Football's Magic Money Tree

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Chester Perry
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jun 04, 2020 10:19 am

And the league is enquiring what it would take to make the Hearts proposal (three 14 team leagues) happen - It would stop Hearts being relegated (Philanthropist - James Anderson is a Supporter of Hearts if you were not aware)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52905133

Chester Perry
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jun 04, 2020 10:23 am

This is pretty significant - the Sponsorship head of one of the games biggest commercial sponsors - from SportsBusiness.com

Now is the time for the big leagues to start relaxing their philosophy on shirt sponsorship
Roger Duthie, sponsorship head at Emirates, believes it's about time for sports to give something back to the sponsors
June 4, 2020

n my 19 years working in sponsorships, for what I consider to be one of the world’s most progressive brands, Emirates, I always felt that at some point in my career I would see the North American Leagues start to relax their policies on shirt sponsorships and on course/tee board branding. I had several conversations with various League officials from the PGA Tour, NFL, NHL, MLB and NBA regarding this matter. I really wanted this to happen so that the company I worked for could be at the forefront of North American shirt sponsorship when it finally did happen. I’m still waiting.

I received several proposals over the years for branding referees in various leagues and there was chatter here and there on shirt sponsorships, but it never really amounted to anything. I raised this issue several times but always received the same answer: fans weren’t ready; leagues weren’t ready; it was too hard or unfair in some markets etc. etc. etc. Plenty of reasons.

I fully understood that the model in North America, for the most part, differed from the model around the rest of the world but for the life of me, I just could not comprehend why the LA Lakers for example, would refuse millions upon millions of dollars from brands that would jump all over this. Or why the NY Yankees or the NHL would not allow international or local brands to buck up for the right to plaster their brand all over the various jerseys. Yes, I appreciated the revenue models and the other logistical issues that accompany this, such as fan reaction and TV deals, but the reality is that fans would soon get over this, and as the NBA has already proven, their revenue-sharing models would be a positive thing for all teams.

I have spoken at length to the PGA Tour about getting Emirates involved with some big events on the PGA Tour in America. I always pushed for on-course Emirates branding and tee box branding so I could show to my bosses the value of golf sponsorship in the USA. The value for a company to have Tiger Woods standing on the tee box with branded signboards in the background was huge. There is no clear association between Tiger and Emirates for example but building the brand through sports was key to the overall global brand aspirations of the company. Everyone who watches golf knows that when Tiger plays, the media value and coverage is 3 or 4 times greater than without him, perhaps more, and that still exists even today. If a company could get photos of Tiger in front of their brand that publicity helps associate that company with golf, and subsequently all things associated with golf; in the airline world, this means travel.

The few PGA Tour events that allow on-course branding do not display the prominent branding that is apparent on the PGA European Tour. The PGA European Tour understands that sponsors need further association on the course with their events.

Emirates for example, was allowed to have their famed Cabin Crew greet the players of the Ryder Cup teams on the tee boxes during European Home Ryder Cup Matches in 2018, in France on the first tee. Did it affect the players? I don’t think so. The association was there, and all seemed pretty positive. This activation may not work for all sponsors as there should be some relevance between the brand’s core business and the activity. Greeting players on the tee box is akin to greeting them whilst boarding an aircraft and therefore garnered positive reviews.

Given the situation the world is in at the moment with the uncertainly of sports and fans returning to watch live sport, I would assert that if there was ever a time for the PGA, NHL, MLB and the mighty NFL to start allowing for shirt sponsorships of some sort, the time is now.

What better way to engage with sponsors who are nervous about the future of their sponsorships than to provide added value for them? This would enable the leagues to generate new revenue streams as most events will now be viewed on TV or online rather than in person for the remainder of their seasons.

When sport does come back, and it will, the TV viewing figures will be huge, so why not give current sponsors added value and new sponsors something unique? Current sponsors could trade in and carve out certain rights that they are currently losing on hospitality or on site activation in return for player branding. This could be a short-term fix and as well as a long-term solution. The contract situation between sponsors and rights-holders will now be complicated but rights holders could actually alleviate some of the mess in North America by allowing this initiative.

Many US sports leagues were professing (pre-Covid-19 pandemic) their desire to become global leagues. Surely now is the time to attract brands that are surviving and thriving in the current Pandemic situation and encourage them to become shirt sponsors? The leagues could even cut the fees for new and existing sponsors in an act of solidarity to show they understand the global economic situation. This is not a time for rich leagues to get richer, but it is a time to maintain sponsors who are justifiably concerned about their businesses and their staff. Yes, these are challenging times for many, but the reality is that sport provides a welcome distraction life during a Pandemic and when sport does come back, it will come back with a vengeance.
One only has to look at the Taiwan Baseball League with cardboard fans and cheerleaders to realise that baseball is happening even though it looks different…but that’s okay. The games a few weeks ago between the Rakuten Monkeys and the CTBC Brothers was played out on the global stage. Clearly Rakuten has done well with their foray into global sponsorships (see its NBA patch deal) and good for them.

ESPN’s televised games in South Korea are a hit too (if you have not been to a game in South Korea, I highly recommend it as it’s an amazing interactive experience with fans singing, and dancing led by male and female cheerleaders). US sports could learn a lot about entertainment from the Asian baseball leagues. Sport will be different when it returns, but it will return and that is the most important thing to remember.

I am aware of some situations where there is stadium sponsor whose main competitor is an opposing team sponsor. So what? It happens in English Premier League Football as well as in other leagues and teams around the world. The great rivalry in Scottish football between Celtic and Rangers in Glasgow even shared the same sponsor for many years for fear of alienating half of the local population. It worked well. Why can’t the North American Leagues follow suit and benefit from shared common sponsors’ objectives?

Sponsors are very important to leagues, teams and athletes. Let’s ensure we do not lose these valuable corporate partners and offer them more during the pandemic. Rather than having to repay some of the funds back to these partners, the timing is perfect for the NHL, NFL, MLB and PGA to follow what other leagues are doing globally and enable shirt sponsorship and on-course deals to be made. This is beneficial to all and will help ease some of the lost revenues moving forward.

It’s time to give something back to the sponsors.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jun 04, 2020 1:33 pm

Tottenham project worse case losses of £200m through to the end of next season - that is a big ouch - taken advantage of Bank of England loan schem to borrow £175m to help with daily operational cash flow - they are not allowed to use it for transfers

https://theathletic.com/1849915/2020/06 ... ed-article

and yet some are still thinking that the Premier League must bail out the pyramid - why don't the EFL use this unsecured loan scheme from the Bank of England - it seems great value on those terms

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jun 04, 2020 1:35 pm

On the working capital note - The Esk is saying part 3 of Football Shorts should be out tomorrow - club’s balance sheets and in particular their shareholders’ abilities to fund losses and provide working capital. Looking forward to it.

Royboyclaret
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:05 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Thu Jun 04, 2020 1:33 pm
Tottenham project worse case losses of £200m through to the end of next season - that is a big ouch - taken advantage of Bank of England loan schem to borrow £175m to help with daily operational cash flow - they are not allowed to use it for transfers

https://theathletic.com/1849915/2020/06 ... ed-article

and yet some are still thinking that the Premier League must bail out the pyramid - why don't the EFL use this unsecured loan scheme from the Bank of England - it seems great value on those terms
Unable to read all but the beginning of that article as not registered, but worth noting that the £200m potential loss quoted is of Revenue as opposed to Operating Loss. Tottenham need to tread very carefully here, they were already top of the pile when it came to Gross debt at the end of their last financial year with a massive figure of £658m. Man Utd were well back in second with £511m. Meanwhile, the figure at Turf Moor was zero.

It prompted Mike Garlick, at the time, to make this comment....."We continue to see many examples elsewhere of spiraling debt crippling clubs to the extent payments are not met".....

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:14 pm

Royboyclaret wrote:
Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:05 pm
Unable to read all but the beginning of that article as not registered, but worth noting that the £200m potential loss quoted is of Revenue as opposed to Operating Loss. Tottenham need to tread very carefully here, they were already top of the pile when it came to Gross debt at the end of their last financial year with a massive figure of £658m. Man Utd were well back in second with £511m. Meanwhile, the figure at Turf Moor was zero.

It prompted Mike Garlick, at the time, to make this comment....."We continue to see many examples elsewhere of spiraling debt crippilng clubs to the extent payments are not met".....
I am not a subscriber either Roy - but there was enough there to get the gist

I should have made myself clearer on the revenue drop not losses too

- you have to wonder with the Tottenham stadium, and the level of interest they are paying on it, whether they will ever repay the capital - my understanding is it is an interest only deal currently - much like United and the leveraged takeover finance. Interest only never looking to pay down - easy deal for the financiers and very comfortable for the club on the revenues generated

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jun 04, 2020 5:54 pm

I was meaning to say this about the Tottenham report also but got distracted - vysyble have done it for me

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1268531885623435265

Article on the spurs loan in the Guardian for those of us without the subscription to the Athletic

Tottenham take £175m Bank of England loan to ease coronavirus impact
- Spurs fear losing more than £200m of revenue to June 2021
- Loan will not be used to buy new players in summer

David Hytner- Thu 4 Jun 2020 15.40 BST

Tottenham have borrowed £175m from the Bank of England to help them through the next year or so, as they respond to the financial destruction of the Covid-19 crisis.

The club fear that they may lose more than £200m of revenue in the period from the start of lockdown to June 2021, including broadcast rebates, and they have sought help from the government’s Covid corporate financing facility lending scheme, which has provided them with the unsecured loan. It is repayable in full next April at a rate of 0.5%, which is low in commercial terms, although Spurs could redraw it for another year.

José Mourinho has said the club are “not going to spend rivers of money” in the next transfer window, whenever that opens, and the bank loan will not be used for new players – rather to provide flexibility and support during what will be a hugely testing time.

Mourinho was told when he joined last November that there would not be a pot of cash for a January squad overhaul; the manager was allowed to sign Steven Bergwijn for £25.4m and this was offset by Christian Eriksen’s £16.9m departure to Internazionale. Mourinho’s eyes were wide open as to the financial realities at the club and the situation is even more straitened now.

Spurs have been badly hit by the pandemic because they had banked on revenue streams from fans attending various events at their stadium – and not only football matches. They have had to cancel a rugby union game between Saracens and Harlequins, Anthony Joshua’s world title fight against Kubrat Pulev, two NFL fixtures and England v Australia in the rugby league Ashes. Concerts from Guns N’ Roses and Lady Gaga and the Capital Radio Summertime Ball have also gone.

