Football's Magic Money Tree

[claretandy]

Clearly the potential £17.3m broadcast rebate will cause some pain in Burnley's boardroom, but just to emphasise how favourably we should come out of this situation in relation to other PL clubs, let's do a direct comparison with say Arsenal.

We lose the £17.3m and say another £1.2m in matchday-receipts, but gain £16.5m in additional prize money. So, a net deficit of some £2m.

Arsenal lose £16.8m and a further £19m in matchday receipts (one fifth of £96m) and lose a further £13.3m for finishing 10th from 5th. So, a net deficit of some £50m.

Finish 8th and we are back in profit, also SD has said that there will be some claw back in bonus payments due to covid.

[Chester Perry]

There have been a few updates from Simon Chadwick today on the China/Premier League issue

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 7734939648

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 5797537792

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 9207073792

Simon Chadwick's latest thinking on the China/Premier League TV issue

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 3966739457

[Chester Perry]

Reports of a new interested party in Sunderland - the club who continue to over price themselves as was reported extensively in the media last week - It has to be said that this is far from being an ideal candidate given his history

https://twitter.com/markdonnelly_/statu ... 2979352577

[Chester Perry]

For anyone who has read this - please take the time to listen to this related podcast https://shows.acast.com/the-esk-podcast ... hiri-years it is a very good listen around strategy, governance, communication and relationships in football. Though I will emphasize that it is specific to Everton FC

And don't take offence when Paul suggests that "even Burnley could pass us" it is a lament that a club that has been part of the establishment for so long is withering away through self satisfied ownership and management rather than seeking to be combative. I was stunned last night when it was pointed out last night on the Sheff Utd match that Everton have spent £650m since Moyes left - the 12th highest figure in Europe in that period, they have little to show for it

as with the article I find it has resonance to the recent "Investor" thread on this board which I posted about at the time

there is an awful lot to consider with new blood on the club's board and we must be aware that we have a proven strategy, and have had buy in from all interested parties
we know:
- who we are
- what we are
- where we want to be
- how we want to get there

it is a powerful thing not many clubs have that, changing that dynamic could tumble it all

found this from Stuart Webber Director of Football at Norwich quite fascinating - Their strategy is right they got the tactics wrong - the talk of being in the top 26 is also intriguing as it means competing to be at the top table but recognising it is not possible all the time

https://trainingground.guru/articles/st ... l-it-seems

listen to the press conference he gave after the West Ham game that relegated them he takes ownership and argues clearly as to what the strategic line and opportunity is. It clear that he believes that his position is safe and that there will be no knee jerk in the boardroom.

[Chester Perry]

It is a drum that is beating ever more loudly - sponsors want swift if not immediate access to the data of those that they are sponsoring - it is becoming the tool that justifies the spend - from SportsBusiness.com

Of course for fans it raises all kinds of concerns around privacy - which is why this is my only social media presence, and why I will not register with the club

Giles Morgan: Pivot to data to drive a golden age of sponsorship
SportBusiness Staff - July 23, 2020

Sponsorship can play a part in leading sport out of recession and enter a golden age, according to the man who headed HSBC’s extensive global sponsorship operations for more than a decade.

But, says Giles Morgan, that will only happen when the focus of attention and validation switches from TV eyeballs to first-party fan data so that coherent and compelling business cases can be made for sponsorship spend.

And Morgan, currently executive vice-president of software company Pumpjack DataWorks, reflects that had he evaluated proposals through the prism of data during his time at the bank, the HSBC portfolio may have looked rather different.

“We are entering a period where the currency of sponsorship, the gold standard, changes and the cumulative number of eyeballs watching an event become secondary to the primary data owned by rights-holders. Those metrics form the basis of the business case which unlocks corporations’ war chests,” he says.

“During my time at the helm, I felt that HSBC had as advanced a mechanism for calculating return on investment (ROI) as any company out there and that is why they still continue to do great sponsorship work.

“But I now understand that what I offered up (to the board) was not a business case but an emotive justification of investment based on assumptive criteria like entertaining clients and achieving levels of media engagement. In today’s climate, if you can’t make and prove a solid business case you become susceptible when the knives come out and management seek to cut budgets,” he says.

Morgan sees the shift to a data-centric sales and valuation model as the most significant change in the three decades he has worked in the sector and believes it will finally enable sponsorship to shed its reputation as the ‘poor cousin’ of advertising.

“The reason it was bridesmaid not the bride was the way that sponsorship was measured. It was largely based on corporate hospitality and TV evaluation, which is not a criticism because there was no other way. But the entire industry was built on very static and approximate data,” he explains.

“That meant if you didn’t have TV in your inventory to sell, you were worth a whole lot less. But it is clear that with the old method it meant that some properties were being seriously undervalued. Take something like the Badminton Horse Trials which get 400,000 people from a very powerful demographic but not much TV coverage. If you are a marketer that is a formidable and valuable collection of people, but the valuation is skewed by the focus on TV.”

With the value of hospitality being hit by regulation in many territories, it is clear that another part of the business case for sponsorship is under pressure. And that is why Morgan sees a future in which data is at the very heart of the proposition – not an add-on.

“The value of sponsorship lies in the knowledge of the fan and the consumer…but in the old days there was no way of knowing who they were.

“Now we have the ability to say we know who the fan is. We seek information from them, and they will provide it voluntarily because they lean into their fan passion and want to be part of the community. It is that dynamic fan information, which can be owned by the rights-holders, which offers the true value to sponsors – not the eyeballs,” he says.

“In my time at HSBC I was never presented with a sponsorship proposal where data really featured on the first four pages. There were usually some social media numbers, but nobody sold the value of data.

“That allowed me to lowball rights-holders because I knew they couldn’t make a business case. But that in turn became a problem for me because if I couldn’t make a solid business case back to the business internally, they would restrict budgets.

“So, if the sports industry wants to harness the full power of sponsorship when the recession ends and sport starts trading again, the currency of value needs to be different.”

Passion
Morgan believes sport is perfectly positioned to trade on a rich seam of data because of the passion of its followers and their willingness to share, but that sport has been slow to realise the value it sits on.

“The single-most valuable commodity is the individual fan. Their information is what investors are interested in. As an example, currently Facebook have more (data about) Manchester United fans than Manchester United and know more about them than United do.

“That’s madness! Man U are the beating heart of their fans. Clubs and rights-holders need to understand that which also enables them to make better decisions about their marketing,” he says.

Morgan’s belief that putting data front and centre of a sponsorship proposition changes the game and gives him a fresh perspective on some of the work he did at HSBC.

“I have come to realise that many of the activation decisions I made and campaigns I ran were born out of assumptions and that there was value left out there because we didn’t demand data from governing bodies to find out about and connect with, for example, the golf consumer.

“Now, with more sponsorships being built from a foundation of data, I can predict that a new wave of sponsors will emerge, sponsors who want to go direct to consumers and fanbases.

“Inability to make a business case has been sponsorship’s biggest weakness. I didn’t want budgets to be cut, I wanted to prove it was the most valuable investment you could make. But I couldn’t do that and all too often budget was taken away.

“Sport needs to start speaking the language of the finance director and make a financial case rather than an emotional case. Emotion may get you through the doors but having a business case keeps you going. The sponsorship industry never really had a water-tight business case. That can be made by basing it on data.

“To date, data has been seen as a cost to bring in email addresses but in reality it needs to be seen as an asset like goodwill. If the industry starts to look at data as a commercial asset – sponsors and investors will look at investment in sport in a very different way.”

[Chester Perry]

Article from SportsProMedia.com about Brentford talking a bit about finance (avoiding discussion of their debt - much of it is not related to the new ground costs) it also sashays to Leeds (again no mention of losses) and then to Hull before coming back to Brentford . Yes Brentford are an interesting club with a clear and distinct strategy, what is never mentioned is that it has been financed by a benefactor, will the new ground provide: a return on the total investment in the club? or even just cover their running costs? Remember for all their big money sales in recent seasons they only recorded a profit as a result of a land transaction brought forward. It is like Bournemouth all over again (though Brentford already have much more to show for the Investment than Bournemouth)

At Large | Premier League or not, Brentford have set a fascinating example
West London-based soccer club Brentford will leave their vintage Griffin Park home next season in the next phase of a unique project. The Championship playoffs mark an uncertain route to the Premier League but the Bees have shown remarkable ingenuity to compete.

