Is Football the Only Sport Where You Can Buy a Championship?

In world football, buying a championship is a common occurrence and an accepted part of the fabric of the game.

Most leagues are unencumbered by trifling matters like salary caps, drafts or any other means of keeping the playing field level, so the richest teams continue to experience exponential success while their less wealthy competitors plod along with the knowledge that they are unlikely to reach the top of the pyramid without a generous benefactor.

In recent seasons, UEFA has introduced Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations to ensure that no club spends in excess of its revenues.

However, when a team like Paris Saint-Germain can negotiate a generous sponsorship from Emirates, who are effectively owned by the club's owners, the system is being cheated. FFP is a good idea, but even with more stringent policing, the rule is never going to make Stoke believe they have a shot of winning the Premier League. 

Since the Premiership began in 1992-93, there have only been five different winners.

In 1994-95, Blackburn became the first team to buy the title, thanks to the deep pockets of local steel magnate Jack Walker. Rovers were only in the top flight two seasons before winning it, and disappeared from the top of the table very quickly—they spent most of season that followed their victory in the bottom half of the table and eventually finished seventh.

The next to break the hegemony of traditional powerhouses Manchester United and Arsenal were Chelsea, who won back-to-back titles in 2004-05 and 2005-06 thanks to the overwhelming investment of new owner Roman Abramovich. 

Most recently, Manchester City clinched their first English championship win in 44 years after Sheikh Mansour poured the inestimable assets of the Abu Dhabi royal family into a club that has traditionally lived in the shadow of their red neighbours down the road.  

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Citizens' league win marked the fifth time since 2002 that the club who spent the most on players won the competition. 

A cursory glance at salary figures published by Sportingintelligence in 2012, meanwhile, shows why Barcelona and Real Madrid are able to make La Liga a two-horse race: The Spanish giants are the two best-paying sports teams in the world. The next La Liga side on the list is in 71st place. 

While buying a championship in football is normal, how often is it done in other sports? Here are a few examples:

Major League Baseball

MLB has one of the most diverse championships in all American sports. There have been seven different World Series winners in the past 10 years. All teams are currently subjected to a luxury tax, which currently means they pay up to 50 percent on any cumulative salaries that exceed $178 million. 

This harsh deterrent, however, doesn't stop the biggest franchise in baseball from consistently breaking the cap. The New York Yankees are the only team to have paid the luxury tax every season and are responsible for paying over 90 percent of the league's total luxury taxes. 

When they missed the playoffs in 2008, they threw money at the problem, with many asserting that they bought the 2009 championship.

The Yankees' excess spending, however, doesn't always guarantee success. They have had the biggest payroll for the past five seasons but have not made it to all five playoffs. Furthermore, the San Francisco Giants, who have won two of the last three championships, are not in the top five spenders this season.

Formula 1

With astronomical sums needed to keep the lights on every day, Formula 1 is regarded as the richest sport in the world. Yet, the playing field is still noncompetitive in the millionaire's playground. Between 1984 and 2008, the "Big Four" of McLaren, Williams, Renault/Benetton and Ferrai won every single championship. 

The dominant force in the past three seasons has been Red Bull Racing, who, according to The Hindustan Times, have far outspent their rivals. In 2012 they estimated true spending to be between $296 million and $344 million per season, whereas closest competitors McLaren and Ferrari were putting in no more than $240 million. 

Unless Red Bull cut spending, or someone else ramps it up, their dominance will continue. 

IPL

The devastatingly popular Indian Premier League is considered the world's richest cricket tournament, with its brand value estimated at nearly $3 billion last season.

Every year, each team in this short-form money-spinning tournament may spend a set amount on player salaries ($12.5 million in 2013), but those who spend nearest to this cap tend to be more successful. 2013 champions Mumbai Indians spent the second-highest amount in the league, while the star-studded, high-spending Chennai Super Kings have only finished below second place once. 

NBA

The Miami Heat, who have won the last two NBA championships and featured in the last three, have a value of $625 million according to Forbes. 

This figure, however, puts the dominant basketball team at sixth on the NBA rich list. At the top is the traditionally high-spending New York Knicks, who are said to be worth $1.1 billion. 

This suggests that current salary-cap arrangements are working, as does the fact that repeat championship winners have occurred less frequently in the NBA salary-cap era than the NFL. 

However, as Malcolm Gladwell wrote for Slate in 2000, it has been possible for basketball teams to buy their way into the playoffs thanks to the "soft" cap (or "Larry Bird exception") that allows teams to break the salary cap to re-sign their own free agents.

Hence in 1999, the Portland Trail Blazers had a payroll of nearly $74 million when the cap was set at $34 million. It didn't help them win a championship, but they made the playoffs, and it showed how money talks in the NBA. 


Conclusion

Evidently, football is not the only sport in which a championship can be bought. American sports have tried to combat the dominance certain teams with the use of drafts and salary caps, but those who are situated in a more popular market or who have a storied legacy will always have more financial pull.

It is also interesting to consider the definition of "buying a championship." What is the difference between Manchester City quickly assembling a league-winning team and Manchester Utd doing so over a series of decades, with the help of their own academy?

Essentially, the only difference is speed: City are lambasted for rapidly becoming a title contender simply because they did not build their wealth, power and infrastructure more organically. In this respect, virtually every team is buying a championship—some just take longer to do it.