Football's Magic Money Tree

[Chester Perry]

The lockdown across the world has seen a rapid move to new ways of consuming media, with linear TV models losing out to multi service OTT offerings. There is no doubt that the major leagues and governing bodies have been paying attention - they are all either firing up or planning the rights tender processes for their next cycles or new competition (FIFA's revamped Club World Cup, UEFA's Europa Conference) - even while trying to stave off financial oblivion for their members.

Some, most notably FIFA, UEFA and La Liga, have entered the OTT marketplace and begun establishing direct relationships with audiences across the globe. Others like the Premier League have hung back waiting for the market to mature, and trends to define themselves before they make their move and begin to shed traditional broadcast partners. For the Premier League in particular this has been enable by the high upfront fees they receive.

It is increasingly believed that within the next 2 cycles the Premier League will start to produce it's own OTT service to broadcast it's content and grow it's revenues (perhaps exponentially). To do this will require expertise it does not have and may not want, given the overheads in acquiring it. The alternatives is to set up a new set of partnerships with organisations that can help them to deliver their offerings in any region it choses or globally.

One such partner could be an organisation like Deltatre who are already doing similar service for sports organisations in most global marketplaces and are rapidly developing services (including remote operations - highly desirable in the current pandemic, but also for cost and green reasons.

Here the CEO and Commercial VP for OTT services talk about how they are managing and developing and growing services for clients during the lockdown with SportsBusiness.com

https://www.sportbusiness.com/2020/05/d ... ive-sport/

[Chester Perry]

The correlation between wages and on field success has been shown repeatedly in study after study

The problem as it currently stands is that the Premier League wants some semblance of competitiveness to sell it's product, consequently it distributes it's incomes more fairly than any other European League to encourage teams to keep their squads competitive. They do not want newly promoted teams to give up before they started and run with the money (the reason why we were so unpopular in our first two promotions). So they gave them more protected revenue (Parachute Payments) to encourage them to sign better players safe in the knowledge that contracts could be paid out if relegation occurred allowing for mutually acceptable relegation clause in contracts, that still meant the were amongst the top earners in the division.

Good players tend to only join the newly promoted/weaker teams on multi-year contracts if they pay the going Premier League rates. Championship revenues for clubs (without Parachute Payments) suggest a cap of £6k per week, In the Premier league the average wage is 10+ times that (not us I would add) - how do you get a player to sign for a multi year contract (to protect the transfer fee) for a relegation candidate, knowing that if relegated the wage would be decimated, players would not accept such a loss.

Players wouldn't do it, so promoted clubs are back in the position of take the money and run - that is the dichotomy of the Parachute payment - the Premier League pays them because they want their league to be competitive, the EFL hates them because they make their league either uncompetitive or unsustainable. So far the Pay master has won by paying the "solidarity payment".

Somewhat bizarrely. if a relegated club wins immediate promotion back to the Premier League the EFL wins as they get the remaining Parachute Payments to distribute to their clubs (I think this is still the case). The Premier League won't say it, but they prefer that scenario as it means the promoted club starts in a relatively stronger financial position thus allowing them to be more competitive, the more this happens the theoretically stronger the league gets.

The EFL want the Parachute money to be added to the Solidarity Payments, as a means of reducing the financial gap, that would facilitate a salary cap of around £12k. Premier League clubs struggle to get players to sign relegation clauses of 40% - 50% in those instance players would still be on north of £20k as a minimum and often much more. How do you balance it without forcing the relegated club to replace much of it's squad, probably selling players at a loss in most cases and forcing them to deal with the attendant problems that would bring?

EDIT - I wrote all that then found this which essentially says the same thing

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... -shop.html

I wrote this last night, so did Ian Ladyman for the Mail, tonight Martin Samuel (for the same paper) has effectively rewriiten it again only added a lot (and I do mean a lot) more vitrol, especially towards Championship Club owners and Rick Parry.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... blems.html

[Chester Perry]

Somehow I missed this on Monday - Simon Kuper (ESPN) talks to a Barcelona VP about the impact of the Pandemic

https://africa.espn.com/football/barcel ... ght-return

a few takeaways - note the one on the pay cut in particular:

- A slide in Barça's income
The virus has devastated the club's finances. In the 2017-18 season, Barca became the first club in any sport to hit $1 billion in annual revenues. As late as this February, says Cardoner, "we were over budget, it was a very successful position, awaiting a beautiful end of the year." Then football closed down. "We reduced our incomes extremely far," he admits.