The club noted in a statement that “as of today, it is unclear when there will be a return to spectator-attended live events”, and Daniel Levy is eager to explore technological solutions that could help fans to come back to the stadium.

The chairman said: “We have always run this club on a self-sustaining commercial basis. I said as early as 18 March that, in all my 20 years at the club, there have been many hurdles along the way but none of this magnitude – the Covid‑19 pandemic has shown itself to be the most serious of them all.

“It is imperative that we now all work together – scientists, technologists, the government and the live events sector – to find a safe way to bring spectators back to sport and entertainment venues. Collectively we have the ability to support the development of new technologies to make this possible and to once again experience the passion of fans at live events.”

Spurs announced last September that they had refinanced their stadium loans. They borrowed £637m from Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and HSBC for the £1bn project and the money was due to be repaid by April 2022. But through US investors Levy converted roughly £525m of the debt into a bond scheme, with staggered maturities of between 15 and 30 years.

Levy announced Spurs’ accounts for last season at the start of the coronavirus crisis, which showed total revenues of £460.7m and robust post-tax profits of £68.6m.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jun 04, 2020 8:29 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Wed Jun 03, 2020 7:18 pm
Today Vysyble's 2018/19 review shows us the staff costs for all 20 Premier League clubs and overlay that as a percentage of revenue

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1268239977122598916
Extrapolating from last nights post - vysable show how the increased competition for Champions League places (with the opportunity for add around 70% of Premier League Income from the competition) has driven salary cost throughout the whole tv cycle for the first time

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1268590413612494848

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jun 04, 2020 9:24 pm

In a move that evokes comparisons with the Bundesliga - the 4 Dutch teams that have qualified for Europe have a donated monies into a solidarity fund for league clubs - From SportsBusiness.com - you also have to say that the Eredivisie's distribution model appears to be somewhat self perpetuating

Eredivisie clubs reach agreement on TV money distribution
Adam Nelson, Europe office - June 3, 2020

The 18 clubs in the Eredivisie, the Netherlands’ top football division, have reached an agreement on the distribution of the media-rights fees for the 2019-20 season.

Domestic broadcast money in the Netherlands is distributed based on league placement over the course of the past ten seasons, with the most recent carrying the most weight. However, with the early curtailment of the 2019-20 campaign, there was some debate over how the funds should be divided.

In the end, the clubs unanimously agreed that the final standings would be included in the calculation, despite the Dutch FA (KNVB) having officially declared the season null and void, with no title awarded and no promotion or relegation.

The league’s current domestic deal, with Fox Sports, is worth an average of €80m ($90m/£71m) per season between 2013 and 2025. In April, it was reported that Fox had agreed to pay the final tranche of €22m for the 2019-20 season, meaning clubs should see the majority of the money they had expected.

Meanwhile, the top four teams in the Eredivisie – Ajax, AZ Alkmaar, Feyenoord, and PSV Eindhoven – have finalised their contributions to the solidarity fund that was set up to offer support to financially struggling clubs.

Ajax, the Netherlands’ richest club by a considerable distance, will pay €3m into the fund, with the other three each contributing €500,000. That €4.5m will be added to the €4.2m from Uefa, €5m from the KNVB, €5m from Dutch financial services firm ING and €1m from the players of the Dutch men’s national football team. This will create a total relief fund of almost €20m to offer aid to Dutch clubs that have been hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jun 04, 2020 9:37 pm

This report for media rights of "Soccer in the United States, 2020" makes for interesting reading and offers some hope given the pattern of growth between cycles

https://media.sportbusiness.com/2020/06 ... 1557413659

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jun 04, 2020 9:46 pm

This from SportsproMedia.com will disappoint both rights owners and distributors - though does not surprise at fans want to watch the games they want not necessarily yhe games being offered by their subscription service

Study: 51% of sports fans watch pirate streams despite 89% owning subscriptions
Just 16% of respondents in new report do not use illegal services to view live sport.
Posted: June 4 2020By: Sam Carp

- More than half of sports fans use pirate services to watch live sport despite 89 per cent owning legitimate subscription platforms.
- 29 per cent of fans who use piracy websites say they have paid to access sports content through those services.
- Just 16 per cent of fans say they never watch sports using an illegal service.

A ten-country study of more than 6,000 sports fans has found that 51 per cent still use pirate services to watch live sport on a monthly basis, despite 89 per cent of respondents owning a subscription to a pay-TV or over-the-top (OTT) platform.

The Charting Global Sports Piracy report, carried out by Ampere Analysis on behalf of video software provider Synamedia, found that 42 per cent of those who regularly use illegal streaming services watch sports fixtures on a daily basis, which is 60 per cent higher than the average fan.

Over a quarter (29 per cent) of those who use piracy websites said they have paid those services for access to sports content, while 31 per cent cited a sporting event not being broadcast locally as a key motivator for using illegal providers.

Just 16 per cent of respondents said they never watch sports using a pirate service, with 44 per cent saying they consume sports via legal OTT platforms every week.

Based on the responses, the study divided sports fans into three main groups: loyal stalwarts, fickle superfans and casual spectators.

Loyal stalwarts, who accounted for 26 per cent of respondents, were described as big viewers of sport on pay-TV platforms. Almost all fans in this group believe it is wrong to use pirate services, yet 35 per cent still said they watch sport via illegal providers at least weekly.

31 per cent of respondents were identified as fickle superfans, who the study found predominantly live in developing markets and prefer a multi-screen experience. A whopping 89 per cent of fans in this category consume pirated sports content weekly, but said they might be willing to pay for legitimate services if they had access to more flexible packages, a broader range of sports or multi-screen offerings.

Loyal stalwarts, who accounted for 26 per cent of respondents, were described as big viewers of sport on pay-TV platforms. Almost all fans in this group believe it is wrong to use pirate services, yet 35 per cent still said they watch sport via illegal providers at least weekly.

31 per cent of respondents were identified as fickle superfans, who the study found predominantly live in developing markets and prefer a multi-screen experience. A whopping 89 per cent of fans in this category consume pirated sports content weekly, but said they might be willing to pay for legitimate services if they had access to more flexible packages, a broader range of sports or multi-screen offerings.

Nearly half (43 per cent) of respondents were classified as casual spectators, who the report said mainly tune in for major events and are the least likely to pay for a legitimate sports TV subscription. Despite their lower interest, 17 per cent of people in this category said they still watch illegal sports content at least weekly.

The study concluded that a key way to combat piracy is to target specific clusters of fans with a mix of access and payment models, alongside efforts to disrupt the broader piracy ecosystem.

Simon Brydon, senior director of sports rights anti-piracy at Synamedia, said: “Global spend on TV sports rights is set to total almost US$50 billion in 2020. Protecting these revenues and keeping sports on screens requires a deeper understanding of the evolving piracy landscape and a cogent response.

"This initial research into what motivates sports fans to access illegal streams establishes a baseline for a more nuanced and targeted approach to combatting piracy.”

The ten markets analysed for the study were Brazil, Egypt, Germany, India, Italy, Jordan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Respondents were aged between 18 and 64 and were surveyed in March 2020, before most sports leagues around the world were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jun 04, 2020 9:54 pm

In the original of that previous post there was a link to this article from back in January - which carries the view that rights values are heading for a fall - this was pre-pandemic

Not backing down: BeIN CEO Yousef Al-Obaidly on the uncomfortable truth of sports broadcast piracy
In one of his first interviews as BeIN Media Group chief executive, Yousef Al-Obaidly explains why the media rights bubble is about to burst, and opens up about trying to keep a US$15 billion portfolio of sports rights from the clutches of a state-backed piracy operation.
Posted: January 23 2020By: Sam Carp

Yousef Al-Obaidly is not afraid to admit that 2019 was far from routine, but he is focusing on the positives.

“It has been a very tough year,” he acknowledges, speaking in late December, “but a huge year that is very positive, despite the enormous and unique challenges we have faced unlike other businesses. Most companies would have failed, and we actually got stronger in a really tough situation.”

Al-Obaidly can be a difficult man to track down, but that is perhaps unsurprising when you attempt to untangle the hulking business he has helmed for just over a year. Promoted to the role of chief executive of Qatar-based BeIN Media Group in November 2018, Al-Obaidly oversees a broadcasting juggernaut operating in 43 countries – its presence spans the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), France, the USA, Canada and 11 territories in the Asia-Pacific region - and one that has spent some US$15 billion on a lavish portfolio of sports rights.

It is from Turkey – home to BeIN-owned satellite provider Digiturk - where Al-Obaidly is eventually able to speak with SportsPro to look back on a year that saw BeIN Sports – the company’s flagship sports network – secure further multi-million dollar rights contracts and deliver its usual slate of major events, including the Fifa Women’s World Cup and the Fifa Club World Cup, for which it was the host broadcaster. Among other things, there was also time at the end of 2019 for the wider group to sell a minority 49 per cent stake in Miramax, its American film and entertainment company, to ViacomCBS for a cool US$375 million.

“If we look at the things we have been doing in year one, we are truly global,” notes Al-Obaidly, who spearheaded BeIN’s international expansion in his previous guise as deputy chief executive. “We are not only a MENA business – a lot of people think we are sports and MENA in short, but there are a lot of things that we have been doing across the globe.”

It would be fair to say, though, that of the challenges to which Al-Obaidly refers, one has been quite unlike any other previously confronted by a broadcaster. Saudi Arabia-backed piracy operation BeoutQ - or “one of the biggest issues that has faced our sports and entertainment industry”, as Al-Obaidly describes it - has been an unwelcome distraction for BeIN for well over two years, a parasite the company has struggled to contain as it has slowly infected various strands of its business.

BeIN claimed in a lawsuit filed against Saudi Arabia in October 2018 that the theft of its content by BeoutQ had caused it US$1 billion in damages - a figure that will now amount to considerably more. A few months later, in June 2019, the company laid off a fifth of its workforce in Qatar, citing a downturn in revenues that could be traced back to the brazen bootlegging operation.

With BeoutQ chipping away at the very core of BeIN’s business, it is tempting to label Al-Obaidly’s job as one of the most testing, perhaps even intimidating, in sports broadcasting – not that it sounds like he was deterred when Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the company’s chairman, asked his compatriot to succeed him in the role.

“You want to challenge yourself and make your industry better,” says Al-Obaidly, in what is his first interview with an English-language publication as BeIN chief executive. “You want to put your own stamp on it, make it better. It’s only the beginning, and it’s really the most exciting thing.