Posted: July 23 2020By: Eoin Connolly

Nestled among rows of houses in an unassuming swathe of west London’s inner suburbs is the home of Brentford, a small English second-tier soccer club who have become perennial Championship promotion hopefuls. The venue may not look all of its 116 years, but for all of its charms, though, neither does it look like a professional soccer venue on the edge of the elite.

This season, its capacity of 12,763 was the second-smallest in England’s second division. It sits low beneath the steel and glass across the city, all concrete steps and corrugated iron roofs. Other arenas hail benchmarks in catering and concessions. Fans standing in the out-of-code terraces on the Ealing Road end here have a simple half-time choice: relief or refreshment, rarely both.

The nods to modernity – pitchside LED boards debuted in 2017 – have been limited. The press boxes pin knees to hips. Some weeks in the past few seasons there, a grandee of British sportswriting, decades into a landmark career, has sat dictating notes to a cub reporter – fixing his eyes on the finer details of the game, rather than fine print.

If Griffin Park sounds like a place out of time, well, it is. This has been its last year in use, its final days playing out behind closed doors since the Championship’s restart in June.

From next season, after years of planning, the UK£70 million Brentford Community Stadium will be a reality. Built less than a mile east towards Kew Bridge and Chiswick, it is a monument to considered ambition. It will open with room for 17,250 spectators, including 2,930 premium seats. The limited existing hospitality, with its amateur clubhouse feel, is yielding to five high-end suites. A stadium campus will feature 910 new homes – part of the funding package, along with Griffin Park’s redevelopment – as well as sports, leisure and education facilities.

The new ground will host London Irish rugby union as well as games in a rescheduled Uefa Women’s Euro in 2022. As of last week, 10,000 Brentford season tickets had been sold for the 2020/21 season, with prices starting at UK£419 for adults and UK£74 for children, rising by 25 per cent should the club earn a place in the top-flight Premier League.

Ah, yes, the Premier League.

Perhaps nowhere else in organised sport is the balance of risk and reward as extreme as the upper reaches of the English Football League (EFL). The temptation is always there: spend a little beyond your means for passage to that promised land.

Clubs will factor sustained losses on player transfers and salaries into medium-term business plans; a few are fortunate enough to succeed. That demands some generous, patient backing, and even those who make it to the top can find the descent more painful.

It all underscores a wealth of ownership stories, both very good and very, very bad. In the Championship, this has been Leeds United’s season. 16 years after relegation from the Premier League, part of a steep fall brought on by quite insane levels of borrowing, they will swagger back with a brilliant side to what is arguably their natural level. The restoration has been guided by Aser Ventures’ Andrea Radrizzani, who completed a full takeover in May 2017 and installed the visionary Argentinian head coach Marcelo Bielsa a year later.

Promotion has brought refreshed horizons and a record Adidas kit deal, but Radrizzani has already called on other resources to realise Leeds’ potential. The NFL’s San Francisco 49ers paid UK£10 million for a ten per cent stake in 2018 and this week, Radrizzani said he expects further investment. Talks have previously been held with Qatar Sports Investment. Either way it should be sales of equity, not risky debt, that sustains their upward push.

That is one side of the coin. There is always another. Ten years into the tenure of Egyptian businessman Aseem Allam, who once held dreams of a global brand in the Premier League, Hull City will drop into League One after two relegations in four seasons. Relationships have frayed and supporters have stayed away from the KCOM Stadium amid declining results and complaints of under-investment.

Hull, and the sleeping giants who roll through cycles of overextension and disappointment, are comparatively lucky. Wigan Athletic, FA Cup winners in the last of their Premier League years in 2013, entered administration in July just a month after being sold to the mysterious, Hong Kong-based Next Leader Fund. A new buyer has been found but, pending an appeal, the resulting 12-point penalty means relegation. Following years of careful family ownership, their hollowing out has been traumatic, random, and a clear signal to the authorities of the need for change.

In the midst of all that chaos, the Brentford way of doing things, taking them to the brink of a first top-flight season since the 1940s, stands out further. Owner Matthew Benham – also a majority shareholder in Danish Superliga champions FC Midtjylland – moved towards his 100 per cent stake with a few years of seven-figure investment up to 2014. He has since centred their approach on ingenuity, rather than hard cash.

On the field, the strategy is easy to describe but harder to execute. Brentford identify undervalued talent, loaning young players from bigger clubs or signing them on an upswing before cashing in. A ‘B’ team is favoured for prospects over a more expensive academy project. Head coaches have served short stints at times but the longer-term commitment to progressive, technically sound football has held.

It has worked: not only have the Bees competed well in their six Championship seasons, they have been demonstrably astute. According to analysis by 21st Club, they spent 41 per cent less than market value on recruitment, saving about UK£20 million in transfer fees since 2013.

By definition, of course, not every organisation gets to outperform the market. Still, there are fundamentals to the Brentford model that can be widely followed. The initial capacity of the Brentford Community Stadium was set after examining the potential supporter base with the help of data-led sports marketing agency Two Circles. They detected pockets of local fandom still out of the grasp of nearby giants like Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. These might be families looking for an affordable, welcoming experience, or blow-ins eager to check out a watchable London team on the rise.

A tailored sponsorship pitch is another part of the vision.

“Our new stadium is located on what we call the Golden Mile, from Sega down to Fullers’ Brewery in Chiswick,” explained chief executive Jon Varney, speaking to City AM in September. “We can deliver [locally based businesses] an unbelievable CSR platform right in the heart of the community they are embedded in.”

And while their old base is not the future, Brentford will want to retain a lot of what existed there. They are a friendly club and were hosts of an envied Championship away day, with an atmosphere more intimate than intimidating and a pub on every corner of the ground. Players would stroll post-match, washbags in hand, past groups of fans with pints.

As it happens, there will be one more game at Griffin Park. Brentford scorched through seven consecutive victories after the restart, eight in a row back to March, and threatened this week to usurp West Bromwich Albion in the second automatic promotion slot. Back-to-back defeats put paid to that – results are still the most fragile part of this business.

So a play-off semi-final will be the last competitive fixture before a new life begins. Brentford are exploring ways to give fans a farewell look at cherished surroundings once social distancing measures allow, though those might be one more set of memories never made in these extraordinary months.

Should Thomas Frank and his team actually complete that final step there will be plenty said about miracles and fairytales but there should be talk, as well, of what it has actually taken to get there. Even if they fall short, theirs is an example to be studied.

Right now, the whole sports industry is working in a different time, if not a different place. There is value in reminders of what sharp thinking can accomplish.

[Chester Perry]

following the news that Everton had secured an overdraft they have registered another credit facility which is either a renewal or extension of an existing deal

https://twitter.com/theesk/status/1286246360220602368

the need for access to cash is apparent (they are far from being alone in this) in a period where tickets are not being sold and earnings from the Premier League are going to be less than budgeted (and not just as a result of Covid19) as they finish outside the top 10

fascinating discussion in the opening section of the Everton Business Matters podcast about this particular relationship and the reasons as to why they find themselves using Private Equity (the source of which is hidden in tax havens) as a "payday loan"

https://theesk.org/2020/07/24/everton-b ... -a-dollar/

I will stress that they are not the only English Premier League club using this non-regulated lender

[Chester Perry]

I didn;t think this was allowed anymore - Watford borrow money on the strength on TV monies for next season (of course there may be a ceiling as to how much can be borrowed - unless they are assuming they are already down and it is against parachute payments)

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 9875777540

Interesting that Watford's factoring loan is with Barclays - it would appear that they remain content to carry on with this kind of business (they have been one of the key players along with Macquarie in factoring in football), at a time when non regulated Private Equity is looking to this marketplace as an area for opportunity (exploitation)

[GodIsADeeJay81]

I didn;t think this was allowed anymore - Watford borrow money on the strength on TV monies for next season (of course there may be a ceiling as to how much can be borrowed - unless they are assuming they are already down and it is against parachute payments)

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 9875777540

Interesting that Watford's factoring loan is with Barclays - it would appear that they remain content to carry on with this kind of business (they have been one of the key players along with Macquarie in factoring in football), at a time when non regulated Private Equity is looking to this marketplace as an area for opportunity (exploitation)

Didn't Bolton, Rovers and Leeds (many years ago) all do this borrowing against future gate receipts?

