The Premiership is not only the most lucrative but the most popular league in the world.

It dominates the sporting agenda in parts of the world that its European counterparts and the American superleagues of the NFL, NBA and major league baseball have failed to reach.

While George Gillett and Tom Hicks struggle to sell interest in their NHL franchises outside of North America, they will find that Liverpool's fanbase stretches from Toxteth to Thailand.

RICH LIST 1(2) Real Madrid £186.2m 2(1) Man Utd £166.4m 3(3) AC Milan £158m 4(5) Juventus £154.9m 5(4) Chelsea £149.1m 6(7) Barcelona £140.4m 7(9) Bayern Munich £128m 8(10) Liverpool £122.4m 9(8) Inter Milan £119.7m 10(6) Arsenal £115.7m 11(12) Roma £89m 12(11) Newcastle £87.1m 13(14) Spurs £70.6m 14(17) Schalke £65.8m 15(-) Lyon £62.7m 16(13) Celtic £62.6m 17(16) Man City £60.9m 18(-) Everton £60m 19(-) Valencia £57.2m 20(15) Lazio £56.1m Annual income 2004-05 (previous season in brackets)

Seemingly the only area left to conquer is the United States.

But with David Beckham off to LA and three of the Premiership's "franchises" now under American control, there are already inroads being made into the richest market of all.

Miami Dolphins CEO Joe Bailey, one of the heavyweights of the NFL, says his countrymen probably see Premiership potential that has not yet been exploited.

He told BBC Sport: "They have had significant experience in a league and understand sports from a standpoint of sports marketing and industry.

"They can take what they learned in the NFL and other leagues in the US and apply them to clubs here. Perhaps they see some low-hanging fruits and some opportunities that haven't been done before."

Unlike the four major American sports, with their salary caps and draft systems aimed at levelling the field, the Premiership has a no-limits policy on spending or earning.

But Liverpool's new co-owner George Gillett denied the attraction was to take advantage.

"If you were to put down the list of objectives we have, money would be nowhere near the top," he said when announcing their Anfield arrival to a room of cynical onlookers.

"It would start with winning, it would start with passion, it would have respect for tradition and history. It would have the word legacy very near the top and it would have the word thank you to David Moores for giving us the chance to own this wonderful franchise and hopefully add to its history."

But Birmingham managing director Karen Brady reckons the foreign investors are "seduced by tax advantages and Sky TV's millions".

And Forbes magazine suggests they are "attracted to the UK's own emerging reputation as a tax haven with good schools, nice homes and safe streets".

There may be eyebrows raised in Liverpool, Manchester and the east end of London about the good schools and safe streets part, but clearly England has its attractions.

Of the 20 richest clubs in the world in 2006, eight of them are in the Premiership and its 'big four' are all in the top 10.

The 2007 list is published this week and English clubs are again expected to figure prominently.

Football will come to bitterly regret not involving its supporters in such decisions Steven Powell of the Football Supporters' Federation

But more importantly for investors, they are easy to buy.

Spain's most attractive clubs - Real and Barcelona - are effectively off limits as they are owned by their fans.

In Italy the major clubs have long been under the control of some of the richest and most powerful families in the country.

England's clubs are pretty much available to the highest bidder.

The Premier League has no restrictions on foreign ownership, besides passing a "fit and proper persons" test, while England is notoriously easy for foreign investors to buy into.

From its water and electricity companies to the stock market, just about everything virtually except the crown jewels is for sale.

But is the new money flowing in and out of the Premiership good for the game?:

The Ups:

"We live in a free-market economy. How can we stop someone investing in the game they love? Whatever we think, they are there, and we will see a lot more of them."
Arsenal vice chairman David Dein

"The foreign investors are a fantastic service to the Premiership. Because of all these riches, the Premier League becomes more famous and much more attractive. So the foreign television rights are sold for even more around the world and the game is seen by more people."
Superagent Pini Zahavi, who helped through the deals for Pompey and Chelsea

"I didn't come here for no other reason than the love of the game. I could name you a few British chairman that destroyed clubs over here and then went on to be chairmen elsewhere."
Former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric, one of the Premiership's first overseas chairmen

The Downs:

"There is a system in football at the moment that will do serious damage if we don't stop it."
Fifa president Sepp Blatter

"I don't think it's healthy for clubs to depend on some benefactor because one day that benefactor will dry up and football businesses shouldn't be baled out. We can do an enormous amount for this national game of ours if we seek ways of collectively doing things rather than working in isolation."
Crewe chairman John Bowler

"Our turnover is less than 4% of theirs. It is a totally unfair league."
Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd after their recent 4-0 defeat at Manchester United

"I doubt whether in the next 10 years there will be a German club in the final of a European competition. I just hope the European Union puts a stop to these excesses of Abramovich and foreign television."
Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

"Football will come to bitterly regret not involving its supporters in such decisions. We hope that the new owners will meet with supporter representatives at Anfield as a matter of urgency. Liverpool FC is a national sporting treasure. Its history and traditions must be respected."
Steven Powell of the Football Supporters' Federation