“Of course, as a chief executive, certain hurdles will come your way, but you have to overcome them and you have to fight them, and you have to do what you can collectively with your team. I think we are maturing as a management team, the issues we have navigated are completely unique. We have to run a global business, and you have this big thing in the background of BeoutQ. I cannot think of a CEO in the industry who probably faces as many challenges as we have, [including] the attempt of the theft of our entire business by a state.”

Born in 2017 out of a wider diplomatic row in the Middle East – one which saw BeIN banned in Saudi Arabia – BeoutQ originally transmitted ten encrypted channels via Riyadh-based satellite operator Arabsat, offering access to all of BeIN’s premium sports content, ranging from the 2018 Fifa World Cup to Formula One motor racing - and everything in between.

Even now, the situation remains far from a resolution. In an ideal world, Al-Obaidly says, BeIN “should be allowed to operate” in Saudi Arabia and that “the rule of law should also be respected”. He adds that BeoutQ set-top boxes “need to be confiscated” and “those responsible, including Arabsat, should be held accountable”.

However, Al-Obaidly reveals that while BeoutQ is now down from satellites, its IPTV-enabled boxes - which provide access to virtually every sports and entertainment channel around the world - “remain out there and still functional”.

“Basically it’s like changing your car from an automatic to manual,” he adds.

To illustrate that analogy, shortly after this interview, SportsPro is sent a video demonstrating how it took a little under a minute to access French pay-TV broadcaster RMC Sport’s coverage of December’s world heavyweight title fight between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr using a BeoutQ box with an internet connection. If nothing else, it makes clear that what was once considered a BeIN problem now runs far deeper.

it can be seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqte9Bm ... e=emb_logo

That, as a matter of fact, is something BeIN - and Al-Obaidly in particular - has been trying to emphasise for some time. Described by those close to him as someone who quietly goes about his business, Al-Obaidly remains notably unflustered when discussing something that has no doubt caused him significant headaches. He notes that BeIN has “fought on behalf of the whole industry to try to end” BeoutQ, claiming that the saga “went completely ignored for a year”.

Since its inception, though, BeIN Sports has hardly been subtle in its aspirations, quickly hoovering up premium rights in major markets and sometimes courting controversy in the process. In response to BeoutQ, then, it has been little surprise to see the company take every opportunity to make its voice heard in an attempt to stir industry action against the Saudi operation.

Indeed, it was Al-Obaidly who famously made headlines in October during a rare public appearance at a sports business conference in London. It was then that he delivered the sobering news that “the glorious media rights bubble is about to burst”, telling a room full of decision-makers that the pillars upon which the industry has grown in recent years are being eroded.

“I’m a true believer of that and I was very vocal about that during my speech,” Al-Obaidly says now. “The endless growth of sports rights is over – some rights holders might get lucky in some markets, but I think the majority of them will see a decline. In certain cases rights values are going to drop off completely, and I think the economic model of our industry will be changed.

“I always find fascinating when you go to the negotiating table and people tell you, ‘we have the West Coast company and they will be very competitive’. If we have seen it, and we have seen it slightly, I think they will be very disappointed – we’re not there yet.

“If you look at customers, whether they’re young or old, they’re accessing everything for nothing. Today, wherever they are, this behaviour has been completely normalised, and it’s just a habit of people accessing content. And with the internet, it’s just going to continue for people to access content for nothing, or almost for free.”

Some rights holders, however, are not heeding that advice. As well as Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, which took the decision to stage the Joshua-Ruiz rematch in Diriyah, Al-Obaidly is quick to call out Italian soccer’s Serie A and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), both of which have taken their Super Cup competitions to Saudi Arabia in recent months. The end of 2019 brought with it confirmation that yet more sporting events will be taking place in the country over the coming year, including a Ladies European Tour (LET) golf event and a five-stage cycling race organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), promoter of the Tour de France.

For Al-Obaidly, there is no logic in a rights holder accepting a big pay day for staging an event in the very country that is eating away at the value of its media rights.

“We are only as strong as the weakest link,” he says. “Some rights holders do nothing, and they see more money in their parties and social activities than their anti-piracy initiatives. You look at Serie A and the Spanish FA, I find it really fascinating that they enter the same country that is doing the piracy.”

Others, Al-Obaidly points out, are at least setting a better example.

“Yes, there’s hopes, and I think the Premier League and La Liga have been really outstanding rights holders in [combating] both BeoutQ and piracy in general,” he declares. “I believe both organisations have secured big enforcement victories in recent months, they have taken ownership, and I think everybody should do that.

“What the Premier League and La Liga have really both understood is that live sport value is delivered in the seconds and not the minutes and the hours – we just don’t have time. You either make your money now or you don’t make money, it’s as simple as that. And that’s why people should try to immediately close these pirate sites, not to wait until 45 minutes, because the damage has already been done if we wait.”

In the case of Serie A, BeIN has made no secret of its disapproval of the league’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, making clear that the Italian soccer body is putting UK£390 million (US$500 million) worth of overseas rights deals with the broadcaster at risk by honouring its contract with Saudi Arabia’s General Sports Authority (GSA).

Serie A, though, is not the only competition to have had its rights deals with BeIN scrutinised by the company. The broadcaster has said for some time that it will reassess how much it spends on live sport, but it is only recently that it has become clearer what that revised strategy might look like.

“Our new strategy is premium, but in proportion,” Al-Obaidly states. “So in the MENA, currently there is no exclusivity, and our offers will reflect that. In many cases we won’t renew, or we will reduce our offer significantly.

“In the rest of the world, I would say that we will bid for premium rights, but very proportionately, because sports rights everywhere are hyper-inflated, especially with digital piracy crumbling the return on investment. France, I would say, is the classic example of a hyper-inflated market: so many competitors, you have four strong players in the market.

“We really relish the competition, [but] the worst thing for our whole industry is to have illegal competition, and by illegal competition, I mean piracy. It’s not fair competition. When you have a fixed business based on the value of rights, it’s the worst. That money actually goes to criminals, and doesn’t go into the system, which affects the grassroots, jobs, and all of that.

“So, we just need to adapt ourselves, ensuring that we are sticking with what we have with a premium, but proportionate based on the market dynamics.”

That was very much the message in November, when BeIN won the lion’s share of exclusive rights in France to the Uefa Champions League for three seasons from 2021, at what the company described as a ‘financially disciplined and considered price’.

That deal kicked off a flurry of activity in that particular market, and was soon backed up by a long-term distribution deal with rival pay-TV broadcaster Canal Plus. Then, at the turn of the year, BeIN snaffled rights in France to all 51 Uefa 2020 European Championship games – including 28 exclusive matches - in a deal SportsPro understands to be worth €35 million (US$39 million) – some €25 million (US$27.7 million) less than it paid to show the same tournament in 2016.

Those deals might only make up a small portion of BeIN’s broader business, but viewed in isolation they indicate that the broadcaster’s bids are now based on a rights holder’s approach to protecting its content, as well as what is attractive from a commercial standpoint.

“It’s both, they’re really interlinked,” Al-Obaidly explains. “Previously our decision was maybe driven by the subscriber numbers, and now it’s also driven by the rights holder’s attitude, and the action towards piracy and protecting the rights. Rights holders need to take ownership and stop hiding behind their broadcasters the whole time.

“So, for me, really the two points now in terms of BeIN are interlinked: how do you tackle piracy, but also what is the price - based on your subscribers, your revenue - you want? For example, if a rights holder doesn’t protect its rights, subscriber numbers will also be smaller anyway. So they have to link together now, and the internet is just becoming more and more crucial that everybody has to do a lot more.”

And any rights holder tempted to call BeIN’s bluff need only look at Formula One, which became the first high-profile victim of the BeoutQ stand-off early last year when the Qatari broadcaster opted against renewing its five-year MENA rights contract with the motorsport series.

As Al-Obaidly has noted, exclusivity in the MENA region is in short supply, but despite recent efforts to secure the long-term future of its business in France and elsewhere, he is quick to dismiss the notion that the broadcaster is about to pivot away from its home market any time soon.

“Well, I’m from Qatar, I’m from the Middle East, so the Middle East is always going to be the heartbeat of our business,” Al-Obaidly says. “We are looking to grow across the Middle East and North Africa, exploit all the markets and the passion for sport. Other markets are really positive for us, so we will continue to remain global, but the Middle East will always be at the heart and the centre of everything we do.”

Al-Obaidly describes his own country as having “huge, huge ambition” in sport, and is also keen to point out – as he is on several occasions during the interview – that “all roads will lead to Qatar 2022”, when BeIN will broadcast the first-ever edition of the Fifa World Cup to take place in the Middle East. It would be remiss not to mention that the event has been mired in controversy ever since soccer’s global governing body awarded the tournament to the Gulf state in 2010, but Al-Obaidly says his company wants to use the opportunity “to bring the world to Qatar, and Qatar to the world.”

For the time being, though, Al-Obaidly is focused on his second full year as chief executive, one which will see BeIN broadcast the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and Euro 2020 in the MENA region, as well as co-present the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) inaugural regular season game in the French capital of Paris. There are also plans to evolve the company’s BeIN Connect over-the-top (OTT) streaming offering and build on new initiatives – namely BeINspired and the BeIN Academy – launched last year. In addition, Al-Obaidly reveals that “some new hires are coming from big, big organisations” to join the company’s management team.

“I would say look how far we have come,” he adds, commenting on the rising scale of BeIN’s ambition. “We launched a brand in France in 2012 – look at us now. After a few years we operate in 43 countries over five continents. We produce in nine languages, we are by far the biggest buyer of sports rights and we have a market-leading sports offering in Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and, of course, the Middle East and North Africa. Who else can say that? We look at the campfire effect that live sports has to bring people together, and we will continue to do that.”

Despite the positives, though, Al-Obaidly remains well aware that the ambition, growth and prosperity of that business could be curbed by BeoutQ and the mushrooming of piracy more generally. For that threat to be subdued, he is calling on the sports business at large to tackle the issue together.

“What the industry needs is a collective effort, it’s not only us,” he declares. “We should quadruple the investment into the anti-piracy infrastructure - I know we invested significantly even to overcome what the technology is, to try more and more to understand. We need to ensure that piracy is a top, top priority for the top management, and really engage the government on that issue, and of course prosecute pirates.

“We should stop hiding behind politics; it’s commercial theft, that much is simple and plain. It has nothing to do with politics, it’s completely, completely commercial theft. We need rights holders to protect their IP, because if they don’t protect their IP, then there is nothing to be commercialised for both the rights holder and the broadcaster.