[Chester Perry]

Fulham's owner converts £53m of loans into shares - great news for the club in terms of reduced Debt, bad news for the owner in terms of ever looking for a return on his capital investment (read that Vysyble report from yesterday to understand that particular kind of problem)

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 2628267013

[Chester Perry]

Didn't Bolton, Rovers and Leeds (many years ago) all do this borrowing against future gate receipts?

they did, and some still did until covid - transfer fees is the other favourite - Palace did it for the 2nd payments of the Wan-Bissaka deal for example. Many Premier League clubs (even Man City) did it against the Central payments, but like I said , I was under the impression that the central payments option had been taken off the table by the Premier League - could be a rules relaxation to help clubs through the effects of lockdown I suppose

[Chester Perry]

Bad news for all fans and certainly for those clubs with the biggest capacities - a leading government advisor doesn't see full stadiums for at least a year

https://apnews.com/a966b40269d334c016f657c812628ba8

[Chester Perry]

The week saw the release of a new Academic paper about Parachute payments - Challenging parachute payments and unmasking English football’s finances by Rob Wilson ORCID, Daniel Plumley ORCID, Sarthak Mondal ORCID and Daniel Parnell ORCID (all previously referenced in posts on this thread)

you can read it here https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10. ... ccess=true

the tone is one of exasperation by the fact that their research over the years has not been acted upon, yet seems to ignore the realities of the environments in which the leagues are operating, the historical choices of the leagues (specifically the EFL refusing the opportunity of a fixed 20% of Premier League Income at the beginning and a later refusal by the EFL to partner with the Premier League in the selling of media rights),

[The esk]

I didn;t think this was allowed anymore - Watford borrow money on the strength on TV monies for next season (of course there may be a ceiling as to how much can be borrowed - unless they are assuming they are already down and it is against parachute payments)

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 9875777540

Interesting that Watford's factoring loan is with Barclays - it would appear that they remain content to carry on with this kind of business (they have been one of the key players along with Macquarie in factoring in football), at a time when non regulated Private Equity is looking to this marketplace as an area for opportunity (exploitation)

It is permitted if the lender is UK authorised by the FCA. The use of offshore lenders like Vibrac in the BVI is prohibited.

[Chester Perry]

Cheers for that Paul

saw that you were asking blues fans if they were happy to have a naming rights deal on Goodison for an article you were writing - I wonder if you were aware of this

Duff and Phelps have updated their Stadium naming rights valuations for European Football as part of an analysis of whether they are currently undervalued - much of the press has been focussed on Spurs and their continuing search for a sponsor

http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/spur ... nc.twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

full report

http://deal-advisors.com/wp-content/upl ... ghts_2.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

at that valuation there is not much material difference compared to what your club needs

[Chester Perry]

the 3rd bundle podcast with @YannickRamcke looking at the sports media landscape - fascinating stuff including the huge gamble that The French leagues have taken for their new record breaking domestic rights deal with Mediapro - it sounds exactly like ITV Digital to me as the contract is not guaranteed, and the rights holder is setting up a new distribution service from scratch that depends on 3.5 million subscribers paying 25 euros a month

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/e ... 0485946145

[Chester Perry]

I have posted a lot about Private Equity recently and it's desires to get involved in sport to provide a financial return on it's investment. But like many I do not have a great deal of understanding of how it works, how it is regulated or what such sources are looking to achieve beyond a strong return (if anything)

The UnOfficial Partner, the people behind the bundle podcast on media rights have another series called "Money Talks" which involve conversations about sport’s relationship with private equity, venture capital and the financial markets. It asks a series of simple questions relating to money: Who needs it, how do they get it, who do they get it from, and what are the implications of that, how does the source of finance change the behaviour of the people in charge of sport at all levels.

the first 3 are here - and are quite illuminating

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/e ... 0475824197 includes a fascinating section on Sports as entertainment as opposed to to a cohesive community asset

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/e ... 0480318709 includes a discussion as to why live event/sport is going to be disproportionately hi by investment drain for the next 12 - 38 months

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/e ... 0484040973 includes a really clearly argued section on why imposing a strong hyper-critical owners and directors test in football together. also distinguishes the different forms of Private Equity involvement in sport.

I will say that Unofficial Partner have produced a incredible series of Podcasts on a wide range of inputs into the sports business landscape, they are well worth a listen if you are interested in this kind of thing

[Vegas Claret]

Reports of a new interested party in Sunderland - the club who continue to over price themselves as was reported extensively in the media last week - It has to be said that this is far from being an ideal candidate given his history

https://twitter.com/markdonnelly_/statu ... 2979352577

[Chester Perry]

Strong Statement from Barnsley yesterday in the clubs official website - calling out the EFL and clubs who do not pay transfer fees on time (or even a year late but still operate in the same league as them

Fair play I say

------------------------------------------

The 2019/2020 season has been fraught with tribulation on and off the field. Through it all, our staff, players, supporters and community have continued to believe and fight, side by side. Foremost, this is a statement of sincere gratitude to those who pushed themselves for the betterment of our Club. To our squad, led by Gerhard and his staff, thank you for your desire and passion to battle to the bitter end. We look forward to a bright future with this group in continuing the pursuit of competitive growth, as a Sky Bet Championship Club.

Not enough can be said about the commitment of Club personnel and those key workers that allowed us to return to play. Barnsley Football Club is indebted to your service. Most importantly, to our supporters and the Barnsley community, your steadfast care for this Club should never be forgotten. In the toughest of times, in a world unseen, our supporters were there for their Club.

In the end we persevered to remain in the Championship. There are a host of reasons why Barnsley Football Club took the fight for safety to the last day. Mistakes made internally and on the field; a bad bounce or run of luck. As a Club, we accept the challenges of 19/20 that were our own and we must subjectively assess our performance.

What Barnsley Football Club cannot accept is the blatant disregard for sporting/competitive integrity and the lack of governance in our division.

Clubs were charged with breaching rules surrounding Financial Fair Play and harming the EFL and its members. One ownership group, (which was approved by the EFL), failed in their duty to provide the requisite support to their respective Championship organisation. One other ownership group completed a takeover and provided funding to a Club without ever being approved by the EFL to become owners of that Club. Another competitor has yet to pay a transfer fee to Barnsley Football Club that was due in August of 2019. Several clubs have been delinquent in payment to contracted players.

We ask, where is the competitive balance?

Our Club, on a substantially smaller budget, has paid every professional player under contract 100% of their wages this season, one of the few Sky Bet Championship clubs to do so.

It is clear that there has to be a change to the system. Just as our coaching staff, players, Club employees, and supporters have fought this season, so too will your Club continue the fight by all means necessary.

[Chester Perry]

Interesting article in the Economist about how home advantage has reduced for home games in the behind closed door restart of football across Europe - which raises the question should clubs pay fans to attend matches rather than charge them - you may have to register to read the whole article and see all the charts

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detai ... -advantage

[Chester Perry]

Transfer season starts on Monday and it won't be long before someone trots out the shirt sales myth - you know where the big transfer of cost a player will be met by the rise in shirt sales - this has never happened (though they can bring in a host of additional sponsorship that helps reduce the overall cost - see CR7 at Juventus) - @FootballLAw with a new blog piece that gives an update to an extract from his book D2one Deal"

https://www.danielgeey.com/post/the-shirt-sales-myth

[Quickenthetempo]

Nixon reporting both West Brom and Leeds have paid out over 10m in bonuses for promotion to the premier league.
A leeds fan says 19m for all players/staff.

[Chester Perry]

Nixon reporting both West Brom and Leeds have paid out over 10m in bonuses for promotion to the premier league.
A leeds fan says 19m for all players/staff.

that £19m Leeds figure is in their accounts, as a risk of promotion - they will likely spend over £60m all told in wages this season and were pushing FFP very close - there was an element of all or nothing this season. As for West Brom the figure seems pretty standard these days - we weren't far off that last time we went up.

Leeds overall promotion costs are huge:
- £19m promotion bonuses
- £10 upgrade costs for Elland Rd to meet current Premier League requirements
- £4m to a previous owner payable on promotion
- £19m for a player signed on loan in January, used as a sub 3 times then discarded - must buy on promotion according to contraxt - they are trying to get that blocked in court
- £30m+ uplift in current staff wages (that is a guess but a lot of players have a 40%- 50% uplift in their contracts following promotion
- Bielsa is also out of contract now
- they desperately need 4 or 5 players with the right kind of experience to keep the momentum going in the top flight, including a keeper and a striker they are spine of the team signings.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Is that the loan where they're saying that clause expired end of June?