Barca have lost about €50 million in ticket sales and its museum, €39 million in TV income, and between €20 million and €25 million in commercial income from its shops, football schools, "legends' activities" and so on. The total hit to revenues is already between €120 and €140 million, he says.

"This is for sure, what we know today. These millions will be in our losses at the end of the year." It's certain the club will make a loss this year, he adds. Spending will have to fall.


- Pay cut for the players
Barca's players have agreed to a 72% pay cut, following teleconferences between Bartomeu and team captains Messi, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto. Cardoner notes that the pay cut only applies from the start of the lockdown in March until the season's end, and so, viewed over the whole year, players will only be losing 8-11% of their salaries. Still, this will be enough to allow all Barca's roughly 500 non-playing employees to keep their full pay.


- Debt of €460-470 million
Barca expect lower revenues next season, with fewer ticket sales and museum visitors. Cardoner says, "We are preparing the budget of next season and we will adapt our incomes to our spending."

He also says that the club's debt is about €460-470 million. Clubs report their debts using different criteria, but UEFA's benchmarking report published in January named only two clubs (Manchester United and Spurs) with higher net debts. (For some reason, UEFA's list of Europe's 20 most indebted clubs does not include Barca.)

That said, Cardoner insists the club's debt is manageable. He notes that it amounts to only about half of annual revenues, whereas a decade ago debt was about equal to revenues, at about €400 million.

[Chester Perry]

Is this a case of a vulture spying an opportunity or a wealthy benefactor trying to save a club. Fan owned Chester City have announced that Stuart Murphy a Cheshire businessman who has previously pledged funds to improve infrastructure (to allow the club to increase revenues has now made an offer to take control of the club,

http://www.chesterfc.com/2020/05/07/cfu ... d-members/

here is what he previously pledged to support = it has been a developing relationship

the first pledge https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44542038

more money for the community hub https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/sport/f ... r-16005758

further development of the stadium and I don't want to run the club https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/sport/f ... s-17297619

Note that 7 months ago he was publicly say he wanted no part in the running of the club, and that there are still monies to enter the club from his original commitments - though that fits the timetable he pledged at the time

[Chester Perry]

Accrington Chairman @AndyhHolt is preparing for the worst case financial scenario while seeking to ensure that his club come out the other side - looking at separating club from ground, so that should they have to go into administration, it will be there on the other side - many will be watching this with interest and certainly a few will sit up and go "What the hell"

https://twitter.com/AndyhHolt/status/12 ... 0162041857

fully prepared to take a -12 point hit and potential relegation in a bid to save the club

https://twitter.com/AndyhHolt/status/12 ... 8853450752

[Chester Perry]

The vultures are at the door

CFG who are still being linked heavily with French club Nancy

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/man ... oronavirus

are now said to be wanting to take over Belgian club Lommel SK

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52589283

CFG covering all their bases post Brexit here - bring in the talent from overseas - develop then send to their bigger clubs - the need a Portuguese one to bring in those south American players then they look set

FIFA/UEFA really need to put a stop to this

[Chester Perry]

La Liga President Javier Tebas wants the Premier League to block the Saudi backed bid for Newcastle - for the sake of protecting football's intellectual property.

https://apnews.com/319f05b62629c4dd113524d38af5d147

Not sure how he expects that to happen when the Spanish Football federation hold the final states of it's Super Cup there,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51042079

even if he expressed his anger about that at the time

https://www.wionews.com/sports/money-is ... bia-275787

and his own member clubs struck deals in 2018 (BeOutQ was already in operation) with the Saudi Federation to take players on loan free of charge and with additional sponsorships)

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... -world-cup

however poorly it fared

https://en.as.com/en/2018/05/15/footbal ... 79094.html

You have to think that he is more worried about the potential for yet another English super rich club, threatening the growth of his league and the ability of his members to compete financially

posted the above yesterday - now to underline my final point - more detail on La Liga's relationships in the Middle East including failed efforts from Tebas himself with the Saudi's

https://twitter.com/gcabeza/status/1258702863703986176

An English translation of that final article - it is quite revealing - The war between La Liga and Saudi Arabia: the sheik feels cheated by the Spanish

https://translate.google.co.uk/translat ... 1690494%2F

[Chester Perry]

@MiguelDelaney in the Independent on Project Sabotage, the self interested effort to block Project Restart the self interested effort to get money through the door

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foo ... 05261.html

It pairs well with this I posted last night

@Marcotti believes the solution to the EFL/Premier League's complex range of issues this summer (football or lawsuits) surrounding the restart is "fungible"

https://www.espn.com/soccer/english-pre ... r-lawsuits

There is of course one significant element his suggestion misses out - the small matter of the reset and end of Parachute Payments that the EFL is demanding.