“We will continue to fight - it’s a fight that is still there and we will do it.”

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by The esk » Thu Jun 04, 2020 11:44 pm

Evening Gents, so much reading material on this thread, thank you very much

Here's Part III, there will be a part IV as the article just kept getting bigger. Thanks for your interest

https://theesk.org/2020/06/04/football- ... cash-flow/

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Thu Jun 04, 2020 11:54 pm

The esk wrote:
Thu Jun 04, 2020 11:44 pm
Evening Gents, so much reading material on this thread, thank you very much

Here's Part III, there will be a part IV as the article just kept getting bigger. Thanks for your interest

https://theesk.org/2020/06/04/football- ... cash-flow/
Cheers Paul - be careful with the reading material it is a bit of a rabbit hole or as another of the boards members put it, probably more accurately - "a time bin"

- you might want to have a look at the "so the cash flow crisis starts" thread
This user liked this post: The esk

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Jun 05, 2020 11:41 am

On Monday CAS will hear the Man City's appeal against UEFA's 2 year ban and £25m fine. The club's stance has not really change and they maintain their bullish outlook. The verdict is likely to take some time to arrive (which could cause it's own problems), but the implications of the UEFA ban being sustained in full or part are very significant for City. - From the Independent

Manchester City braced to face the biggest test of their Abu Dhabi era as FFP appeal case looms
City are appealing against the two-year ban from the Champions League for breaching FFP regulations, writes Tony Evans.
If the verdict is upheld, the club’s immediate future will be thrown into chaos

The clock is ticking for Manchester City. The reigning Premier League champions have an appointment with destiny on Monday. The direction of the club will be determined over three days of hearings in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

City are appealing against the two-year ban from the Champions League for breaching Uefa’s financial fair play (FFP) regulations. If the verdict of European football’s ruling body is upheld, City’s immediate future will be thrown into chaos.

The club – who vehemently deny any wrongdoing – would face the prospect of player departures and questions over Pep Guardiola’s continued presence at the Etihad. There would also be the prospect of an unseemly battle in the Swiss courts. Unless City are exonerated by CAS there are difficult days ahead.

The English club have taken a bullish approach to their showdown with Uefa. Money is no object to the Abu Dhabi-owned club – that is the root of the problem – and City have engaged numerous lawyers of the highest quality to fight the case against them. They have taken the same approach to the law as to managers and players: pay for the best to get the best chance of success.

The most high profile member of the legal team is David Pannick, QC, whose reputation was enhanced by two successful challenges to the government’s handling of the Brexit process. FFP is almost as divisive and intractable as the UK’s quest to leave the European Union. Next week’s case may end up as a mini allegory for Brexit with City out of Europe, suffering dire financial consequences and foreigners deserting the Etihad in droves.

Uefa have involved legal big guns, too. They will deploy what a seasoned observer called “their A-team.” It has not always been that way in the ruling body’s dealings with CAS. More effort has seemed to go into the original, internal proceedings and appeals have sometimes seemed like an afterthought. On Monday only the sharpest minds will be on deck.

There is confidence in the organisation’s Nyon headquarters that the hearings will go their way but no one is prepared to discuss the details. In November City went to CAS contending that Uefa had wrongly assigned the case to the adjudicatory chamber, the committee that hands down the punishments. CAS dismissed the petition on procedural grounds but were sympathetic to club’s assertion that leaks to the media undermined the integrity of the disciplinary procedure.

That view, CAS said, was “not without merit.” Uefa will not make the same mistake again.

There has been a cloud over City’s spending since a website called Football Leaks revealed a cache of hacked emails that contained damaging allegedly internal communications that appeared to indicate that the club had flouted FFP rules. Uefa have insisted from the start that their evidence is not connected with the illegally-obtained Football Leaks material.

It will take CAS some time to reach their decision but City’s fate should become clear in a matter of weeks. Although the court schedule does not allow enough time for proper, forensic cross-examination of witnesses – a factor that may suit the club – the case will be treated with proper seriousness.

If City are adjudged to have broken the rules, it is possible that the ban will come at a good time. The Covid-19 crisis means that European competition may not even happen next season. A likelier scenario is a stripped down Champions League without the prestige and fiscal rewards that come with success in a conventional season. In those circumstances a two-year period of exile would not be as damaging. Every effort is being made to get domestic football back to normal but continental play with cross-border travel may prove more problematic.

There are many imponderables for football in the next few months but one thing is for certain. City’s appeal is a landmark case for the sport. Uefa’s authority is at stake and the direction of FFP in the future may well be defined in Lausanne.

City’s most crucial test since the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008 will come in a courtroom rather than on the pitch. Stakes do not come higher.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Fri Jun 05, 2020 11:45 am

The esk wrote:
Thu Jun 04, 2020 11:44 pm
Evening Gents, so much reading material on this thread, thank you very much

Here's Part III, there will be a part IV as the article just kept getting bigger. Thanks for your interest

https://theesk.org/2020/06/04/football- ... cash-flow/
Fascinating reading there, The esk.

Lots of detail to digest, particularly the Burnley numbers.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Jun 05, 2020 11:47 am

The decision from the Premier League over the Saudi backed takeover of Newcastle continues to drag - this report originally in the Telegraph yesterday (behind a paywall) claims that the League are giving serious consideration to all cases put to them.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foo ... #gsc.tab=0

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Jun 05, 2020 11:56 am

Something of a distraction - @SwissRamble has a look at the 2018/19 financial results of our friends down the road (which were actually published on April fools day - :lol: )

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 4948582407

my favourite quote
"Since Venky’s arrival in Nov 2010, #Rovers have only once made a profit – in 2012 when last in the Premier League (boosted by £23m player sales). In that period, they lost £151m, some achievement considering they had 2 seasons in top flight followed by 4 with parachute payments."

you can view the full accounts here https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/comp ... ng-history
Last edited by Chester Perry on Fri Jun 05, 2020 12:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Jun 05, 2020 12:00 pm

Of course the season prior to that Rovers were in League One which is still to determine how their season will end (the only one in the country to do so) - In this report the Rotherham chairman believed their is enough support to stop all clubs coming back to play the season out and further harm alreasy challenged finances

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52928261

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Jun 05, 2020 3:01 pm

As football starts to contemplate the need for fans to return (if you don't understand the financial need for that read Part 3 of Football Shorts by the esk - linked further up this page) technology companies and entrepreneurs are spying opportunities to taste the fruit of Football's Magic Money Tree - though it is not just linked to football - from SportsBusiness.com ***WARNING""" it is a long read

Technology firms and entrepreneurs position themselves for the return of fans to stadiums
Ben Cronin, Europe Editor - June 4, 2020

- SA Group pivots from rights brokerage to health equipment supply
- Ticketing companies working to develop health certificates
- Automated temperature scanners expensive and not infallible

As countries and regions across the globe begin to ease Covid-19 lockdown restrictions and slowly move through the phases towards the ‘new norm’, the time is gradually starting to arrive when spectators are allowed back into sports stadiums.

But even in countries and regions which have registered a relatively small number of deaths during the pandemic, the early signs are that the experience of watching live sport will be a long way removed from anything that went before.

When Hungary’s top-tier football league, the Nemzeti Bajnokság, returned last weekend, strict government social distancing regulations allowed for no more than one seat in four to be occupied in venues. In the example of the World Team Tennis mixed tennis tournament, scheduled for July in West Virginia, health guidelines will allow for the host arena to be filled to just 20 per cent capacity.

The job of encouraging fans back into stadiums in countries with a higher incidence of the virus may well take more than just the green light from governments. A Reuters/IPSOS opinion poll of 4,429 American adults in April found only 17 per cent said they would consider attending a professional sporting event once they re-open to the public. Of those to have attended a sports event in the preceding year, 42 per cent said they would return to stadiums whenever sport reopens, while 39 per cent said they would rather wait until a vaccine is found – even if that meant waiting a year.

An April survey of 2,200 American adults by Morning Consult painted a more optimistic picture, suggesting fans would be more comfortable returning to arenas if event organisers installed safety measures and implemented rigorous venue cleaning practices.

For a serial entrepreneur like Marcus Luer, founder and group chief executive of Malaysia-based TSA Group, the need to reassure fans combined with the commercial imperatives of sport have created a rich opportunity for traditional and non-traditional technology suppliers to the sector.

Normally a sponsorship and media rights broker, Luer has switched to sourcing scanning and hygiene equipment for rights-holders to prepare them for the resumption of spectator sport. Having witnessed the start of the pandemic in Asia, and the measures implemented in public spaces in the region, he says he was able to develop relationships with Asian suppliers early enough in the crisis to meet western demand for safety products.

“Nobody will go back into sports stadiums or these types of public places if you don’t have correct screening in place,” he tells SportBusiness. “Let’s give people the sense that you’ve done the basics right: that you’re checking fans, your staff are well-trained, well-protected and they have all the right things in place.”

Although no technology exists to completely prevent the possibility of a fan contracting Covid-19 at a game, Luer argues there is plenty of equipment and measures that they can invest in now to reassure spectators that risks are within acceptable limits.

Rights-holders will have to carry out cost-benefit analysis to determine whether the outlay for some of the more expensive equipment is justified now when government guidance for the resumption of sport continues to be scarce and the chance of a Covid-19 vaccine could render some equipment obsolete.

In this extended feature SportBusiness looks at the way technology suppliers are positioning themselves for the return of spectator sport and examines the pros and cons of some of the equipment available.

Health certificates traceable by blockchain
What if technology developed to prevent sports tickets from falling into the hands of touts could also be used to prove the health of fans visiting sports stadiums?

Several ticket providers have already announced ideas for certification tools that could combine proof of identity, an event ticket and a government-approved health certificate in a blockchain-protected wallet.

One such provider, SecuTix, helped Uefa replace its standard distribution of printed tickets for last year’s Nations League finals in Portugal with a blockchain-protected ticketing system, to gain a greater degree of control over ticket transfers and to eliminate forgeries. Following the success of the initiative, the ticketing company was contracted to provide the same solution for Euro 2020, before the tournament was postponed to next year.

Blockchains can be configured to require each transaction to comply with a digital ‘smart contract’, which sets out the conditions that must be met for a new block to be validated and added to the chain. This could be particularly relevant to sports venues and rights-holders looking to ensure that only those people with valid health certification are granted access into stadiums. The smart contract could prohibit the transfer of a ticket to anyone else or require that secondary purchasers or recipients of tickets also provide a health certificate.

