i was asking chatgpt about this the other day (the posh one - astra) and it was basically saying - without me prompting it - that the likes of the RS and Utd (in particular) set the agenda within the PL.

sounds a bit tin foil hat, but then you look at the way the game has been rigged towards them over a couple of decades and it does make you wonder.

comments 15 years ago like "liverpool need to be competitive, its good for the brand" when they were finishing 7th.

since then the whole structure has changed to ensure that as long as you have fans in the media and fans sat watching a telly (wherever in the world that might be) you get more money than everyone else.

see also the super league in all but name with the expanded CL format.