[Chester Perry]

Is this just a sign of desperation on behalf of Rights provider and distributor or a way of getting viewers ready for the changed atmosphere of a behind closed doors game - BienSports to show simulated games from La Liga's remaining programme

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/simu ... C%20region

[Chester Perry]

Somehow I missed this on Monday - Simon Kuper (ESPN) talks to a Barcelona VP about the impact of the Pandemic

https://africa.espn.com/football/barcel ... ght-return

a few takeaways - note the one on the pay cut in particular:

- A slide in Barça's income
The virus has devastated the club's finances. In the 2017-18 season, Barca became the first club in any sport to hit $1 billion in annual revenues. As late as this February, says Cardoner, "we were over budget, it was a very successful position, awaiting a beautiful end of the year." Then football closed down. "We reduced our incomes extremely far," he admits.

Barca have lost about €50 million in ticket sales and its museum, €39 million in TV income, and between €20 million and €25 million in commercial income from its shops, football schools, "legends' activities" and so on. The total hit to revenues is already between €120 and €140 million, he says.

"This is for sure, what we know today. These millions will be in our losses at the end of the year." It's certain the club will make a loss this year, he adds. Spending will have to fall.


- Pay cut for the players
Barca's players have agreed to a 72% pay cut, following teleconferences between Bartomeu and team captains Messi, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto. Cardoner notes that the pay cut only applies from the start of the lockdown in March until the season's end, and so, viewed over the whole year, players will only be losing 8-11% of their salaries. Still, this will be enough to allow all Barca's roughly 500 non-playing employees to keep their full pay.


- Debt of €460-470 million
Barca expect lower revenues next season, with fewer ticket sales and museum visitors. Cardoner says, "We are preparing the budget of next season and we will adapt our incomes to our spending."

He also says that the club's debt is about €460-470 million. Clubs report their debts using different criteria, but UEFA's benchmarking report published in January named only two clubs (Manchester United and Spurs) with higher net debts. (For some reason, UEFA's list of Europe's 20 most indebted clubs does not include Barca.)

That said, Cardoner insists the club's debt is manageable. He notes that it amounts to only about half of annual revenues, whereas a decade ago debt was about equal to revenues, at about €400 million.

which will make this initiative all the more important - Barcelona to launch e-commerce platform after assuming merchandising control

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/barc ... %20control

[Chester Perry]

Interesting webinar from the Football Collective 'Discussing Football Fan Engagement Projects: Action, Participation and Club Ownership debates' - the Football Collective are Academics but this webinar features representation from the Football Supporters Association and it's European wide partner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6f7l2o1DXc

Edit: some really interesting perspectives especially re Gianni Infantino's reasoning to stall the games restart - makes you think more about the relationship he has with Real Madrid's Florentino Perez.

[Chester Perry]

It is a question that is being asked more frequently as the major European Leagues look to restart behind closed doors -

Will Premier League with no fans be worth the wait?
Kieran CANNING
AFPMay 7, 2020, 3:05 AM

London (AFP) - The Premier League is adamant that it can overcome huge logistical challenges to get players back on the pitch during the coronavirus crisis but has long since accepted there will be no fans in the stadiums.

English Football Association chairman Greg Clarke became the latest senior figure to admit this week that social-distancing guidelines make it impossible for supporters to congregate in stadiums "any time soon".

The drive behind the Premier League's "Project Restart" is the attempt to avoid having to pay back millions in TV revenue. Clubs could reportedly miss out on £762 million ($946 million) for failing to complete this season alone.

According to UEFA's latest European Club Footballing Landscape report, just 13 percent of the Premier League's revenue comes from gate receipts.
England's top tier therefore has the luxury many other leagues cannot afford of trying to ride out the economic storm without paying fans coming to watch in the stadium.