David Hornby, UK and Ireland managing director at SecuTix, says sister company TIXnGO has now adapted the technology so that it could distribute certificates from a doctor or health organisation at scale. But for anything like this to be implemented, the firm would need governments and the medical community to develop an accredited Covid-19 certificate.

Each time a health certificate is issued in the platform, a unique, encrypted and completely traceable identity is attached to it. Individuals could keep their health certificates on a specific wallet on their smartphone, which can be shown on request and the QR code read by a scanner.
“If a club – let’s say ‘ABC United’ – has got a 40,000-seat stadium and 30,000 season-ticket holders and wants to put a situation in place where it can track who has been issued a clear certificate, then technically, yes, we could do that,” he says.

“But where are those certificates coming from? Our system would enforce them, wouldn’t allow you to copy them – it’s quite secure in that sense – but fundamentally unless it’s issued by a bona fide party like the NHS, or via an accredited process, it’s not worth the money it’s printed on.”

Fan engagement platform Socios has announced plans for a health certification tool along similar lines, while UK cybersecurity firm VST Enterprises is also developing a digital ‘sports health passport’ for rights-holders. But, as with the SecuTix solution, they are dependent on the creation of a reliable and trustworthy health certification system.

Reconfigured seating algorithms to observe social distancing
Hornby says some of SecuTix’s rights-holder clients, which also include Everton FC, the R&A, Saracens Rugby and Lancashire Cricket Club, are asking his company to explore ways to safely allow smaller crowds back into stadiums and arenas while minimising the amount of contact between fans.

“From speaking to clients, it’s clear that the social distancing and new behaviour shifts we are seeing today will partially or totally persist after the crisis. The sports sector is looking at ways to sell tickets for live games whilst managing the social distancing rules to ensure the safety of fans,” he says.

He suggests the same algorithms typically used by ticketing platforms to identify the best-available seats in a venue at a particular price point could be reconfigured to allow fans to observe mandated social distancing requirements of the kind seen in Hungary.

“We could put a situation in place where we can block out rows or individual seats around a group, so if you’re coming with your family group, or a known group, or someone within your network that you have been living with, you can identify that network and you can all sit together,” he says.
Once again, however, the challenge isn’t to get the technology to perform this function, but that there is still no official guidance in most markets – aside from Hungary – about what would represent a safe degree of stadium occupancy. Hornby says any technical solution would also have to consider the commercial realities for most clubs or rights-holders.

“We’re looking at solutions for distancing and spacing. But again, for some clubs that might be very relevant, for other clubs, they might decide that the cost of opening the stadium and putting all the stewards on prevents them from operating at 50 per cent capacity – or it might even be 25 per cent if you look at proper distancing rules.”

A further challenge will be to make sure fans sit in designated areas. For this, venue operators could learn from the low-tech approach adopted by a theatre in Germany, which recently re-opened having removed 500 of 700 seats in its main auditorium to allow audiences to adhere to government requirements of a 1.5m safety

Staggered queues, pre-paid food and beverage and cashless payment facilities
Even with lower levels of stadium occupancy, clubs and event organisers will need to prevent fans from coming into closer contact in the constrained entrances to seating blocks and stadium concourses.

Hornby suggests staggered entry times to avoid bottle necks at entrances. He says SecuTix provides a timeslot solution whereby fans are required to select an entry time so stadiums can have strict control of the entrance flow to limit the proximity of fans.

Queuing for concessions could also prove problematic – provided government guidance allows for fans to eat food at sports venues at all once restrictions are eased. Pre-ordering drink and food apps like Preoday, Seatserve and FanFood could help to limit fan numbers, manage congestion in stadium concourses and minimise contact between catering staff and spectators.

The cashless mobile ordering provided by these apps combined with staggered collection times and non-contact pickup and delivery could help rights-holders to argue that they should be allowed to keep important food and beverage revenue streams open.

Pre-ordering facilities and the ability to process cashless transactions will also be important in allowing club stores to re-open at a time of the year when there is usually an uplift from next season’s shirt sales.

For a retail experience totally free of any interaction with shop staff, sports teams could look to the example set by Amazon and its chain of self-checkout Amazon Go retail stores, where payment is automated thanks to the big tech firm’s proprietary Just Walk Out technology. Last year, San Francisco 49ers president Al Guido told SportBusiness he was looking at introducing a similar concept in the NFL’s team’s Levi’s Stadium in Silicon Valley.

But even in those cases where interactions are minimised, retail outlets will have to observe official guidance. UK government guidance for shops advises storing returned items 72 hours before putting them back on sale and frequent cleaning of surfaces that are touched regularly such as self-checkouts, trolleys and shopping baskets, which will necessitate further investment in cleaning equipment.

In Morning Consult’s April survey of US fans, 77 per cent of those polled said the inclusion of hand-sanitisers would make them more comfortable attending live sports events. And 74 per cent of those surveyed said they would also be more or somewhat reassured if a venue operator clearly communicated that a facility was being sanitised.

Robotic cameras and automated production
As part of Project Restart, the Premier League’s broadcast partners have been asked to work out the minimum numbers of staff required at the closed-door matches to lower the number of interactions between people and reduce the risk of spreading the virus. For the resumption of Hungary’s Nemzeti Bajnokság last weekend, no cameras were allowed alongside the field of play for similar reasons.

One solution would be to use a combination of robotic and static cameras and automated production techniques for less staff-intensive coverage of matches.

Robotic cameras enabled a skeleton production crew to provide coverage of the Professional Bull Riders’ successful return to competition on the CBS Sports Network and streaming service RidePass in late April. Similarly, Sportradar and Israeli company PlaySight Interactive used a combination of robotic and static cameras to provide coverage of the German Tennis Point Exhibition Series from May 1-4.

In the latter example, just two production operators worked in separate rooms and communicated via intercom to provide the coverage, while automated graphics and officiating also reduced the number of people required on site.

Should other rights-holders take a similar approach, they will have to accept that there will be a drop-off in production quality. Automated production techniques were originally conceived to help lower-tier rights-holders to monetise long-tail content and less important secondary rights. Given the dearth of sport available, this might be a compromise fans of some sports would be willing to accept.

Handheld and non-contact temperature scanners
Covid-19 has caused shares in companies that develop fever detection systems to soar. In late February, Bloomberg reported that Wuhan Guide Infrared Co., a firm that produces temperature screening equipment, was the best performer on the Shenzhen stock exchange, its price having surged by 128 per cent since the beginning of the year.

The sort of equipment produced by the company first became a familiar sight in airports, shopping malls and other large public spaces in Asia during the 2003 Sars epidemic and comes in one of two forms.

The less expensive option is a handheld temperature scanner that an operator can point at a member of public to determine if they have elevated temperature levels consistent with carrying the virus.

The disadvantages are an inability to process large numbers of people at once and the fact it requires close contact between the operator and fan. “Number one, you don’t know this guy who is waving this thing in your face,” says Luer. “Number two, how many people has he waved this thing at, and what if someone has contaminated the device?” he says.

The second – more advanced and more expensive – option is mass terminal screeners that are fully automated and can detect temperature differences on moving people, removing the need for an operator and reducing staff training requirements.

But with an automated solution from Singapore-based manufacturer Omnisense retailing at between $20,000 (£15,940 /€17,900) and $25,000, most rights-holders might struggle to source and pay for enough machines to screen large numbers of fans.

Health experts have also pointed out that some over-the-counter medications can suppress a fever while the incubation period for Covid-19 means temperature screening equipment might not detect all sufferers.

Luer says there also occasions when the equipment can give a false positive, which creates a negative customer experience.

“Here in Asia we have the problem that because it is hot, your body temperature could be naturally high and the scanner stops you,” he says.
Should western event organisers and teams decide to install similar equipment, they will have to create protocols for stopping fans and develop guidelines for dealing sensitively with people who generate a positive reading.

When the Ironman Group recently issued guidelines for the safe resumption of races, it said it would follow World Health Organization guidelines which say individuals with a body temperature of greater than 100.4ºF/38ºC should not be allowed to race, volunteer or work at its events.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Jun 05, 2020 6:24 pm

This is good news for the EFL - they have managed to negotiate a rebate to sky of just £10m according to the Telegraph (paywall)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/20 ... uspension/

probably got off lightly because the play-offs are still to be televised and Sky are getting so much back from the Premier League. you have to say if the title race was close this year, especially of 3 or 4 clubs were in the hunt the Premier League would have had a much better negotiating position/

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sat Jun 06, 2020 12:12 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:39 pm
Wigan have been de-listed from the HK Stock market (as part of the) of Dr Stanley Choi's listed company - taken them privates with a 51% ownership held directly by himself

https://twitter.com/nigelforlan/status/ ... 8641511427
Turns out that this was preparation for a takeover by another Honk Kong listed company - Wigan Athletic have announced the takeover by Next Leader Fund L.P

https://wiganathletic.com/news/2020/jun ... -Athletic/

it is only 2 years since the previous takeover from the Whelan family

Here is a bit more detail on the new owners

https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/hong-ko ... over-wigan

There is a nice little bit of information here - the documentation for the proposed sale valued Wigan at £17.5m last November- I think that is a lot in the current climate, though there is nothing on the actual transaction price

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/hong ... -athletic/

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sat Jun 06, 2020 1:41 pm

Friday's post from Vysyble on it's review of the 2018/19 Premier League finances looked at how revenues had moved over the period of the last tv cycle - remember even TV revenues in include domestic cups and UEFA competitions and will be influenced by fluctuations progress in those competitions.

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1268995788463579145

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:13 pm

Barcelona are looking to triple their Digital income to Euro 300m over the next 5 years with the launch of a new OTT platform - I find it astonishing that digital income already accounts for 10% of total revenues - from SportsBusiness.com - they have ceased the opportunity of lockdown to launch early

Lockdown created favourable conditions for Barcelona’s OTT launch, says digital chief
Ben Cronin, Europe Editor - June 4, 2020

Barcelona FC’s head of digital, Didac Lee, believes lockdown restrictions and a ban on spectators when LaLiga matches resume this month have created favourable conditions for the launch of the club’s new OTT service, Barça TV+.

Speaking to SportBusiness on the day (Wednesday) the Spanish La Liga club officially launched the new streaming platform and initiated its new ‘Culers membership’ loyalty programme, Lee said one of the few positives to emerge from the Covid-19 crisis was that it had sped up the “digital transformation of businesses and society”.

