The English Premier League teams splashed out nearly 500 million pounds ($790 million) on players this offseason, defying the tough economic climate to contrast sharply with the reduced spending in the Spanish and Italian leagues.
After a frantic finale to transfer deadline day on Friday, clubs in England's top division spent 490 million pounds this summer, up 5 million pounds on last year.
Leading football finance analyst Alan Switzer says the record TV deal signed by the Premier League in June, which will bring in 3 billion pounds ($4.70 billion) over three years starting in 2013, helped fuel the spending spree.
Switzer says the spending ''should be considered in the context of increases of over 70 percent in the Premier League domestic broadcast deals.''
Around 110 million pounds ($175 million) was spent on the final day of the transfer window.