"We might not like it, it might not be the perfect solution, but it is the only solution that we've got to move forward," David Webber, a senior lecturer in football studies at Solent University, told AFP.

However, the billions in television revenues the Premier League has been able to tap into is not only thanks to the quality of the players on the field but the atmosphere provided by thousands of passionate fans.

"The whole economic model only works when the grounds are pretty full," said Richard Scudamore, who oversaw the Premier League's growth into a vast commercial giant from 1999 to 2018.

"No actor likes playing in front of an empty hall," he told the Telegraph.

- June restart? -
The last time a ball was kicked in the Premier League was on March 9 and it will not return until June at the earliest, with Liverpool's title coronation on hold for now.

After such a long and unexpected lay-off, league bosses are hoping there will be an insatiable demand for their product.

Allowing fans to buy "virtual season tickets" to watch every match live has even been mooted as an idea to help mitigate the loss of matchday income.

But the University of Brighton's Mark Doidge agrees with Scudamore that the essence of what makes the Premier League special might be lost.

"Short-term there might be people who want to watch games on television," said Doidge, a senior research fellow at the School of Sport and Service Management.

"But I think the novelty will wear off very quickly when you realise that actually a large part of what drives the game is not just the people on the pitch, but the people in the stands."

Doidge said players and fans feed off the collective, emotional energy in English stadiums.

"That collective atmosphere is part and parcel of what the game is," he said. "If they haven't got that to feed off, is the quality of football going to be there and ultimately will the televisual experience be there?"

Premier League clubs are reportedly already making contingency plans to play out the whole of the 2020/21 season behind closed doors.

Yet, it remains to be seen if there will be any demand for such a deluge of sanitised matches from armchair supporters, TV companies and even players.

"It's a strange situation not having the fans there. That's what makes football, that's what makes the atmosphere," Tottenham and England midfielder Harry Winks told the BBC.

"It's not something that I like and I know a lot of players feel the same way. It's not something that anybody really wants to do."

[Chester Perry]

The latest Ornstein and Chapman Podcast looks at Footballs future and asks "Why would anyone want to own a football club?"

https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0c ... Q&hl=en-GB

[Chester Perry]

Part 6 of the Guardian's How will football change - Covid-19's impact on football: 'It could take 10 years to get where we were'

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... yers-scout

[Chester Perry]

Some unusual financial activity at Sunderland - not illegal but it appears to be scaring off potential buyers

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sport ... ounts.html

I posted about the loan last year

So Sunderland's new Investors came in with plenty of hype - but new documents published at Compamies house show that the investment is a loan secured against assets including the Stadium of Light and the training ground

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 3885509632" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Stewart Donald sought to calm fears in a Radio interview

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 3885509632" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

but the fans are concerned

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/f ... s-17251969" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... round.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Chester Perry]

Barney Ronay ponders over a prospective change of Order in the Guardian - The Premier League must be very careful or the empire will come crashing down

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... shing-down

[Chester Perry]

It was only a matter of time and it is a surprise that it has taken so long but a Premier League club has brought the notion of B Teams back on the agenda - no mention of it being better for the England team anymore

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... d-21998675

Naturally all those who have been against it from the start are outraged

https://twitter.com/uglygame/status/1258881556690743296

Of course you have to be suspicious of the source and the timing - it is certainly distracting a few from the issue of completing the Premier League - is it part of what has been referred to as "Project Sabotage"

[Chester Perry]

Someone has decided to run thousands upon thousands of simulations to see how Europe's big four leagues would finish, in lieu of a restart

It turns out there is only one absolute certainty in terms of position - Liverpool win the Premier League (10,000 times out of 10,000)

https://twitter.com/uglygame/status/1259096809403822080

You can imagine the lawyers wanting to appraise this over the coming weeks if given the calls for promotion and relegation that are abounding

[Chester Perry]

We have grown accustomed to the idea of social media being manipulated to serve the ends of individuals, organisations and even governments for their own ends but in the main we know little as to how it is done. In this report - An Indian PR Firm Created Inauthentic Accounts and Used Coordinated Behaviour to Post Anti-Saudi, Anti-Emirati, Pro-Qatar, and Football-Related Content.

https://graphika.com/uploads/graphika_r ... edcard.pdf

@NcGeehan put's it - "This operation underlines how vulnerable sporting issues are to influence operations..sports-related issues have been targeted by actors seeking to amplify divisive narratives, and sporting teams and their supporters have even been impersonated by information operators at times."

