PREMIER LEAGUE
The Premier League was formed in 1992. Prior to this there were four professional divisions on the English football landscape. The 1st division being the top tier and descending to the 4th. At the end of each season, the top three teams of each division were promoted to the next level while the bottom three were relegated to the next lowest level.
In 1992 1st division decided to break away from the governing English Football League (EFL) and form their own league. It was all propelled by money with new television deals worth billions. The underlying forces behind this breakaway were many and complex. Deterioration of football stadiums, hooliganism, and a movement towards running teams as a serious business venture using commercial principals to maximize revenue were all factors.
In its first two years the Premier League was comprised of 22 teams and then was pared down to 20. The relegation and promotion numbers remained the same, and so, it remains today. The combined total of professional teams in the four divisions is 92. The average annual wages for a player in the 1st division before the formation of the Premier League was approximately $90,000. The average is now closer to $3,000,000.
The Premier League is the oldest and most watched sports league in the world with a potential televised audience of 4.7 billion people of which an actual average of over half a million watch every week JUST in the US.