The popularity of the Barclays Premier League grows with every year thanks to media rights deals that broadcast live games all around the world. Take the United States as just one example. Sports fans in the US who have, for years, ignored soccer outside of World Cup years have embraced watching Premier League contests on Saturday and Sunday mornings before tuning in to catch college and National Football League action. It turns out that sports fans who love the hard-hitting style of American football encounters will accept top-flight soccer as an appetizer leading up to other events that dominate television ratings in the US.
No soccer brand in England is bigger than Manchester United. One could talk about the success that the club has enjoyed when discussing why United are so popular. The fact remains that the United crest, colors and name are all recognizable to even casual soccer fans who probably could not name a single player on the team’s roster other than Wayne Rooney. Every Premier League club, regardless of whether or not other chairpersons would want to admit it, wants to get to the level of marketability that United has risen to over the years, but none have yet managed to achieve that accomplishment.
Just as in any sport, however, with great love also comes great hate. The New York Yankees are not despised by so many Major League Baseball fans across the US because they play in the Bronx or because of the pinstripes on the uniforms. Detractors who would use the “Evil Empire” phrase when describing the Yankees are merely jealous that their favorite teams have not won as many championships as have the Yankees. The same can be said about those who hit out at Manchester United, as United have, for the most part, been the kings of English soccer in more ways than one. As the Mirror recently learned, that success had bred great hate for United as of 2015.
10. Aston Villa
Aston Villa being in the top-ten of the most hated teams in all of the Premier League for 2015 would make a little more sense if such a study was conducted among Cleveland sports fans. Villa are owned by Randy Lerner, the man who owned the Cleveland Browns for a decade and who made multiple business decisions that set that National Football League franchise back for years. Lerner has been chastised by Villa fans for now doing enough to bolster the Premier League side, and it has long been rumored that he would be willing to sell the team for the right price. That price has not yet been met by any group or person.
9. West Ham United
You know what would not have helped West Ham United regarding how much the team is hated among Premier League fans? Signing English bad boy Joey Barton in August 2015. All indications are that the move has been abandoned by both parties, but the hatred non-West Ham fans have for the club will nevertheless remain. Individuals within the West Ham fan base have helped to make the team so disliked as of 2015. This includes one individual who actually went out and got a tattoo of the scoreline for when West Ham defeated Arsenal in the 2015-16 Premier League opener.
8. Newcastle United