[Chester Perry]

Is that the loan where they're saying that clause expired end of June?

yes

[Chester Perry]

Article in the Times about the ongoing fears in the EFL about the continuing financial impact of Coronavirus

‘It looks bad now but it could get worse in the EFL’
Club chiefs from across the EFL tell Gary Jacob there is no easy solution to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic

Gary Jacob - Sunday July 26 2020, 12.01am, The Sunday Times

The possibility of fans returning to grounds from October will be a lifesaver for English Football League clubs but their optimism is tempered by uncertainties that make it hard to plan for next season, which begins on September 12.

They have avoided going out of business in the past few months but their long-term survival remains highly dependent on gate receipts. Sky Bet Championship clubs earn about 30 per cent of income from match days, but that proportion increases in Leagues One and Two.

Clubs have many questions and few answers. They have no idea how many fans may be allowed inside grounds under social distancing rules, how many will want to attend given worries over health and finances and how hospitality and catering facilities can be safely used as they both generate important revenues.

There are many logistical issues, too. And that all assumes the government gives the greenlight for fans to return from October after test events. Clubs have been pushing for that date to be brought forward in line with the new season.

The guidelines issued by safety chiefs say that stadiums will be a maximum of 33 per cent full and could be at as low as 17 per cent of capacity under social distancing rules. Some EFL grounds are packed out every week but on average EFL stadiums tend to be only 60 per cent full. The percentage is highest in the Championship and reduces in each of the next two leagues.

As a result, many clubs have decided not to sell season tickets until there is more clarity, which has denied them significant sums that normally help them through the close season.

During the pandemic Wigan Athletic entered administration and Rick Parry, the EFL chairman, told a government committee that clubs face a “£200 million hole” from lost revenue. Clubs have survived by putting staff on furlough, deferring tax and keeping sponsors happy, while some negotiated pay deals with players. Nearly all applied for an EFL loan, which was part of a relief fund that included receiving advance payments. Each season EFL clubs receive a combination of payments from the EFL and solidarity payments from the Premier League, which amount to £7.5 million for clubs in the Championship, £1.6 million in League One and £1.07 million in League Two.

Ultimately, though, many clubs survived the crisis because the owners put their hands in their pockets.

The EFL clubs will soon vote on the introduction of a salary cap and a limit on squad size. The proposals limit a club’s wage bill to £18 million in the Championship, £2.5 million in League One and £1.25 million in League Two.

Here executives from each of the three divisions discuss how they are continuing to handle unprecedented difficulties.

‘If an owner is not writing a cheque, a club goes under’

When it costs about £8 million a month to run Queens Park Rangers even before paying players and coaching staff, you get an idea of the scale of the black hole faced by many Championship clubs. The players deferred 25 per cent of their wages for three months and some senior staff took a wage cut of up to 45 per cent. But still the shortfall has varied between £500,000 and £1.5 million each month depending on the level of payments from EFL and the modest sums earned through streaming and retail. “It boils down to if an owner is not writing out a cheque, a club will go under,” Lee Hoos, the QPR chief executive, says. “Income has been a drop in the ocean of what you need to run a club. The culture sector got a £1.5 billion bailout and many clubs don’t know why they did not get help.”

Playing behind closed doors denies clubs revenues, while sponsors will not commit until they know audience numbers. No one knows how many fans will want to attend. “With those uncertainties the issue is how do I commit to playing contracts?” Hoos says. “We need the fans back as it all starts from there. We are aiming for self-sustainability and our road to that leans heavily on player development. What is not clear yet is how the reduction in other teams’ revenues will impact on the value of player trading.”

‘What once seemed an average salary now seems high’

In ordinary times the fact that Portsmouth often sell out home matches would be seen as a positive. But even being permitted to use half of the 20,600-seater Fratton Park will be a “pretty dire situation” according to Mark Catlin, the chief executive of the League One club.

Gate receipts and related revenue account for about £6 million and hospitality about £1 million of the £11 million annual turnover, underlying the difficulties faced by many clubs. Fratton Park is an old stadium with narrow concourses, further complicating generating money through catering under social distancing rules.

They hope to claw back some cash if 20 per cent of their 14,500 season- ticket holders buy the official streaming app to watch matches. “Even with that, for the first time we are budgeting for the prospect of a significant loss,” Catlin says.

Portsmouth estimate a shortfall of a low seven-figure sum by the end of the 2020-21 financial year. It could be more. Until they have an idea of match-day income, they can only produce a range of potential budgets, also making it harder to assemble a squad to try to win promotion, having lost in the past two play-off semi-finals. “What might have seemed an average salary for this level before might now seem, ‘Wow, are you really paying that?’” Catlin says.

Portsmouth have a self-sustainable model and announced a £2 million profit in its most recent accounts. They saved a six-figure sum by furloughing players and all but 30 staff, ramped up their online retailing, kept sponsors happy to avoid paying a refund and took advantage of government business schemes. A small number of fans requested their money back for season tickets but the vast majority have left it as a credit, helping to preserve the club’s bank balance. They have also explored innovative ideas such as using an area outside the stadium to show matches and serve drinks and food.

Ultimately, though, they have the comfort of cash reserves left from the takeover by Michael Eisner, the former Disney executive, three years ago. Catlin has been conscious of not undoing the club’s hard work since they exited administration in 2013. “The main issue is that we don’t want to spend time and money on what may seem a brilliant idea at the time, when a few weeks later the government changes the rules and it completely undermines what we want to do. The uncertainty has been one of the biggest problems for all businesses during the pandemic.”

Portsmouth are critical of the proposed salary-cap rules as they do not take account of clubs who can generate bigger incomes. It would mean Portsmouth would be limited to paying an average basic wage of £1,350 a week. “We have fought hard for clubs to be self-sustaining but in its current form the cap does not address this and encourages others to spend above their means,” he says.

‘I feel the corner is beginning to turn for us all’

Newport County, in League Two, know a thing or two about potential financial oblivion. They were wound up in 1989 and re-formed to work their way up from the bottom of the pyramid to return to the Football League in 2013 and the last thing they were about to do was throw away the hard work.
The club, which is owned by its Supporters’ Trust, expect to lose 40 per cent of their income. They have operated with only five staff including Gavin Foxall, the chairman. “It’s a difficult environment to make decisions when there are shifting sands,” he says. “When we have definite dates it is easier to work with them. We need to know when fans will be back to budget.”

Michael Flynn, the manager, his players and all of his coaching staff were put on furlough in March. They will remain on the scheme until the club knows their date to return to pre-season. The financial uncertainty has meant the club were unable to offer new deals to five out-of-contract players and have made no signings.

Newport’s FA Cup runs in 2018 and 2019 earned them a combined £2 million, which amounts to roughly their normal annual turnover. They have dipped into that pot to survive and used their close contacts with the Welsh government to apply for every possible scheme to help.

Other money was saved by the generosity of fans forgoing refunds and contributing to a crowdfunding appeal to raise £40,000 for the shirt sponsorship. Donors will select which charity appears on the shirt.

Planning for fans to return is complicated without clarity and Newport are different from their English rivals as they face more stringent social distancing ruless. On the plus side, Newport fill around half of the 7,850 capacity at Rodney Parade, which is being used as a NHS testing centre.

One notable positive has been that the 24 League Two clubs have collaborated and tried to act in the collective good, including curtailing the season to prevent suffering additional costs by playing matches.

“We are rivals for 180 minutes [a season] but the reality is we face similar challenges and struggles in the rest of the year,” he says. “Clubs put self-interest aside to assist each other. It will be a very unusual season. When people put their heads together it is amazing what can be achieved. The virus will hopefully mean a reset for football. I do feel we are beginning to turn the corner.”

[Chester Perry]

Quite the bombshell from China last night - in apparent retaliation for the change in UK Gov's stance on relationship - China announced last night that they would cease airing of all Premier League games as of today

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 4137906176

Seems China showed all the Premier League games free to air today after all

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 9428014080

[Chester Perry]

Swiss ramble thinks we will get 16m more than last year, if we finish 9th, each place is now worth 2.7m after the rebate.

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 33569?s=19

@SportingIntelligence gives his guess at what the Premier League distribution would have been without rebates

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 9428014080

note how he thinks the rebate will be deducted

[Royboyclaret]

Chester, the links in the previous two posts appear to be the same......Can we see the link for Sporting Intelligence?

Cheers.

