Bradley Shafer Redwood City, Calif. In England, what is the difference between the Premier League and Division 1? Why don’t they just call the highest level Division 1 and be done with it? What is going on here? Mike Woitalla: I agree with you, Bradley, that itÆs confusing. The Premier League is the top tier of English soccer and the First Division is, practically speaking, the second division, though the Second Division is really the third division, and the Third Division is really the fourth division … HereÆs what happened. In 1992, the 22 teams of the English First Division divorced themselves from the Football League so that they could negotiate TV contracts on their own — not having to include and share revenues with all 92 teams of the then four-tier Football League. Most of those 92 teams were unattractive to TV networks, whereas a handful of the top-tier teams are gold mines to broadcasters. Making the pie smaller — by excluding the small clubs — was too attractive for the big clubs. Under the pretense that a ôsuper leagueö would benefit the national team, create ôhigher playing standardsö and improve ôentertainment value,ö the FA defied the Football League, creating the FA Premier League. The FA Premier League then negotiated a 304 million pound (about $420 million), five-year contract with Sky and the BBC. The Premier League remains connected with the three lower divisions with its relegation-promotion system. (If you have a question for a Soccer America Magazine editor, click “Q&A with SA Editors” in the left column of the home page under “Interactive.”)