[Chester Perry]

That nice man (for a gooner) @SwissRamble does one of his lovely print out and keep summaries for Burnley's 2018/19 financial results

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 7344910336

[Chester Perry]

Interesting webinar from the Football Collective 'Discussing Football Fan Engagement Projects: Action, Participation and Club Ownership debates' - the Football Collective are Academics but this webinar features representation from the Football Supporters Association and it's European wide partner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6f7l2o1DXc

Edit: some really interesting perspectives especially re Gianni Infantino's reasoning to stall the games restart - makes you think more about the relationship he has with Real Madrid's Florentino Perez.

If you have watched this (it is good) and want to know more about the power of good from fans in other countries, I cannot think of a better place to start than here. Felix Tamsut gives the worlds sports editors the lowdown on German fan culture ahead of the restart of one of the world's biggest leagues - it is extensive and uplifting

https://twitter.com/ftamsut/status/1258734255380758530

[Chester Perry]

It was only a matter of time and it is a surprise that it has taken so long but a Premier League club has brought the notion of B Teams back on the agenda - no mention of it being better for the England team anymore

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... d-21998675

Naturally all those who have been against it from the start are outraged

https://twitter.com/uglygame/status/1258881556690743296

Of course you have to be suspicious of the source and the timing - it is certainly distracting a few from the issue of completing the Premier League - is it part of what has been referred to as "Project Sabotage"

I said that those who have long campaigned against B Teams were outraged - This is Tom Reed on Football365.com, keeping himself contained - Football’s latest B-team plan is nothing but b*llocks

https://www.football365.com/news/b-team ... ier-league

[Chester Perry]

@RorySmith has a bad feeling as to where football is heading on it's route out of the pandemic - from the New York Times - in a promotional tweet for the piece he said
"At the start of this, it felt like we might come out of it with a better, healthier, more equal football than we had before.

Now I’m pretty sure I can see a direct path from shutdown to superleague. The dangerous game being played in the PL shows why"

Soccer Arrives at a Fork in the Road
The coronavirus seemed to offer the game the chance to take one of two paths, toward two very different futures. Fairly predictably, it is hurriedly turning down the wrong one.

By Rory Smith - May 8, 2020

For a moment, as the squabbling stopped and the conversations started, it felt as if it was possible to discern the faintest flicker of hope. Across the world, soccer had stopped. The sport was facing an unforeseen, unimaginable situation; it felt, even then, like a looming existential crisis. But there was hope.

Aleksander Ceferin, the president of UEFA, which runs the European game, was talking about a renewed sense of unity, about the need for a reset after the coronavirus pandemic. FIFA, the scandal-scarred global governing body, was volunteering the billions of dollars it had acquired with such avarice over the years to help bail out teams and competitions and national associations.

The clubs were no longer trying to claw power away from the leagues. The leagues were no longer at the throats of the bodies that are supposed to manage them. UEFA and FIFA were no longer rivals, but allies. All of the factionalism and the empire-building and the infighting that had served as the background noise to the sport — for how long: a decade, two decades, forever? — had stopped.

For a fleeting moment, it was possible to believe this would be the point when soccer changed, when it saw the error of its ways, when it started to heal its self-inflicted wounds, when it remembered that it is — fairly self-evidently — an interdependent ecosystem, with the health of the individual reliant on the health of the whole.

Where might that road have led, whenever we emerged from all of this? To a more financially sustainable future, perhaps, with stricter cost controls in place to protect clubs for the long term, with ambitions reduced, and with a closing of the gap between rich and poor. To a more politically stable sport, where the elite were no longer agitating, constantly, for more and more from their leagues, their peers and UEFA.

A more trusting one, maybe, too, with FIFA transformed into a beneficent supervisor rather than a rival empire, itching to compete. Ceferin had been right, that soccer needed a reset. The most dire circumstances had sufficiently focused minds to bring it about. Soccer’s cash-soaked golden era, its rampantly uneven golden era, its morally void golden era, its financially fragile golden era, the golden era in which it sold its soul and conquered the world, would be over.

That was the hope.

It lasted barely a few weeks, if it even lasted that long. Now, across Europe, the game burns bright with self-interest. Belgium and Scotland canceled their leagues to protect new television deals. The Netherlands called time on its league after a democratic vote among its clubs, the results of which were ignored completely.