[Chester Perry]

@SportingIntelligence gives his guess at what the Premier League distribution would have been without rebates

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 9428014080

note how he thinks the rebate will be deducted

my apologies - the correct link

https://twitter.com/sportingintel/statu ... 3176425475

[Chester Perry]

The Telegraph thinks The Premier League are going to offer the EFL some additional financal aid in the next few weeks

Premier League may be ready to address financial 'cliff edge' facing Championship clubs
TOM MORGAN JULY 27, 2020

The financial "cliff edge" between the Premier League and Championship will be addressed in the coming weeks, according to Aston Villa's chief executive, in the clearest signal yet that England's top tier is finally ready to help share access to its vast TV riches.

Christian Purslow insisted the Premier League was taking the gulf "very seriously" after a committee of MPs called for a "reset" which would involve potential salary caps and the abandonment of parachute payments.

Villa's final day survival from a relegation worth £200 million was a "hugely stressful experience", he said, accepting that the "vastly different financial outcomes, hinging off of one game of football" was "something we need to look at". The Premier League could be "very helpful" in helping improve the broadcast deals made available to lower tiers, Purslow added.

"I think the Covid-19 crisis has shone a light on very significant differences that exist between the pinnacle of English football, the Premier League, and what goes on further down the pyramid," he told Radio 4's Today programme. "These financial issues were there before the Covid-19 crisis. Nobody would have designed a system where a team finishing at the bottom of the Premier League would be earning in the hundreds of millions for television money and the team finishing at the top of the league below will be earning less than five — that is such an enormous gap, that surely there's a better way. I think that cliff edge, that has really made life very difficult between those two divisions, will be addressed strategically in the coming weeks and months."

After hearing from leading figures across domestic sport, the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee last week warned the Government that "the current football business model is not sustainable". The big clubs, earning hundreds of millions in TV money, were singled out for particular criticism after MPs agreed with Rick Parry, the EFL chairman, who called for an "overdue and necessary" restructuring of football finances in England. Salary caps were described as an "essential” option to replace parachute payments as wages in the Championship now amount to 106 per cent of average club turnover.

Speaking to Radio 4, Purslow agreed that practical measures were needed, including "a much higher level of coordination between the management of the two leagues".

"The EFL as a whole is not properly valued by the global media industry, and that's the issue that needs to be addressed," he said. "It's about growing the revenues in Championship football and League One and League Two football. I think the Premier League could be very helpful in that regard, whether the financial issues caused by the pandemic leave us with player salaries and transparencies."

Parachute payments, introduced in 2006 to soften the financial impact of a club's relegation from the Premier League, are worth up to £41.8 million for the first season after the drop with lower amounts for the next two seasons. However, those lower down the leagues say they have distorted the market, encouraging transfer and wage inflation, prompting clubs to spend beyond their means.

With many clubs reeling from the financial strain caused by Covid-19, Purslow said the transfer market will be hit this summer. "I think it's probably quite likely that we'll have a relatively lower volume of transfer activity this summer that has been the case for many years," he added, explaining that the sport needed a "concerted plan to get fans back into football stadia" to ensure smaller clubs survive.

The Premier League is likely to come under increasing pressure from Government to support the EFL in the coming weeks. MPs last week concluded that the current parachute payments for clubs in the lower tiers "must become a thing of the past, and considerable work must be done to advance work on salary caps".

The Government "should engage with the Premier League and the EFL to learn lessons from abroad on policies such as salary caps, which may seem radical to those inside UK football, but seem to work well elsewhere", the MPs added.

The recommendations for football were made as part of a wide-ranging report which concluded the Government had been "too slow" to respond to the needs of the sporting, tourism and cultural sectors during the Covid-19 outbreak, with many organisations facing an “existential threat” to their survival.

[Chester Perry]

Interesting article in the Economist about how home advantage has reduced for home games in the behind closed door restart of football across Europe - which raises the question should clubs pay fans to attend matches rather than charge them - you may have to register to read the whole article and see all the charts

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detai ... -advantage

The Football Today podcast asks "what happens to home-field advantage when there are no fans?"

https://www.footballtodaypodcast.com/po ... re-no-fans

[Bfc]

Chester, firstly thank you for the enlightening reports you write up daily. You've probably wrote more words in your FMMT, than in all of W Shakespeare's works. Secondly you must be an accomplished keyboard typist, to complete all the content you put in them. I guess your not a single finger tapper like me.

[Chester Perry]

It is entirely possible that if this season had played out in front of fans, and we had no Covid pandemic that Liverpool would have come close to if not surpassed Manchester United in earnings, their growth in income in all 3 key sectors and particularly matchday and commercial has been rapid. they show no sign in slowing that as the appoint of a a new commercial director shows - he was essentially behind the massive growth of commercial income at Manchester United. - from SportsBusiness.com

Liverpool appoints former Manchester United man Scammell as commercial director
Adam Nelson, Europe office -July 27, 2020

Newly-crowned Premier League champion Liverpool has announced the appointment of Matt Scammell as its new commercial director.

Scammell arrives at Liverpool having spent nine years with the club’s fierce rival Manchester United in various commercial roles.

He joined the Red Devils in 2011 as sales director, progressing to become the club’s head of global sponsorship sales in 2017 before leaving in February of this year.

At Liverpool, he will focus on the continued expansion of the club’s portfolio of commercial partnerships, at a time when its fortunes are on the rise following two years of on-pitch success. He will report directly to Billy Hogan, Liverpool’s managing director and chief commercial officer.

On Scammell’s appointment, Hogan said: “We’re very pleased to welcome Matt to the club, his vast experience and expertise will undoubtedly continue to drive our commercial partnerships business in the right direction – I look forward to working closely with him.”

Scammell himself added: “I’m delighted to be joining Liverpool at what is a really important time for the teams both on and off the pitch. I’m looking forward to using my experience across sport and technology to enhance the great work already being done at the club.”

Read this: Liverpool’s ‘global marketing platform’ builds foundation for record profit and doubling of commercial revenues

[Chester Perry]

An as if to remind you of the sheer importance of wealth in today;s game - here is Miguel Delaney in the Independent

Strangest Premier League season produces predictable finale to emphasise power of money
The top four ended up being the richest four, while the bottom three heading into the final day all suffered relegation

Miguel Delaney Chief Football Writer @MiguelDelaney

The longest, strangest Premier League season in football history actually ends prematurely and predictably.

There was no twist, no surprise, not even the kind of controversial VAR call that has characterised the whole campaign. It all felt settled as the season ticked into what were drab final minutes.

The top four are the wealthiest four. The bottom three at the start of the day were the bottom three at the end of the day.

That meant that one of the truly decisive moments in the relegation battle came on the very first day of Project Restart.

That date, 17 June, is what this season will always be remembered for. It saw the return of English football amid the complications of Covid-19, the first ‘Black Lives Matter’ gesture in the game and - more trivially - a moment that could have ripples for the sport, and reflects an ongoing discussion around it.

Aston Villa staying up by a point meant that the Hawkeye failure in their first match back, the 0-0 draw with Sheffield United, very directly kept them up. Had Oliver Norwood’s free-kick been judged a goal, Dean Smith’s side would have been relegated. That deflected Andriy Yarmolenko goal for West Ham United in the final minutes would have done it.

Of course, different circumstances would have meant totally different types of games, and Villa could reasonably point to the fact VAR earlier denied them a penalty in that same Sheffield United match.

It does seem strangely fitting that a season dominated by VAR, that ultimately succumbed to the worst off-field stoppage the game has seen, involved such a crucial use - and failure - of technology. This is football’s new reality.

Such narrative aptness will be little solace to Bournemouth or Watford. They succumbed to the long-term reality of the Premier League: that it’s impossible to stay in it for any length of time without serious money. The average is a mere four seasons, no matter what you do. Watford and Bournemouth represented very different models of how to run a club - Watford’s in the last week proving hugely controversial - but both still went down after five seasons. They had their run.

Bournemouth felt like they’d gone stale under Eddie Howe. Watford remained too chaotic, the Pozzo’s insistence on changing managers at the first indication of trouble eventually - and predictably - costing them.

Villa’s big spending ultimately paid off, but it’s difficult to think there was much correlation. Chief executive Christian Purslow will be massively relieved.

That points to another reality, and the most important. Money now dictates football more than anything, and to a greater degree than ever before.

That may be becoming a boring point that you are sick of hearing, but it is now creating real problems for the game, and threatening to make it much more boring than it should be.

Hence, after a season that threatened so many surprises and shocks, where old orders were supposedly going to be overturned… the top four are the wealthiest four.

