New identity for a football league

The architecture for the new season of English Premier League has hogged headlines for multiple reasons.

- CHAITANYA K PRASAD

Stardom equated with players has truly been the constant pull factor. This year EPL has created a unique brand upheaval in its ecosystem. The push factors are the story of competitive bidding for new transfer window protocols with ensuing season. This has triggered a chain reaction with other football leagues i.e., Laliga, Seria A, Bundesliga and Ligue.

Big bucks, synchronized targeting of players and a windfall for stakeholders has become the guiding mantra and outreach strategy for the English Premier League (EPL) season 2025-26. Media platforms, television studios and football commentators are in a state of shock and disbelief on the amount being spent on individual players by clubs this season. The 2025-26 season has created new records, templates and new models of buying and selling players before the transfer deadline on 2 September.

Keeping this background in mind, the moot question remains, was this good for the game and players? Has EPL overshot the runway of player branding this season? Is there a dire need to regulate the tug-of-war between buying and selling equations in the run up to the transfer melee? The kick-start point this season has been a windfall for certain players and teams including managers. Truly, it has been a different mind game being played out in the pre-season transfer rush to attract players. To top it all, social media has been a catalyst in positioning the brand equity of prominent clubs in the EPL.

It is surprising that every transfer bid, process and success has led to a tsunami of undiluted aspirations within the ecosystem. It has created a ripple effect on the strategies related to branding, outreach, promotion and football popularity through the EPL institutional process. For analysts, the parameters of financial investment and book accounting management has assumed new proportions.