France’s league was canceled by its politicians, almost entirely without warning, and has now had to call on the government to bail out clubs facing financial ruin. Threats of legal challenge rumble on: from Lyon, from AZ Alkmaar and from Rangers in Glasgow.

And then there is the Premier League, alone among Europe’s major competitions in having no sense of direction whatsoever, despite eight weeks of Zoom meetings. France knows its fate; in Spain and Italy, there is slow progress toward a resumption; in Germany, there will be a full slate of matches next week. In England, though, there is only an angry, blinkered stasis. (And to think people say soccer reflects society.)

For years, the global success of the Premier League has come at a very specific cost: For the majority of its teams, the only thing that matters is to be present. They know they cannot hope to win it. They know that even qualifying for European competition is a distant dream, so close to an impossibility as to be indistinguishable from it.

The dogma that the purpose of soccer is not to succeed, but to survive, now has its apotheosis. The six teams at the bottom of the league need to stay in the Premier League so much that it is best, for them, if there is no soccer at all.

Officially, all 20 teams want to find a way to resume play when it is safe — and permitted — to do so, largely to safeguard television rights fees and to stave off financial catastrophe. Unofficially, the gang of six has proved far more adept at identifying hazards than at offering solutions.

They are not prepared to countenance playing at neutral venues, even though that is the only option the government, and the police, will accept. They do not believe it is fair to have to play without fans, even if there may be no scope for fans to return until next year at the earliest. They wonder if relegation should apply, in these unusual circumstances.

The objections have become so frequent — and the lack of alternatives so consistent — that some of their peers wonder if they are deliberately sabotaging the process, trying to run the clock down until May 25, UEFA’s cutoff point for leagues to define their futures. The lack of a resolution would force the Premier League season, alone in Europe, to be voided.

The sense of unity is breaking down, as a simmering, unspoken disagreement turns into a messy, public scrap. At the heart of it all, of course, is self-interest, which in this case is a synonym for money. The bottom six have made a simple calculation: Being in the Premier League next year is worth more than having to pay back broadcast income this season, because that load would be shared among all 20 clubs.

Where does that road lead? It is easy to be distracted by the short term: by the prospect of the season being voided, by the transfer market — largely funded by English money — grinding to a halt, by potential legal challenges against whatever decision is made.

But it is the long term that should be of more concern. In the future, it will be hard for the Premier League’s makeweights to demand the elite act in the collective interest when it comes to broadcast revenues, asking rivals to do as they say, not as they do. There has always been a schism between the league’s Big Six clubs and the rest. It has only hardened in recent weeks.

Those fractures are already showing elsewhere. Paris St.-Germain is so furious at the French government’s intervention that it has vowed to play on in the Champions League, even if its games are held abroad. Seventeen of the 20 clubs in France’s Ligue 1 are thought to have severe liquidity issues. Spain and Germany have both spoken of dire financial consequences, to be disproportionately borne by smaller teams, if the seasons are not completed.

The destination, really, is clear: not toward a more unified future but to a far more fragmented one. We will not come out of this with a more egalitarian game, but with divisions and inequalities yet further entrenched, either by economic realities or by philosophical differences.

The days of fleeting hope seem long past. It felt, back then, as if soccer stood at a fork in the road, but perhaps that was not quite right. Perhaps, instead, it was a choice between turning back and steaming blindly ahead. It was naïve, really, to think it was a choice at all.

[Chester Perry]

@dave_the_hearn writes for twohundredpercent.com in a thought provoking article about how football is actually very little about football anymore, rather it is what it's paymasters want it to be and how it is them that are pushing for swift return of the game return, not the game itself.

The Broadcasting Past is a Foreign Country
May 7, 2020

…they do things different there. The recent cessation of football has taken a lot of us into the game’s archives, and for Dave Hearn, the style of the broadcasting has turned out as interesting as the football itself. This set him thinking about changes in our relationship with the media and technology. You can find Dave on Twitter here https://twitter.com/dave_the_hearn.

“A traditional dive there by Klinsmann. This is what Terry Yorath was talking about, the collapsible Klinsmann.”

