There is always room for improvement when it comes to any sport, in regards to its rules and also how fans of the sport engage with it. In regards to the English Premier League (EPL), this is not only the most successful sport in all of Europe, but it also is the most watched, so therefore, whatever can be done that would be better for the fans as well as increasing the revenue from such a sport, should be seriously contemplated upon. At present, the final weekend games of the season are played at the same time for all teams, under the impression that this is the fairest and therefore the right thing to do. But is it? After all, many of the fans of soccer (aka football) are the type of fans that have an interest in seeing not only their favorite team play but also want to watch the most meaningful games, and when these conflict, this poses a problem for them. So too, the more eyeballs watching games, the better it is for those that broadcast these games.

A far better way to look at the last day of the season is to understand that all can still be fair, with a staggered playing time, when there is a set of priorities that are faithfully followed. For instance, when it comes to the EPL, that priority should be prioritized first as to who will be the EPL champion, next would be the relegation battle, followed by those fighting for qualification to the Champions League, then for those playing for qualification for Europa League, and finally by those fighting for qualification to Europa Conference League. That is to say, the final game of the year should be prioritized in a way and manner that would be fair but also would allow fans to watch the most important games without necessarily having all of the games being played simultaneously.

The following table below is from the 2022-23 EPL Season, with the standings as they were at the end of Match Week 37. In regards to the EPL champion, that has already been determined, so the next priority is for the relegation struggle of which three teams are fighting not to be relegated, which are Leeds United, Leicester City, and Everton FC. The next step is to look at the final day schedule for these three clubs, which would consist of Everton FC v. AFC Bournemouth, Leeds United v. Tottenham Hotspur, and Leicester City v. West Ham United. This would indicate that the other seven games would take place earlier in the day, and these three games for the fight to not be regulated would be played after, subject to other priorities yet to be looked at. So then, before we conclude that our business is done, we need to look at Champions League qualification to see if any of those games need also be scheduled at a different time, but the Champions League qualification has already been determined. We then take a look at Europa League qualification, but this also has been settled. Finally, we look at the Europa Conference League qualification and we see that three teams are in the running for that: Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, and Brentford FC. This signifies then that Aston Villa v. Brighton & Hove Albion, as well as Brentford FC v. Manchester City, must also be played at the same time with the three relegation games because Tottenham Hotspur is scheduled to play Leeds United in a relegation game.

So, what has occurred is rather than having all ten games starting at the same time, we have instead, five games starting later for the relegation battle, as well as the Europa Conference League qualification, which provides those that are the biggest fans with earlier games to watch or attend, followed by picking which one of the other relevant games, most interests them.

4/7/24

Team

goals

Dif.

Pt.

94:32

83:43

56:42