He said: “What was expected to happen in three to four years has happened in two to three months.

“We’ve been working on these projects for the last few years and our original plan was always to release these products in these months, so it’s been a positive coincidence for us. We believe society nowadays is more prepared for these kinds of services than it was three months ago.”

The new OTT product is the central part of a two-year project to overhaul the Catalan club’s online services and create a new ‘digital ecosystem’ for fans.

The platform will offer delayed broadcast of Barcelona men’s first-team matches in LaLiga and the Uefa Champions League based on the respective rights restrictions for each competition.

The restrictions on Champions League rights allow Barcelona to offer delayed coverage from midnight on the day of the match. Delayed LaLiga coverage can be shown 24 hours after the match week is completed. However, the club suspects that LaLiga’s restrictions could be updated now that games will take place in a shorter timeframe when the league resumes behind closed doors this month.

Additionally, the service will show live coverage of academy matches and the club’s women’s team plus a selection of on-demand series and documentaries made at the clubs’ new in-house production operation Barça Studios.

Barça TV+ will be available worldwide via the club website and app and on all devices (PC, mobile and on television using cast technology). At launch the club said it will provide subscribers with more than 1,000 hours of content and 3,000 videos in three different languages (Catalan, Spanish and English).

Lee described the 100-person Barça Studios operation as the first of ‘two big bets’ the club has made in its digital capabilities. The second is a large-scale overhaul of its customer relationship management system which he likened to Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona ‘because it is never-ending’.

The club projects that the investment will help it to triple the €100m it generates annually in digital revenues in the space of the next five years.
FC Barcelona digital director Enric Llopart said the club will use the improved CRM and its new ‘Culers membership programme’ to ‘join the dots’ between its content, ticketing and e-commerce operations.

A yearly subscription to the Premium membership programme, which differs in price based on the geographic location of fans (see box, below) will give fans unlimited access to Barça TV+, as well as privileged access and discounts on tickets, special offers on the club’s new e-commerce platform and benefits from sponsors.

The club’s 155,000 existing ‘socios’, or members, will get access to all of the content on Barça TV+ for free, while supporter club members (‘penyas’) will get a 50 per-cent discount.

Llopart told SportBusiness: “The vision is creating an integrated digital ecosystem by Barcelona to attract mostly our core fans so they can have a direct relationship and a connection with us.

“And based on that data connection between the club and our core fans we can constantly refine new products and services for them, adapted to their needs, adapted to the way they want to interact with the club.”

In the same way that the new CRM will allow Barcelona to create content and products tailored to fans’ needs, Lee suggested that it could also help the club’s sponsors to refine their messaging and product offerings – although he was quick to clarify that the club will not share fan data with sponsors.

“I’m sure the sponsorship model in the future will change,” said Lee. “We’ll have fixed price sponsorships, but we’ll also have flexible fees depending on the sales we can help to get for sponsors.”

The club has said it will not focus on its new digital services to the detriment of its output on third-party social media platforms.

Llopart said: “At the end of the day it’s great to have these huge fanbases on social media; it’s great to have this huge engagement and that’s part of our strategy – it helps us to feed the top of the funnel.

“We cannot think that audience that we have for our OTT [service] will be same as the audience we will have for our YouTube channel. We have identified that there are different segments of audiences with different interests and different needs

“Our strategy is having competitive content on every one of the platforms where we have a presence. It’s not our style to be on a platform with content that is not good enough.”

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:19 pm

That article carried a link to this from February about Barcelona's hopes to grow Digital sponsorship revenue - again from SportsBusiness.com

Barça expects sponsorship gains from new digital strategy
Matthew Glendinning - February 6, 2020

FC Barcelona’s recently-announced, fan-centric digital strategy will benefit the club’s sponsors and generate more sponsorship income, the club has said.
As reported in SportBusiness this week, Barça’s new digital vision includes the creation of an OTT platform, and a global membership programme with its own e-commerce and digitised ticket sales stream.

On the sponsorship front, Dídac Lee, board member and head of FC Barcelona digital area, told SportBusiness Sponsorship that the fan relationship management data project will allow the club to get to know fans better and deliver what is most relevant to them. In turn, this will drive greater engagement with sponsors and more revenue.

Lee said: “The fact that we know our fans better through data and have new products and services to connect with them, gives our partners the possibility to be much more relevant for those audiences in our fanbase that are most relevant to them.

“And they can do that both from a messaging standpoint and from a promotional or commercial one. ‘Culés’ [the name for the new membership programme] is a great example of this: we want our partners to participate through providing exclusive benefits and experiences for our members, adding value to the programme while giving visibility to their products and services.”

Digital assets, Lee asserts, are playing a bigger role in the club’s sponsorship deals every day. “The more we can add into those partnerships, to reach and engage with our global fanbase, and doing that with a more sophisticated, data-driven approach, the more this value will grow in the future,” he said.

The digital strategy represents a paradigm shift for Barcelona which until now has worked through third-party platforms to achieve its status as the world’s leading digital club.

In 2019, and for the second year in a row, the club claims to have generated more engagement with its fans (more than 1.4 billion interactions) than any other club and consolidated its status as the club with the most followers on social media – more than 350 million.

Other digital areas with potential to add sponsorship value include the creation of a Barça esports team to appeal to young, global audiences, and the arrival of the Espai Barça stadium campus, which will deliver “massive changes” to the digital experience at the stadium.

Barça is the leading European club by overall revenue, generating €836.8m ($920.8m) in 2018-19, and €363.3m from advertising and marketing in the same year, according to the club’s latest full-year financial report.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by huw.Y.WattfromWare » Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:55 pm

FIFA want talks on salary and transfer fee caps.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... -fee-talks

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:59 pm

This might get a few people excited, but I am not so sure that is should in terms of football rights at this time - Apple have recruited an Amazon executive to head up it's Sports division - From SportsProMedia.com

Apple nabs Amazon executive James DeLorenzo to lead sports push
Posted: June 5 2020By: Ed Dixon

Apple has hired Amazon executive James DeLorenzo to head up sports for its Apple TV division, according to Recode Media

The appointment of DeLorenzo, who currently serves as head of sports for Amazon Video, as well as senior vice president at Audible, suggests further emphasis being placed on live sports content by Apple, specifically for its over-the-top (OTT) streaming service Apple TV+.

Last December, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the technology giant had held talks with the Pac-12 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) conference in a bid to bolster its streaming and OTT offering.

During DeLorenzo’s spell at Amazon, the company secured a multi-year extension to its Prime Video broadcast partnership with the National Football League (NFL) for Thursday Night Football streaming rights, as well as adding an exclusive regular season game to that deal. In March, it agreed a long-rumoured deal with the YES Network to stream 21 New York Yankees games on its Prime Video service during the 2020 Major League Baseball (MLB) season.

In 2018, Amazon also paid a reported UK£90 million (US$114.4 million) for 20 live Premier League matches a year through the 2021/22 season.

While DeLorenzo’s switch does not necessarily guarantee Apple will go after more live sports rights, it may mean the company is further willing to expand on its Apple TV+ content plans. The streaming service launched in November last year, but currently lacks an original programming lineup, not to mention a larger library of shows, compared to rivals such as Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Netflix.

Apple is yet to comment on the report.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:51 pm

huw.Y.WattfromWare wrote:
Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:55 pm
FIFA want talks on salary and transfer fee caps.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... -fee-talks
That makes for interesting reading though we have learnt to treat everything that comes from FIFA/Infantino with caution.

The calls for financial transparency are welcome, but we all know that FIFA should really lead by example first by getting their own house in order - this would be greatly assisted if the Swiss government authorities were more prone to enforce charges (like the American federal ones) rather than let the period of prosecution lapse.

Salary caps and transfer ceilings would cater strongly to the recently released vision document looking at elevating the 50 countries to elite level (which is just as much about securing long term political support for Infantino wthin FIFA itself).

It also potentially generates stronger and broader competitiveness for the World Club cup that he has been desperately trying to launch, and possibly that greater competition would drive greater media distribution revenues.

The third point for FIFA (and it's constituent bodies is that Salary caps and transfer ceilings would mean that they theoretically could retain and distribute to members a greater share of revenues from their competitions (as clubs would have no justification for greater monies if their cost are already covered).

There is also the issue that transfers create a cascade through football and supply teams in poorer leagues with essential revenues - there has been much campaigning across Europe to extend this summers window to help with that as well as anxious eyes from across the continent hoping that the big leagues restart secure enough revenues to fire the transfer market)

Like I said I am sceptical when it comes to FIFA/Infantino - they bring the conspiracy theorist out in me - which is not healthy

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Jun 07, 2020 12:38 am

Chester Perry wrote:
Sat Jun 06, 2020 1:41 pm
Friday's post from Vysyble on it's review of the 2018/19 Premier League finances looked at how revenues had moved over the period of the last tv cycle - remember even TV revenues in include domestic cups and UEFA competitions and will be influenced by fluctuations progress in those competitions.

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1268995788463579145
Today's post from Vysyble in their Premier League review - the earnings of all clubs who were members of the Premier League throughout the last TV cycle - lowest earners, were Burnley just a mere £1.4 billion behind Man Utd in the same period

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1269331275602702336

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Jun 07, 2020 1:14 am

Simon Chadwick reminds us that there is a bigger picture at play when CAS hears Manchester City's appeal against the UEFA ban on Monday - It has all been put on this thread in the last couple of years but will be new to some of you

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 4668561408

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Sun Jun 07, 2020 10:24 am

Chester Perry wrote:
Sun Jun 07, 2020 12:38 am
Today's post from Vysyble in their Premier League review - the earnings of all clubs who were members of the Premier League throughout the last TV cycle - lowest earners, were Burnley just a mere £1.4 billion behind Man Utd in the same period

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1269331275602702336
Another interesting chart from Vysyble in which Burnley are 14th of 14 from Prem teams over the 3 year cycle.

However, that hardly begins to tell the full Burnley story. For instance if we looked at our Revenue growth over the previous 3 x 3 year cycles then our record will probably have us as 1st of those same 14 teams, at least in percentage terms.

'16/'17 to '18/'19 £397.9m (3 x P/L seasons)
'13/'14 to '15/'16 £138.4m (1 x P/L & 2 x Championship)
'10/'11 to '12/'13 £65.7m (3 x Championship)
'07/'08 to '09/'10 £65.2m (1 x P/L & 2 x Championship).