Frank Lampard and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer might feel some vindication at where they finished, but their feats should still be put in that context. They aren’t the magnificent achievements they’re being painted.

No matter any temporary complications, it will always be easier for Chelsea and Manchester United to finish in the Champions League places than Wolves, Sheffield United or Leicester City.

United turned their season around by sanctioning the £70m signing of a star like Bruno Fernandes. It was similarly fitting he scored the decisive penalty against Leicester - a decision confirmed, of course, by VAR.

Leicester were already in serious decline by the time Fernandes was transforming United in February. It is remarkable that they will now be disappointed with a fifth place finish, an outcome they would have been delighted with before the season began.

That points to how they succumbed to football’s greater realities, too, but there was more to it than that. Questions must be asked about the manner of their decline. It’s similarly impossible not to wonder whether Brendan Rodgers now regrets not going to Arsenal when he had the chance. Leicester’s slide started then.

Just two points behind them, Jose Mourinho will feel his own sense of vindication at returning Tottenham Hotspur to European competition. His points return now looks an awful lot better than much of his football did. He has done a respectable job, and steadied the team.

There are bigger questions about how far they can go under his approach, which now seems so behind the times compared to what Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola do, but they are at least going back into Europe. That is genuinely crucial for Spurs given the expenditure on the stadium at a time when they can’t even use it to house supporters.

They weren’t far off the Champions League places in the end. That is another pointer to the reality that governs the game. With a mere 63 points required to finish in the top four, the big sides didn’t even need to be that good. They often weren’t. It is why the relegation threshold is now so low, at a mere 34 points. The weaker sides just can’t take as many points off the top sides in that way.

Few took any off Liverpool.

Their final-day win over Newcastle United ensures Klopp’s side end the campaign with 99 points, making it the third season in a row the champions have got more than 97 points. You couldn’t have a greater indication of the problem.

It’s a problem that played its part in making this final day more predictable than it might have been. And that amid the strangest Premier League season of all.

[Chester Perry]

AIs this a sign of just how closely that King Power have aligned the nation of Thailand to Leicester City, next season the club's shirt sponsor will be the Thai tourist authority not King Power. Some may see the club as now effectively a promotional tool for a nation state in the manner of Man City. I see it as a means for the owners to increase traffic through Thailand's airports a core element of King Power's business - the really strange part is that replica shirts will not carry the same logo from SportsBusiness.com

Leicester City agrees front-of-shirt deal with Tourism Authority of Thailand
Matthew Williams - July 23, 2020

English Premier League club Leicester City will feature a new logo on its home shirt for the 2020-21 season after an agreement between the club, its main sponsor and owner King Power, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

The slogan ‘Thailand Smiles With You’ will be present on the front of the shirt for all matches at the King Power stadium during the 2020-21 league campaign.

It will also be present in the team’s final game of the 2019-20 season against Manchester United on July 26.

The campaign aims to support Thailand’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic by encouraging tourism to the country.

Leicester has been owned by Thai travel retail company King Power since 2010 and, as detailed by SportBusiness Soccer, the company pay £4m (€4.4m/$5.1m) a year for the club’s shirt sponsorship rights. It also holds the naming rights to Leicester’s stadium.

Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, Leicester City chairman and chief executive of King Power International, said: “The impact of Covid-19 is being felt all over the world and the relationship between Leicester City and King Power gives us the opportunity to support the shared communities that are closest to us.

“In Leicester, the Club has been able to reach out directly to make support available to a number of causes affected by the pandemic and will retain the backing of King Power to continue supporting Leicester’s future recovery.

“This campaign is our opportunity to make a difference in Thailand, where tourism contributes significantly to the nation’s economy and, as a result, the livelihoods of millions of Thai people.”

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has been a sponsor of Leicester City since King Power’s acquisition in 2010. Its ‘Amazing Thailand’ brand has been granted visibility at the King Power Stadium and also featured as part of a back-of-shirt sponsorship during the 2013-14 Championship-winning season.

The replica shirts sold by the club will retain the King Power logo and the company will also retain its presence during European and domestic cup matches through 2020-21.

[Chester Perry]

Is this a sign of the effects of the Pandemic or just the reality of what Milan have allowed themselves to fall too - Milan see a fall in the value of shirt sponsorship deal as the extend with Emirates - the club (like Everton) will dress it up as having the opportunities with other rights for women and sleeve sponsorship, but this is a low value sponsorship for one of the great names in the game - from Sports Pro Media

AC Milan confirm ‘€10m a year’ Emirates renewal
Cut price deal allows Italian club to sell separate women's, training and sleeve sponsorships.

Posted: July 27 2020By: Tom Bassam

- Expiring contract worth €14m a year
- Club will bid to make up revenue through new inventory
- Emirates has sponsored AC Milan's kit since 2010/11 season

AC Milan and the Emirates airline have renewed their shirt sponsorship deal until the end of the 2022/23 season, although the Italian soccer giants had to accept reduced terms.

A Gazzetta dello Sport report earlier this year said the extension, which has now been formally confirmed, would see Milan be forced to accept around €10 million (US$10.8 million) per season, plus bonuses. That is down from the expiring contract covering this season, which was worth €14 million (US$15.2 million) a year, plus bonuses.

Emirates continues as a principal partner of Milan and their official airline in the new three-year contract, which guarantees prime branding on the front of shirts for the senior men's side, youth teams and the Rossoneri academy.

The previous deal also covered AC Milan’s women’s team and training kit, but the club will now be selling that, and sleeve sponsorship inventory, separately.

Casper Stylsvig, AC Milan’s chief revenue officer, said: “This renewal is a testament to the value both parties have brought to the table throughout this long term and collaborative partnership. The partnership of these two brands, with such strong international visibility, is an extremely powerful one.

“Coming out of a global pandemic, our new deal with Emirates has also allowed the club to redefine its partnership strategy, providing an increased sponsorship inventory and therefore greater potential for further commercial partners moving forwards.”

At the end of the three-year term, the total duration of the partnership will have reached 17 years, with Emirates taking over as shirt sponsor ahead of the 2010/11 season.

[Chester Perry]

Hearts and Partick Thistle fail in their bid to get their relegations overturned and loose out on compensation too

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53526063

[Chester Perry]

Chester, firstly thank you for the enlightening reports you write up daily. You've probably wrote more words in your FMMT, than in all of W Shakespeare's works. Secondly you must be an accomplished keyboard typist, to complete all the content you put in them. I guess your not a single finger tapper like me.

Thanks for you appreciation - there is a lot of copy and paste for the articles I post - but while not a fully accomplished typist I do use both hands and about 6 digits most of the time

[GodIsADeeJay81]

6 digits on each hand I presume?

[Chester Perry]

6 digits on each hand I presume?

it's the Burnley way apparently - never knew it was unusual until I went to university

[Chester Perry]

Not sure that I believe this story on the BBC about the delays in the Saudi takeover of Newcastle being as a result of the lack of clarity over who would be in charge

Newcastle takeover: Where is the Premier League club's sale up to?
By Dan Roan and Alistair Magowan

Newcastle United's proposed takeover by a Saudi Arabian-backed consortium has been delayed because of a lack of clarity over who would be in charge at the club, BBC Sport has learned.

Sixteen weeks after documents relating to a £300m takeover were registered with the Premier League, the deal is still being scrutinised under its owners' and directors' test.

But it is understood compliance requires greater certainty as to who would have ultimate responsibility at St James' Park.

The bid has been led by British financier Amanda Staveley, but Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth Public Investment Fund (PIF) is set to take a 80% stake.

PIF's chairman is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and it appears the Premier League's lawyers are struggling to establish the precise links between the consortium and the Saudi government.

This is crucial given the television rights piracy issues that have dogged the saga, with Saudi Arabia denying claims it facilitated the illegal streaming of sports events in the Middle East.

The Premier League, PIF and Magpies owner Mike Ashley have all declined to comment, but with only seven weeks until the new season starts, patience is staring to wear thin on all sides.

On Saturday, manager Steve Bruce spoke for Newcastle fans when he said: "We need a decision and we need one quickly."

What's the latest situation?
The potential takeover has been complicated by television piracy issues and alleged human right abuses.

Families of prisoners held in Saudi Arabia have told BBC Sport that they will "not stay silent" even if the deal goes through.

There is also keen interest in Newcastle from American businessman Henry Mauriss, who is willing to offer £350m for the club, who finished 13th in the Premier League standings.