This is a line taken from the BBC Wales coverage of the Euro ’92 qualifier between Wales and Germany from 1991, which Wales won 1-0. It is a throwaway comment made by a co-commentator over the award of what they perceive to be a soft free kick. Klinsmann, having been fouled after receiving the ball and attempting to quickly spin away from his marker, goes down in theatrical fashion. It is hard not to notice how out of place the comment feels when compared to what we expect to hear today. Whilst we see a replay, the German team take the free kick and the incident is forgotten.

I watched further games from around this time – France 3-1 Spain (1990), Red Star Belgrade 2-2 Bayern Munich (1991), Sheffield Wednesday 1-6 Leeds United (1992), AC Milan 4-0 Barcelona (1994) – and the standard of football was high. The games were entertaining. But paying attention to the broadcasts themselves became an interesting exercise in its own right. It was increasingly difficult to avoid noticing how much influence television has acquired since these games were originally broadcast. It became almost impossible to make comparisons between what televised football felt like then and how it feels now.

The debate around video technology, for example, is particularly pertinent when watching these games. The idea that any of them would’ve been improved by poring over replays in order to analyse refereeing decisions or debate a marginal offside calls never enters the equation. At no point did I ruminate over the absence of a sense of injustice manufactured via a minor infringement being shown for the ninth time, and from an improbable angle. I didn’t miss the prompts to have a bet on the outcome. Nor was there a moment when what I really wanted was a reminder of the financial implications of what was unfolding on the field. These considerations simply didn’t exist.

TV companies have spent huge amounts of time and money creating an environment where their demands are taken into consideration long before anything else. The conversation around finances and the use of video technology is all consuming but this is a deliberate construct, a direct consequence of TV companies holding such a dominant position within the game. Their interests are discussed first. The overwhelming majority of debates that take place in the broadcast media are coloured by the reality that those involved are reliant on platforms owned by companies who have a vested interest in keeping the parameters as narrow as possible.

The discussion around what to do with the football season during a global pandemic, for example, is based almost entirely around the financial implications. It would be naive to suggest the financial aspects are not worthy of consideration but the idea that football could, or should, be played whilst the safety of players, supporters and officials cannot be guaranteed is as offensive as it is illogical. But it is worth remembering who is pushing for it.

The past few weeks offered a block of time in which to think about creating workable solutions to long-standing issues. Is the relationship between football and television a completely healthy one? Is it right that so many clubs appear to be almost completely dependent on broadcasting revenue to survive? If VAR is here to stay then how can it be more effectively implemented? Is the relationship between football and gambling in need of much more scrutiny? The issues of finance, gambling and technology, and how and where they work within modern football, would exist without television playing such a dominant role within the sport but it is worth considering the scale of its influence. Failing to consider some of these issues now feels like another missed opportunity.

At a time when big business is pushing for people to make a speedy return to normality, irrespective of legitimate concerns over health and safety, it is reassuring to look back on football played in the period immediately before television became such a dominant force and remember that so much of the noise that surrounds modern football is entirely superficial. Football doesn’t have to be this way. The fact that top level football is perfectly capable of operating without television having such a prominent and powerful hold over it is something we don’t remind ourselves of often enough.

[Chester Perry]

More from TwoHundredPrecent.com - this time on the woes at Southend United, who despite what from a distance looked grandiose plans for a brighter more stable future at a new home financed (inevitably) by a property development scheme. Yet another depressing story of ego, self interest and mis-management while fans watch helplessly as their beloved club slowly withers. It is any surprise that Southend fan Matt Slater (@MJShrimper) is such a prominent writer of the financial travails of the game.

Southend United’s Groundhog Season
by Mark | May 8, 2020

Even diehard fans of the film “Groundhog Day” would be watching events surrounding League One (for now) Southend United and thinking “Not AGAIN!”

It is hard to know if on-or-off-field matters were worse during Blues’ season just suspended. They have long-needed snookers to avoid relegation, with league wins almost as rare as rocking-horsesh*t. Meanwhile, tax was paid late, triggering winding-up petitions from tax authority HMRC.

Likewise, salaries; a new addition to long/self-serving chairman Ron Martin’s oeuvre but sadly familiar territory for first-team boss Sol Campbell, who managed Macclesfield Town through frighteningly comparable financial times and must currently be having nightmares about frying pans and fires.
Indeed Southend AND Macclesfield were charged by the Football League (EFL) with misconduct, for “non-payment of players,” on 9th March, Southend’s second such offence in seven weeks. A charge of fielding an ineligible player completed a horrendous hat-trick. Oh…and ‘Fossett’s Farm stadium,’ the 21,000-seater panacea for Blues’ blues, which has been “set to become a reality” for decades, is…erm, “set to become a reality.” Mostly.