Be interesting if Vysyble look at Wages over the same period in tomorrow's offering. Burnley's figure of £86.6m in '18/'19 compared to a remarkable £9.8m in '07/'08, the season prior to our first promotion to the Prem.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Jun 07, 2020 8:02 pm

Royboyclaret wrote:
Sun Jun 07, 2020 10:24 am
Be interesting if Vysyble look at Wages over the same period in tomorrow's offering. Burnley's figure of £86.6m in '18/'19 compared to a remarkable £9.8m in '07/'08, the season prior to our first promotion to the Prem.
Seems like Vysyble are answering requests Roy - and yes we are the lowest spenders in that league too

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1269657979185438720

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Sun Jun 07, 2020 9:06 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Sun Jun 07, 2020 8:02 pm
Seems like Vysyble are answering requests Roy - and yes we are the lowest spenders in that league too

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1269657979185438720
Predictable enough, these Vysyble guys, Chester. :) ....What next, Amortisation or net player spend, perhaps.

Later this evening I'll repeat the Revenue exercise above, but this time for Wages. Pretty much guarantee the outcome will be the same, with lowest current figure in the latest three year cycle but highest percentage growth over the last decade or so.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Jun 07, 2020 9:14 pm

Royboyclaret wrote:
Sun Jun 07, 2020 9:06 pm
Predictable enough, these Vysyble guys, Chester. :) ....What next, Amortisation or net player spend, perhaps.

Later this evening I'll repeat the Revenue exercise above, but this time for Wages. Pretty much guarantee the outcome will be the same, with lowest current figure in the latest three year cycle but highest percentage growth over the last decade or so.
Over that period Bournemouth should win on both counts having come from League 2

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Sun Jun 07, 2020 9:38 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Sun Jun 07, 2020 9:14 pm
Over that period Bournemouth should win on both counts having come from League 2
Of course, it will indeed be Bournemouth who sit top of that particular list. Easy to forget the recent bucket collections to "save the Cherries" and being minutes away from liquidation. They actually started the '08/'09 season in League Two with a 17 point deduction and a transfer embargo !!

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Sun Jun 07, 2020 10:01 pm

Royboyclaret wrote:
Sun Jun 07, 2020 9:06 pm
Predictable enough, these Vysyble guys, Chester. :) ....What next, Amortisation or net player spend, perhaps.

Later this evening I'll repeat the Revenue exercise above, but this time for Wages. Pretty much guarantee the outcome will be the same, with lowest current figure in the latest three year cycle but highest percentage growth over the last decade or so.
Anyway, back to Burnley and the Wages comparison.

'16/'17 to '18/'19 £229.4m (3 x P/L seasons)
'13/'14 to '15/'16 £89.4m (1 x P/L & 2 x Championship)
'10/'11 to '12/'13 £51.8m (3 x Championship)
'07/'08 to '09/'10 £45.6m (1 x P/L & 2 x Championship).

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Mon Jun 08, 2020 1:05 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Fri Jun 05, 2020 11:56 am
Something of a distraction - @SwissRamble has a look at the 2018/19 financial results of our friends down the road (which were actually published on April fools day - :lol: )

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 4948582407

my favourite quote
"Since Venky’s arrival in Nov 2010, #Rovers have only once made a profit – in 2012 when last in the Premier League (boosted by £23m player sales). In that period, they lost £151m, some achievement considering they had 2 seasons in top flight followed by 4 with parachute payments."

you can view the full accounts here https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/comp ... ng-history
Venky' buy another £4m of shares in Venky's London - the holding company of the club, In recent years they have probably put more money into shares, to help the cash flow and fund losses, than the club is actually worth.

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 8233336834

EDIT - probably just answered my own question by checking at Companies house - Venky's have added a total of £54m in share capital since February 2017
Last edited by Chester Perry on Mon Jun 08, 2020 2:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Mon Jun 08, 2020 1:10 pm

Meanwhile Trevor Hemmings, spends another £1.1m on shares to help Preston through the crises - he did the same in the last couple of months I think
- that's around £27m in additional shares in the last 7 years - again is the club worth that in the current climate (of course a play-off promotion would make it worthwhile

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 5633316864

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Mon Jun 08, 2020 1:36 pm

The Football Today Podcast asks - What are the governments plans for football

https://www.footballtodaypodcast.com/po ... r-football

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Mon Jun 08, 2020 4:26 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Mon Jun 08, 2020 1:05 pm
Venky' buy another £4m of shares in Venky's London - the holding company of the club, In recent years they have probably put more money into shares, to help the cash flow and fund losses, than the club is actually worth.

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 8233336834

EDIT - probably just answered my own question by checking at Companies house - Venky's have added a total of £54m in share capital since February 2017
For any followers of Blackburn Rovers (are there any left ?) they won't know whether to laugh or cry. Since the Venky's took control they have lurched from one disastrous season to the next, and yet without the funding from the Indians insolvency would have been the outcome some time ago.

This latest £4m increases their Gross Debt to around £145m, comprising a bank overdraft of £14m and the balance of £131m representing a cumulative loan from Venky's. Yet amidst all this financial mayhem they still consider it a suitable time to double the remuneration of various directors and continue to operate with a Wages/Turnover ratio of 134%. You couldn't make it up and surely can only be a matter of time before Venky's finally pull the plug.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Mon Jun 08, 2020 4:31 pm

It has come as no surprise to the esk that the new Shirt sponsor for Everton is Cazoo, an online car retailer founded by the same bloke who behind love film (sold for £200m) then Zoopla (sold for £3billion) - It is a welcome move away from gambling, especially in these financially stricken times and to a British owned company too. from SportsProMedia.com

Everton agree ‘UK£10m-a-year’ Cazoo shirt sponsorship deal
Online car retailer to replace SportPesa as club’s main partner from next season.
Posted: June 8 2020By: Sam Carp

Multi-year deal worth a reported UK£10m a season.
Replaces prematurely ended SportPesa partnership.
Cazoo the only British-owned main sponsor in Premier League next season.

- Top-flight English soccer side Everton have announced that online car retailer Cazoo will become their new main partner from next season.
- The multi-year deal, which will commence at the end of the 2019/20 campaign, will see the Cazoo logo replace gambling firm SportPesa on the front of the Premier League club’s playing and training shirts.
- Everton announced in February that they would be ending their five-year deal with SportPesa two years early following ‘a comprehensive review’ of their commercial strategy.

The financial details of Everton’s new contract with Cazoo have not been confirmed, but UK newspaper the Daily Mirror says the deal is worth UK£10 million (US$12.6 million) a year, representing a slight increase on the reported UK£9.6 million (US$12.1 million) SportPesa paid annually.

Cazoo’s branding will be visible at Everton’s Goodison Park home and across their digital platforms, as well as on official club merchandise and media backdrops. In addition to the men’s first team, the company will also sponsor Everton’s Under 23s side.

Denise Barrett-Baxendale, Everton’s chief executive, said: “We have been impressed with the approach that Cazoo has taken and are confident that they will be a great partner for the club and our fans in the years to come.

‘The stadium is paramount’: How Everton are plotting a top six push from Bramley Moore Dock

“We are looking forward to working closely with them and are in no doubt that the values of Cazoo and the company’s focus on innovation and future development complement perfectly our own ambitions as we embark on an exciting new chapter for the club.”

Cazoo, which was founded by British entrepreneur Alex Chesterman and allows users to order vehicles for delivery online, only launched in the UK at the end of 2019 but has ambitions to become the country’s ‘best-known online car retailer’.

The company raised UK£100 million (US$125.9 million) as recently as March, taking its total funding to date past UK£180 million (US$226.8 million), a record for a UK startup in its first year of operation.

The deal with Everton means Cazoo will be the only British-owned main sponsor of a Premier League team next season.

Chesterman, who serves as Cazoo’s chief executive and previously created and sold LoveFilm and Zoopla, added: “We are really excited to be partnering with Everton, a family club with a rich heritage and a passionate and loyal fanbase. This opportunity will help significantly enhance our brand awareness as we look to make Cazoo a household name. We look forward to working closely with the club as part of our mission to provide the best possible car buying experience to UK consumers.”

The deal comes hot on the heels of Everton’s new three-year kit deal with Danish sportswear brand Hummel, which like Cazoo will reportedly pay the Toffees as much as UK£10 million annually.

Everton return to Premier League action on 21st June with the Merseyside derby against local rivals Liverpool, who could secure the title with a win if results go their way.

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There are various numbers being touted for the sponsorship - this being at the top end - the interesting thing for me (and possibly should be for the authorities - if they are interested in fair value sponsorships - though Everton are not yet troubling European qualification to bother UEFA) is that even at the top end that matches what USM are paying to sponsor the training ground - or the 3 year deal is equal to what USM have paid for first option status on the naming rights for Bramley Moore Dock (where construction is yet to begin). Surely the shirt is worth more than either of those, and if that is what the shirt is worth then those USM rights incorporate related party funding disguised as commercial sponsorship.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Mon Jun 08, 2020 4:55 pm

This is an interesting read on how "social value" is likely to become more important for spott and those associated with it (this has been a growing area of Academic research, particularly here in the north-west, which received a huge push in the last year as government bodies began to show real interest) - from SportsBusiness.com

Tim Smith | Social value will be part of sport’s new norm
Tim Smith, founder and lead consultant at EventID, discusses how the social value of sport is likely to increase in importance following the Covid-19 crisis
Tim Smith June 8, 2020

e’re fast coming to terms with some big shifts in the sports model due to coronavirus: No (or far fewer) fans in venues expected until next year, stringent health and social distancing requirements, and restricted global travel impinging the more globalised events.

The crisis is also elevating the importance of the social value of sport, whether that be the physical health impact of sports participation, the mental health morale boost of elite sports resumption, or the community importance of sports clubs and venues.

Pre-crisis, there was an emerging trend to better understand the wider benefits of sport to society. For instance, how does sports participation and volunteering improve confidence and reduce depression? What does a football club bring to its community in terms of cohesion and social mixing?
Post-crisis, the social value of sport is anticipated to extend beyond just the participation element and become more important across the piece. Federations, clubs, sponsors, broadcasters and hosts should all have an interest in sport for social good as it becomes part of our new norm.

What is social value?
The social value of sport typically covers the importance of sport to individuals and their communities. It takes in aspects such as physical well-being, mental well-being, development of individuals (e.g. education) and development of the community (e.g. community spirit) – the four main pillars of social return on investment (SROI) evaluations.

When we bring professional, elite-level sport into the mix, the scope to generate social value becomes broader.