BBC Sport has been told by a source that an exclusivity clause held between Ashley and the Saudi-backed consortium has come to an end.

That could offer an opportunity for Mauriss' camp to capitalise should the bid fall through.

So, in the meantime, it is all eyes back on Premier League chief executive Richard Masters and its board. It will make the call on whether the prospective owners have broken any laws and meet the required standards to protect the league's reputation and image.

Sources have said that although Bin Salman is the chair of PIF, he is not involved with its day-to-day running, so questions about Saudi Arabia's human rights record are not relevant to the bid.

What are the outstanding issues?
More than 97% of Newcastle United Supporters' Trust members are in favour of the takeover, and many fans have dismissed the manner in which the media has raised issues which could derail the Saudi bid.

Given their significance and complexity, however, those issues have been hard to ignore.

TV piracy in Saudi Arabia is a huge problem for the Premier League to contend with, especially as it has previously complained about it.

The World Trade Organization said there had been an infringement of intellectual property rights via the illegal beoutQ service, but in an apparent response to that ruling, Saudi Arabia then barred beIN Sports from operating.

Its service is the only legal way of watching Premier League football in the country. Saudi Arabia has always denied aiding the beoutQ operation and has insisted there is no link between its government and the alleged piracy.

There have also been appeals to the Premier League and fans about how Saudi Arabia disregards human rights, which Masters said would be "fully considered".

Why are Saudi families concerned by takeover?
Families of prisoners held in the kingdom have told BBC Sport that allowing a Saudi takeover would "legitimise" the regime that "commits horrendous crimes".

The takeover goes to the core of the sports-washing idea that many human rights organisations have raised. They say that if the Arab state is associated with the globally positive image of the Premier League, it would gloss over the abuses that occur in the country.

Lina al-Hathloul says her sister Loujain, a human rights activist, is one such example. Loujain campaigned for women's rights to drive; according to her sister, she has been in prison for two-and-a-half years and has been tortured, sexually harassed and held in solitary confinement for eight months.

The Saudi government says she and other activists were detained for conspiring with "hostile entities", while Bin Salman told CBS's 60 Minutes in 2019 that releasing her was not his decision to make. He added: "If this [torture] is correct, it is very heinous. The Saudi laws forbid torture."

But in an appeal to Newcastle fans, Lina said: "I want to tell them that their everyday life is very different from ours. My sister is in prison just because one of her demands was for women to drive.

"Saudi Arabia will be embarrassed if at every game they have protests. Whatever the decision is at the end, fans have leverage, they can ask for the detainees to be released."

Areej al-Sadhan, whose brother Abdulrahman is a humanitarian worker for Red Crescent and has been in prison for more than two years, said hundreds of families like theirs were affected.

She added: "We cannot stay silent about it. We are actually risking our own lives by speaking out about the situation.

"There are things money cannot buy and fans seriously need to look deeper at the Saudi practices in the kingdom."

Where does proposed takeover leave Bruce?
Bruce has previously said he would "love to be part" of the takeover, but his more immediate concerns will be related to the forthcoming season, which starts on 12 September.

He is set for a meeting on Wednesday with Ashley, where he can discuss if any funds are available for transfer targets. Bruce has said he hopes to get a few deals done, and will also hope that midfielder Matty Longstaff signs a new contract.

But most of all, he, like many fans, wants to know if the takeover will happen or not.

"It is a frustration," he said after losing to Liverpool on Sunday. "The club needs that clarity, all of us, so let's hope we can get that in the next few days or week or whatever it may be.

"If that's not going to happen, we need to know quickly so it can be business as usual."

As has been the case for almost four months, the answer lies with the Premier League.

[Chester Perry]

I have thought for a while now that for the Premier Leagues (and posted about it on this thread) the delay is about negotiating expected practises and behaviours for the Saudi'sand that the government is involved in the diplomacy

Here Simon Chadwick's latest thoughts on the subject

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 7489337344

[Chester Perry]

and the Telegraph has this on the Saudi/Newcastle Deal

Exclusive: Newcastle United takeover 'gridlocked' as Saudi-led consortium struggles to allay Premier League concerns
LUKE EDWARDS JULY 27, 2020 - 5:40pm

The proposed takeover of Newcastle United by a Saudi Arabian-led consortium has reached deadlock due to concerns over the new ownership structure and who will have the final say in the decision-making process at the Premier League club.

A £300 million offer was accepted by current owner Mike Ashley back in April with the expectation that deal would be confirmed by the Premier League a few weeks later. Instead, much to the consternation of Newcastle fans desperate for a change of ownership, the takeover is now into the 17th week of attempting to pass the Premier League’s Owners and Director's Test.

In turn, Ashley has been talking to the American businessman, Henry Mauriss, since the start of the month and it is understood he is free to sell to another buyer after the exclusivity deal with the Saudi-led consortium, which involved the payment of a deposit, expired.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is attempting to acquire an 80 per cent stake in Newcastle with financier Amanda Staveley, who has brokered the deal, receiving 10 per cent and the Reuben family, represented by Jamie Reuben, buying the remaining 10 per cent of the club.

The talks with the Premier League are now said to have stalled and are locked in stalemate, with, according to sources, the buyers struggling to satisfy the organisation which appears to want greater clarity regarding the link between the PIF and the Saudi state.

At the heart of the matter is the long-running legal dispute the Premier League has had with the Saudi government over the illegal streaming of English football and other sporting events in the Kingdom.

The issue was further confused recently when the KSA banned beIN, the Qatari-based international rights holders in the Middle East, from broadcasting in the country which means it is now impossible to legally watch Premier League matches in the Kingdom.

In turn the KSA had released statements saying it would crack down on websites, such as the pirate site beOutQ, which has been illegally showing sporting events, in the hope that it would convince the Premier League it was not backing the activities.

The takeover has not been officially rejected but there is increasingly less confidence that it will go through in its present form with one source telling Telegraph Sport that it was “gridlocked”. The source added: “As things stand there is no chance of the takeover progressing in its current form.

“The problem is this, the Premier League wants to know who will be running the club, who will have the final say on decisions, who will negotiate sponsorship deals and so on and so on.

“The PIF has the majority stake but the management structure does not seem to recognise that. The more questions that have been asked, the more muddled and confused it becomes. The Premier League is not satisfied with the answers it has been given.”

Certainly, so far, the answers provided by the buyers do not appear to have persuaded the Premier League that it can allow the takeover to go through as it has been organised. The crux of the problem appears to remain that the Premier League is unconvinced by the argument that the PIF is independent of the Saudi government and, therefore, is insisting on the link being made clearer.

The buyers have continued to argue that the PIF is a separate legal entity to the Saudi State, an argument apparently undermined by the fact Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country's de-facto ruler, is chairman of the fund. The PIF is understood to have continued to maintain that it is an independent investment vehicle.

It is understood that Staveley, who will be the public face of the takeover, will be in day-to-day charge of the business. Three-fifths of the board will be made up of Saudi representatives, with the chairman expected to be Yasir Al-Rumayyan who is the governor of the PIF. Jamie Reuben, who will have to step down as a director of Championship club Queens Park Rangers, will also be on the board.

Owen Brown, an advisor and friend of former Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez, has also been involved in meetings, including talks over summer transfer targets.

It is understood that structure was designed to put some distance between the club and the government officials on the PIF board.

Rather than serious concerns over the Saudis' human rights record, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it has been the issue of piracy that has complicated the deal with Newcastle appearing to also be caught in the middle of a Middle Eastern proxy war after relations were severed between Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

When he appeared before the Department for Culture, Media and Sport select committee last month, Richard Masters, the Premier League chief executive, admitted that “sometimes things get complicated” when it comes to takeover deals. He added, “sometimes there’s a requirement for information”, but it was hoped the issue would be concluded “shortly”.

Nine attempts to take legal action by the Premier League were blocked in KSA before this takeover bid was launched while a report by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruled the Saudi Arabia government had facilitated and promoted the illegal streaming.

When contacted by Telegraph Sport, the Premier League refused to deny claims the takeover talks have reached an impasse, before replying with a “no comment” to additional questions about whether they intend to block it.

