the biggest clubs contribute," Ethan continued. "Of course they drive audiences and commercial value. But those clubs stand at the top of a pyramid supported by dozens of ordinary professional teams beneath them. Take that away and what exactly are the giants standing on?"
He gave a faint smile.
"Some people still talk about a European Super League as though putting every famous club in one competition would solve everything. I don't believe it would. It might be spectacular for a year or two, but eventually it would become detached from the domestic game that gave those clubs their meaning in the first place."
That, in Ethan's view, was why the idea had been discussed so often but never truly implemented. If the financial logic were as overwhelming as its advocates claimed, the biggest clubs would already have broken away. The people running them were not fools. They understood that severing themselves completely from their national leagues would eventually weaken the product they were trying to sell.
The existing Champions League and UEFA Cup structures worked because they rested on domestic competition. A closed continental league made up only of giants might generate enormous short-term interest, but Ethan believed the novelty would fade.
Peter Kenyon was one of the first people in the room to understand exactly where Ethan was going. From a commercial perspective, the argument was difficult to dismiss, particularly because New Manchester United stood to benefit from the current system and Ethan was still arguing for reform.
"I agree with Ethan's basic point," Kenyon said. "If revenue becomes too concentrated, you eventually create an oligopoly, and that isn't healthy for the market. I'm in favour of reviewing the distribution model, but any change has to be gradual. If you alter it too quickly, you'll create another set of problems."
Ethan nodded politely.
Once Chelsea backed the idea, the atmosphere changed. David Gill also indicated support, which meant three of the league's most commercially powerful clubs were prepared to discuss reform.
Arsenal were less enthusiastic. Their new stadium project had placed enormous pressure on the club's finances, and anything that reduced their share of league income was naturally unwelcome. But with most of the room moving in the opposite direction, they could do little more than argue for caution.
Richard Scudamore eventually stepped in and confirmed that the Premier League would open a formal review of its distribution model. Club representatives would be invited to further meetings and hearings, with the aim of finding a structure that protected competitive balance without undermining the commercial incentives that had helped the league grow.
Ethan waited until that discussion had settled before speaking again.
"I'm glad we're willing to look at it. It shows that everyone here understands the league only works if we keep improving it. And since you're all still listening, I've got a few more ideas."
That drew some laughter around the room.
"Some of you probably didn't enjoy my last proposal," Ethan said. "So this time I'll try to bring you something that might make you richer."
The mood immediately lightened.
"I think there are three areas we absolutely have to improve if we want the Premier League to keep growing. First, we need to get rid of violence that damages the league's image. I'm not talking about strong tackles, physical football, or aggressive pressing. Those are part of English football and part of what makes the league exciting. I'm talking about genuine violence, from supporters, players, or anyone else around the game."
Nobody objected.
Even clubs known for a particularly physical style supported the point. Arsenal had reason to feel slightly awkward, since they had been on both sides of plenty of heated incidents over the years, but the principle itself was hardly controversial.
"Second, we have to extract more value from the domestic market. Based on the research I've seen, our broadcasting income per capita is still only around half what the NFL manages in the United States. If we ever reached anything close to their level of commercial efficiency, our domestic rights alone could be worth nearly twice what they are now."
That got everyone's attention.
This time there was no need for Ethan to explain why. Every person in the room could calculate what doubling domestic broadcast revenue would mean for their club.
"But the biggest opportunity is the third one," Ethan continued. "Overseas markets."
He returned to his seat but remained standing behind it.
"Football is global in a way American sports still aren't. Even in the United States, where football has traditionally been considered a secondary sport, there is a huge audience waiting to be developed. If the Premier League can expand reliable broadcasting into around two hundred countries and territories, then even at today's pricing levels, overseas rights could eventually generate something like $500 million a year."
Several owners exchanged glances.
"And that's before you factor in future growth. If the league becomes more influential internationally, that number rises again. In the long run, I don't think it's unrealistic for overseas revenue to become one of the biggest single parts of our business."
By now nobody was openly challenging his figures. The commercial research had been too detailed, and Ethan had built a reputation for being careful with numbers.
The scale of the opportunity was what surprised them.
An additional $500 million a year from international rights alone would transform the league's economics.
"The NFL earns only a small proportion of its money from overseas rights," Ethan said. "The NBA does better internationally, but even they still leave room for growth. Football should have an enormous advantage because the sport is already followed everywhere. But we can't maximise that on our own. The Premier League needs the rest of English football to be healthy as well."
That point drew widespread agreement.
"The league also needs to address wages," Ethan added. "We should at least discuss linking squad costs more closely to operating income. The NBA and NFL have both shown that financial controls can help stop clubs from spending themselves into disaster. I'm not saying we copy their systems exactly, but we should learn from them."
Then he turned to the problem of relegation.
"Leeds are the warning. Their finances were already in trouble, then relegation caused revenues to collapse. Wages became impossible to sustain, players were sold or left, and the team fell apart almost overnight. Every club in this room should be paying attention to that."
Ethan proposed what amounted to a parachute-payment system. Clubs relegated from the Premier League would receive financial support over the following two seasons, giving them time to reduce wages, restructure contracts, and avoid being forced into a fire sale.
His version came with one important condition.
If a club returned to the Premier League before the two-year period ended, the remaining payments stopped.
"If a relegated club receives £13 million across two years, but gets promoted again after the first season, then the second payment is no longer necessary," Ethan explained. "The purpose is stability, not rewarding failure."
He also argued that the Premier League should set aside a fixed annual amount to support the lower divisions in partnership with the FA and Football League. That money could help improve academies, training facilities, stadium infrastructure, and basic operating standards.
The Premier League, in his view, should also lend its commercial expertise to the wider restructuring of the Championship, League One, League Two, and the divisions below them.
The stronger the base of the pyramid became, the more secure the league at the top would be.
"A healthy football system needs twenty well-run Premier League clubs, but it also needs a stable professional pyramid underneath them," Ethan said. "It needs sustainable clubs, better academies, modern facilities, and stronger youth development. Improve all of those things and the benefits eventually come back to every club represented in this room."
He looked around the table.
"If we keep moving in that direction, I genuinely believe the Premier League can become not only the most successful football league in the world, but one of the most influential professional sports competitions anywhere."
For once, nobody laughed at the scale of the ambition.
The numbers Ethan had placed in front of them made it feel less like a fantasy and more like a possibility.
(To be continued.)