At a regional level, clubs and activating partners can invest in local value chains, local economies, and local community initiatives. Investing in these areas extends beyond expressing corporate social responsibility. It provides an impact on businesses which have been affected by the crisis and through this can have a significant social impact on peoples’ lives.

At a national level, action on social value can extend to promoting national physical/mental health initiatives, initiatives to reduce inequality, and advocacy of mutual aid.

International sports properties have an even greater opportunity to influence all of these areas since they can do so at a global scale.
Why will social be more important?

IOC president Thomas Bach is among those to identify the growing importance of the social value of sport in a post-coronavirus world.
In his open letter to the Olympic committee last month, he said: “We can fairly assume that, in the post-coronavirus society, public health will play a much more important role. Sport and physical activity make a great contribution to health.

“We can highlight the significance of sport for inclusivity and integration. Sometimes, sport is the only activity that unites people regardless of their social, political, religious or cultural background. Sport is the glue bonding a society together.

Public health has leapfrogged other issues to consistently poll highest in the ‘most important issues facing the country’ in the UK (YouGov) and US (Gallup) – and likely many other countries as well. The economy comes second, with all other issues way behind. Sport will need to be awake to the public mood as it re-emerges.

In addition, government investment is a big contributor to the sports funding model in many areas. With other revenue lines squeezed, and societal fall-out from Covid-19 to fix, governments will be in a strong position to demand greater social return on investment from projects that retain their investment.

Who can benefit?
Progressive sports organisations can embrace social value and integrate it into their work.

- Sports federations and rights-holders can create or partner with social value initiatives that align to their purpose. These can help retain strong links with their audience, particularly in a spectator-less world. Existing activities may well already have a social impact, which can be uncovered and better understood;

- Clubs and venues often have the biggest opening to create social value by virtue of their place within the community and existing connection with fans. These relationships can be leveraged to generate focused local impacts and/or more widespread social good, depending upon the size of club;
Sponsors will be looking to partner their brand with organisations and projects which have an aligning, authentic social value. In turn, rights holders who can demonstrate their social value will be better placed to entice sponsors in what is expected to be a more difficult market;

- Broadcasters may be interested in understanding the importance of their live sports programming to individual and collective mental well-being. Some may be keen to link their sports programming to physical activity in ways they did not do so previously;

- Event hosts can eventually be one of the greatest beneficiaries. Hosting major events can inspire high levels of engagement in social and sporting projects, which themselves can catalyse social and community benefits.

EventID is an impact and legacy consultancy for sport and major events.

Chester Perry
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Mon Jun 08, 2020 7:16 pm

Chesterfield are looking to move to being a fan owned club via the club's community trust - This article looks at what is still required to do, together with a view on how it can be made a success together with warnings of the potential pitfalls that lie ahead.

https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/sport ... er-2877086

Chester Perry
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Mon Jun 08, 2020 7:21 pm

Chaos still reigns in League 1, ahead of tomorrow's meeting (will they ever vote on it?) on how to finish the season etc, some clubs have already started testing and training as they prepare for play-offs - Darragh MacAnthony (Peterbrough chairman) is unhappy that the has been caught on the hop by people he though were mates

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... e-key-vote

EDIT seem like the real issue is that the 4 teams that are back training are the ones who would be in the play-offs under the EFL's proposals

- There are several proposals on the table, this move by the EFL just prejudices their proposal

https://twitter.com/NicolaPalios/status ... 8353918976

Chester Perry
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Mon Jun 08, 2020 8:46 pm

Today's post from Vysyble re the 2018/19 Premier League season looks at matchday and gives a club-by-club breakdown together with that club's share of overall Premier League Matchday revenue - we are not bottom but we generate less than 15 of the leagues matchday revenues (remember if we were all the same it would be 5% each - 4 clubs have a more than 10% share with one of them exceeding a 16% share

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1270057999994937344

Royboyclaret
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Mon Jun 08, 2020 9:22 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Mon Jun 08, 2020 8:46 pm
Today's post from Vysyble re the 2018/19 Premier League season looks at matchday and gives a club-by-club breakdown together with that club's share of overall Premier League Matchday revenue - we are not bottom but we generate less than 15 of the leagues matchday revenues (remember if we were all the same it would be 5% each - 4 clubs have a more than 10% share with one of them exceeding a 16% share

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1270057999994937344
Good stuff again from Vysyble, although no surprises from Burnley's point of view.

Couple of observations......At our end of the scale are Bournemouth and their £5m Matchday Receipts compares to our £6.3m but with an average attendance almost exactly 50% that of Burnley (10,352 against 20,534).

Watford are closest to Burnley in terms of average attendance (20,016 against 20,534) and yet have an almost 50% higher Matchday Receipts than us.

Both the above examples are further evidence, if we needed it, of the terrific value offered to us at the turnstiles by Mike Garlick and co.

Arsenal's figure continues to fascinate me. Their £96.24m not only represents 14.21% of total Matchday Revenue, but is also over 25% of their own Total Revenue of some £396m. This is a far higher percentage of Total Revenue than any other of the big six......and by a long, long way. Correspondingly their Commercial Revenue is a far lower percentage of Revenue than the others in the big six.

All useless information, but someone might find it interesting. :)

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Mon Jun 08, 2020 10:59 pm

Some intriguing stuff going on at Rochdale - seems to a battle for ownership, though not sure what American investors see in the club (can't see spotland being worth all that much).

It started with this - that former Swansea shareholder Dan Altman had invested in the club

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/ ... ews/52441/

after some questioning the club's board released this statement

https://www.rochdaleafc.co.uk/news/2020 ... directors/

but that did not seem enough for one director who is highly suspicious of the new investors it would appear - and has been wary of takeover for some time - I find it surprising that such a long and loaded statement was allowed on the clubs web-site

https://www.rochdaleafc.co.uk/news/2020 ... rew-kelly/

just what is going on with clubs in the northwest? this all sounds quite worrying

dsr
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by dsr » Tue Jun 09, 2020 12:20 am

Royboyclaret wrote:
Mon Jun 08, 2020 9:22 pm
Arsenal's figure continues to fascinate me. Their £96.24m not only represents 14.21% of total Matchday Revenue, but is also over 25% of their own Total Revenue of some £396m. This is a far higher percentage of Total Revenue than any other of the big six......and by a long, long way. Correspondingly their Commercial Revenue is a far lower percentage of Revenue than the others in the big six.
Possibly Arsenal count commercial box money as matchday while other clubs count it as commercial income? Only guessing.

TVC15
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by TVC15 » Tue Jun 09, 2020 10:13 am

Chester Perry wrote:
Mon Jun 08, 2020 10:59 pm
Some intriguing stuff going on at Rochdale - seems to a battle for ownership, though not sure what American investors see in the club (can't see spotland being worth all that much).

It started with this - that former Swansea shareholder Dan Altman had invested in the club

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/ ... ews/52441/

after some questioning the club's board released this statement

https://www.rochdaleafc.co.uk/news/2020 ... directors/

but that did not seem enough for one director who is highly suspicious of the new investors it would appear - and has been wary of takeover for some time - I find it surprising that such a long and loaded statement was allowed on the clubs web-site

https://www.rochdaleafc.co.uk/news/2020 ... rew-kelly/

just what is going on with clubs in the northwest? this all sounds quite worrying
I knew Graham Morris for a few years through work - he has been a director of the club for years. He was finance director for a while at Rochdale - he might still be...I haven’t checked and lost contact with him now.
Even though they struggled for many years financially they did actually have a very good board of directors. When you see the clubs around them like Bury, Oldham, Bolton etc the biggest reason Rochdale have just about managed to keep their head above the water for so long is because of people like Graham Morris.

If they are looking at outside investment if the likes of Graham Morris are still involved I’m sure there would be appropriate due diligence etc. If it’s a new board and he and others have left then it would be a worry if I was a Rochdale fan.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Jun 09, 2020 10:46 am

I am trying to get to the bottom of the legality of this - and it might just be that UEFA have very tight contracts for it's events - UEFA refuses temporary rebates on advanced broadcast payments for Euro 2020 - from SportsBusiness.com


M6 and TF1 bid for Euro 2020 fee repayment ‘politely rejected’
Martin Ross - June 8, 2020

French free-to-air commercial broadcasters M6 and TF1 have attempted to secure a temporary repayment of around €18m ($20.3m) on rights costs already paid for football’s 2020 Uefa European Championship, which has been delayed until the summer of 2021.

The request has been “politely but firmly” rejected by Uefa, European football’s governing body, according to L’Équipe.

Having already paid 35 per cent of the combined €50m rights fees due, M6 and TF1 had written to Uefa earlier this year asking that the remaining repayments could be rescheduled until next season after the Covid-19 crisis led to the tournament postponement.

Uefa is said to have agreed that M6 and TF1, along with other international rights-holding broadcasters, can defer their remaining fee payments. However, the French broadcasters’ bid for a temporary refund on fees already committed appears unlikely to succeed.

M6 and TF1 finalised their rights deal with Uefa and its rights agency CAA Eleven in November last year by securing free-to-air rights to a total of 23 matches, agreeing to pay a total of €25m each.

Having settled a first tranche upon the signature of the deal, the broadcasters are reported to have paid a second instalment in January, but the remaining instalments in April and June have been pushed back to next season.

The duo are thought to have paid a lower percentage of their total fee compared to other rights-holding broadcasters internationally because their agreement was signed off comparatively late. Most other broadcasters worldwide are said to have already paid between 50 and 60 per cent of the final total.

François Pellissier, TF1’s director of sports, told L’Équipe that the broadcaster and Uefa, as “good partners”, are “on the verge of finding an agreement”. He said that the discussions with Uefa are not “confrontational”.

TF1 was set to broadcast the Euro 2020 opener between Turkey and Italy in Rome this Friday.

Along with rights to the opening match, the rights secured by M6 and TF1 also include 11 other group-stage fixtures (including France’s matches), five last-16 matches, three quarter-final fixtures, both semi-finals and the final.

A pay-television deal for Euro 2020 was agreed by subscription broadcaster beIN Sports in January. The Qatar-backed broadcaster is paying around €35m for rights to all 51 matches, including 28 of them exclusively.

The last two editions of the European Championships have also been broadcast in France by beIN. Indeed, the broadcaster used the Euro 2012 tournament as a launchpad for its new service in France (as Al Jazeera Sport).

Mediapro, the agency and production group launching football subscription channels in France, was interested in the Euro 2020 rights but is said to have withdrawn from the race given the size of the rights fee asking price.

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