[Chester Perry]

Meanwhile in the Guardian, Barney Ronay dishes up more of what Miguel Delaney did earlier in the day about how money is more of a determining factor than ever

Premier League's richest tighten grip after season of slow-burn stories
It was a campaign like no other but the wealthiest still came out on top and the ever-growing gap between the best and the rest is cause for concern

Barney Ronay - @barneyronay - Mon 27 Jul 2020 22.00 BSTLast modified on Mon 27 Jul 2020 22.43 BST

Well, we made it then. It was the worst of times. And either side of that, it was also the worst of times. Professional sport has never staged anything quite like the football season just past, 11 months of competition capped by that midsummer interlude where suddenly televised football became a contractual bind cranked out through gritted teeth to pay the bills, Premier League clubs going through the motions like a leather-thonged private dancer making eyes at the table of TV execs in hope of a second series.

Plague, death and economic collapse aside, from a sporting point of view the most remarkable part of the 2019-20 Premier League season was that it maintained a degree of uniform quality throughout. As ever the level of competition was decent, not bad, OK; a reliable advert for the homogenised global pop culture product that is elite level English football.

Liverpool supporters will rejoice in the spectacle of one of the great champion teams of the last quarter century. At the other end of the table Aston Villa’s survival was an absorbing piece of theatre. But for the rest of the field this was a slow-burn, unremarkable season, with little in the way of surprise, innovation, or genuine social mobility.

Never mind the shrill dramas of Super Final Sunday. The four wealthiest clubs at the start of the season are the four clubs that will play in the Champions League next year. Not, it should be said, in exactly corresponding order. Liverpool defied a £100m revenue shortfall to finish 33 points clear of No 1 rich-listers Manchester United. So there’s that.

Otherwise there is little in the final Premier League table that couldn’t have emerged from an algorithm based on income and recent performances. Arsenal and West Ham underachieved on a revenue-to-points basis. Burnley continue to punch above their status. Sheffield United looked an excellent team.

There were spikes of unruliness: Norwich beat Manchester City and Watford beat Liverpool. But Norwich were also relegated after one hapless season, while Watford’s successful attempt to game the system finally choked on its own cuteness.

At the end of which the gap between first and 10th place was 45 points, maintaining an average 10 point increase in the gap between those places in the last four years, compared to the previous decade. The gap between first and fourth was 33 points, compared to 27 the year before, and 25, 17 and 15 in the three years before that.

This sense of settled hierarchies becomes more pronounced every year. It should be a source of concern that there are currently no more than four teams in the league who might even contemplate winning it. In the circles beyond it is a fair guess to say more than 90% of current professional clubs have zero chance of winning the Premier League title ever again, barring some deus ex machina takeover by an unregulated spendthrift billionaire.

Does this matter? It is more open at the top than most other European leagues. Juventus have just won a ninth consecutive domestic title. Bayern Munich are up to eight. Paris Saint-Germain wield a similar tyranny in Ligue 1.

At the same time this gap is likely to become more pronounced in all the major leagues, as revenue streams dry up, and as access to the Champions League becomes a dividing line between the drowned and the saved. Those who have gambled on debt versus income are in for a dose of enforced austerity. The status of the Premier League as a premium global product will rest for now on those established powers, their ability to produce and procure star players.

It should be said the champions look in excellent health. Liverpool are a powerful machine, in need of little more than a service and the odd high-end spare part. It would be a surprise not to see the title retained, and the sense of a genuine act of dynasty-building confirmed.

Manchester City will be stronger. Courtroom vindication will provide both impetus and, no doubt, a mild flood of money to spend. Beyond which it is hard not to conclude that this has been a poor Premier League field, as evidenced by the fact Leicester’s pre-Christmas cavaliers were Liverpool’s closest challengers all season.

There has been some hopeful talk that Manchester United might be a genuine force next year, something that would seem more likely if the Premier League were a five-a-side competition. Unfortunately it is also necessary to field a fully competent backline. Chelsea have riches in midfield and some exciting new arrivals. Both of these teams will have their hand strengthened by a seat at the top table in a time of retrenchment elsewhere

Further down it seems likely financial caution will only increase the sense of leagues within leagues. Tottenham and Arsenal, weakened by the financial slowdown, look some way off now. The sense of a large block of clubs hanging in there, content simply to harvest the broadcast money, will become ever more profound.

Perhaps a less spendthrift environment will reinforce the idea that chemistry, careful coaching and good husbandry is still the best way to succeed.

Leeds’ arrival will provide the league with a distinctive on-field presence, and Marcelo Bielsa with the funds to explore the limits of his systems-based football.

And despite that sense of middling standards, the Premier League has been tactically interesting this year. For the first time since the first Premier League season none of the top three goalscorers played for the top three clubs, a measure perhaps of the way the angles and rhythms of attack have broadened out. The full-back role continued to evolve, to the extent Trent Alexander-Arnold probably requires a new designation, right-back giving way to ball-strike-flank-gallop-man, or right-side-wing-creation-vector.

For now domestic football will be hugely glad of the extended break, with the new season not due to start until 12 September.

Before then we have the prospect of a 10-week summer transfer window; the progress of which is likely to confirm that sense of hierarchies reinforced, of spenders versus savers, and of a league being pulled a little further apart at both ends.

[Chester Perry]

John Nicholson and Adrian Goldberg of The "When Sky Invented Football" podcast presents a "Manifesto for English Football"

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a ... 0486338652

[Chester Perry]

Another Middle Eastern state has "invested" in football to promote itself - though as yet not at the stratospheric cost we are used to - Bahrain buy 20% of Paris FC and immediately use the tourist authority to sponsor the shirt

https://twitter.com/tariqpanja/status/1 ... 3582597120

[Chester Perry]

John Nicholson and Adrian Goldberg of The "When Sky Invented Football" podcast presents a "Manifesto for English Football"

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a ... 0486338652

this podcast introduced me to the creator of the "Mitch Cook's left foot" blog - I thought he spoke very well, he certainly matched up to the powerful personalities of Goldberg and Nicholson, so decided to have a look at his blog

there is some good stuff on there, though it can be a bit long winded, like Nicholson I find him a voice worth listening too without always agreeing with his view - this one, from a two weeks back on bad football club owners/the Wigan situation is rather good

https://mclfoot.blogspot.com/2020/07/ye ... -they.html

[Chester Perry]

Anti-Piracy is not something we talk about that much, even though we often read about Piracy, given the popularity of Football it is inevitable that people will seek to make money from the illegal broadcast of it (it is the Magic Money Tree after all). What we are now seeing is that businesses are being built from trying to stop/block piracy - the sophistication of the pirates is such that in-house teams are rarely able to be formed to combat (though the Premier League are amongst the best). Uefa have woken up to the threat - not piracy in itself more the potential loss in revenues from rights holders if they do nothing about it. - from SportsProMedia.com

Uefa seeking anti-piracy service providers in wake of BeoutQ saga
European soccer body issues RFP in growing effort to protect IP rights.

Posted: July 27 2020By: PA

Uefa, European soccer’s governing body, has moved to further protect itself from piracy by signalling its intention to enlist the services of an intellectual property rights management firm.

A tender has been issued by Uefa for companies to assist in its anti-piracy efforts, a process which will run until 4th September.

A statement accompanying the request for proposals said: 'Uefa takes the protection of its intellectual property rights, as well as the interests of its media partners, very seriously.'

The organisation was one of many rights holders affected by the activities of pirate broadcast network BeoutQ, whose operations were facilitated by the Saudi Arabian state according to a report by the World Trade Organisation last month.

Responding to the WTO report, Uefa said in a statement last month: 'What is clear is that BeoutQ’s broadcasts constitute piracy of Uefa’s matches and as such, are illegal.

'BeoutQ was hosted on frequencies transmitted by Arabsat and was promoted and carried out by individuals and entities subject to Saudi Arabia’s territorial jurisdiction.

“Those seeking to follow BeoutQ’s example should be in no doubt that Uefa will go to great lengths to protect its property and support its partners, whose investment in football helps it to remain the world’s most popular sport from grassroots to elite level. Piracy not only threatens that investment but also the existence of professional sport as we know it.

'Today’s ruling shows clearly that no-one involved in audio-visual piracy should consider themselves above the rule of law.'

The issue of piracy also appears to have caused complications for the Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle.

The buyout is still being considered by the Premier League under its owners’ and directors’ test, with the Saudi public investment fund (PIF) taking an 80 per cent stake in the club under the terms of the deal.

In February English soccer's top-flight Premier League wrote to the United States trade representative asking that Saudi Arabia be kept on a watch list because the country 'remained a centre for piracy'.

[Chester Perry]

An in depth and lengthy article looking at whether Private Equity investment can awaken Serie A to become the global power it once was

https://www.sportbusiness.com/2020/07/s ... ing-giant/