Whilst I agree that football ceased to be a sport many moons ago, I differ on the second part, for me it is a case of two models, ours in which the club is bought using the owners money and all aspects of the club are run professionally until becoming self sustaining, we are not run on the bottomless pit of money as the media and many others portray it, our net spend is very low and has been for a long while.
The other model is the American one where, you mortgage the club to the hilt but and then milk off any profits dividing them between owners and share holders and allow a small flow of money to be used to pay off debt interest spend nothing on the infrastructure keeping debt at the maximum possible.
For some reason the PL likes the other option.
100%.
How It remains impossible now, for other fans, and independent observers, not to recognise the slide through (mainly) insidious, malign Yank influence on the operation of the PL and their clubs is bemusing....or not.
The Yank cartel want the CL money.... not the trophy, not the sporting glory, the money, year after year, after year, guaranteed ad infinitum.
The CL money will increase their dividends, profits, consulting fees*, salaries, and interest on the debt leveraged on the club.
This is their principle motive.
*(Including for non active family members. ie Arsenal )
Winning the PL is not their principle ambition....its finishing NO LOWER THAN FOURTH & and getting their snouts in the CL trough.
The rest of the PL clubs, who are not members of the closed shop cartel, are coerced into complicity to maintain their own status & PL TV money (hush money).
They are happy to finish no lower than 17th and maintain PL (TV money) status.
Promoted clubs have less than a 10% chance of breaking this cycle.
The recent introduction of additional financial regulation/ restrictions have been introduced to restrict owner investment and has resulted in the slowest summer transfer activity in years and some very 'strange' trading between clubs.
Unless 15 clubs wake up to the 'clear & present' danger to their future prospects and development, and collectively challenge and beneficially change the, 'one rule for us, different rules for you' structure and operation of the PL, they will simply remain as is.
City and its fans have been telling them all this for several years, but "we warned you " may not be enough for those who chose not to see !!