Southend are under existential threat as the coronavirus halts football (surely for longer than vested economic interests are keen to suggest). Martin’s public persona often drifts into TIM Martin territory. But he is unusually realistic about this. “I don’t see normality coming back to football until Q1 21,” he jargoned un-necessarily. Otherwise, though, his chairmanship has been typically dismal. And, like a Thames Estuary Donald Trump, he has found fault everywhere… else.

On 2nd April, the club “struck a deal” with Southend Council and “social housing provider” Citizen Housing to “manage” housing developments at Fossetts Farm and their current Roots Hall home. This would form, and presumably help finance, part of the overall stadium plan. However, Martin’s grand designs are less grand than previously advertised.

The Farm will now accommodate 14,000, only 1,600 more than Roots Hall. The Southend Echo local newspaper’s Steve Shaw wrote of “an ambition” to reach 21,000 “eventually” but “plans for shops, a cinema and restaurants” were “all being dropped and replaced with housing… 502 at Roots Hall” and “about 800 new properties…at Fossetts Farm.” This means the Farm is no longer competing with Southend’s ‘Seaways’ football-free leisure development, which many fans assumed was the council’s preferred option.

However, the “set to become a reality” stuff is guff. As Shaw’s reported, Southend “will be expected to submit fresh planning applications,” and nothing can “move forward until planning permission has been secured.” Shaw also reminded readers that “the previous planning application…was under consideration by the council for almost three years.”

An “initial cash injection…understood to be from” the “Homes England” non-departmental public body was only a loan, and only if the development included “a significant number of homes.” And Shaw noted that “the final costs” were “still to be decided.” Indeed, he since wrote that having “lost the financial benefits of the withdrawn cinema and shops plan…it remains unclear how the club will profit from the development,” especially as Martin had “yet to reveal the full details.”

So, Southend’s set reality remains financial frailty. This season, HMRC have petitioned to wind them up over unpaid taxes three times, with the latest hearing in “London’s” Insolvency and Companies Court adjourned until 22nd July, because HMRC were told that the club is “looking to refinance.” The club’s barrister Hilary Stonefrost told the court last Wednesday that there was “a very substantial funding project going ahead.” This, it transpired, was the latest Fossetts Farm guff – a very stretched definition of “going ahead.”

And it had emerged on 7th January that a number of players and backroom staff had not been paid their December salaries. However, Martin told favoured media outlet, the determinedly low-brow Talksport Radio, that this was “not an issue,” despite admitting that it was due to “a shortfall in accounts just before Christmas,” because Martin “couldn’t get the paperwork together in time to get it transferred until the lawyers returned yesterday.”

He didn’t reveal what paperwork. Nor, damningly, was he “sure how many” players were unpaid, guessing “five or six.” But they were “being paid today” (a week late, remember). And if he’d “had earlier notice,” he would “have been able to deal with it sooner.” And the moral of this story? “It just goes to show the club are totally reliant on me,” Martin concluded, as if that fact was anything other than (yet) another savage indictment of his financial mismanagement over many years.

This reliance was almost immediately exposed when it emerged that the “five or six” (actually seven, Martin soon admitted) had not been “paid today.” Martin himself had to provide £140,000 worth of ‘paperwork’ on 9th January to cover the shortfall, doing so after the unpaid players involved their trade union, the Professional Footballers Association (PFA).

On 18th January, the team won a league game, their first since September, 2-1 at Accrington Stanley. And four days later, the latest HMRC petition was dismissed when HMRC’s lawyers said the, unspecified, amount for which they had petitioned was paid. But it emerged in mid-February that the EFL had placed Blues under a transfer embargo as they still owed HMRC, by 11th March, ulp. £668,000, with, Martin said, “one month” (February) “ stacked up behind.”

Then came the news that Southend were formally in Macclesfield territory on the missing wages front, and that a rare win, over Lincoln on 1st February, had been obtained with an ineligible player (“just an error,” Campbell noted, unhelpfully). So, they entered the Covid crisis in financial crisis (hence the over-eager announcement of ‘progress’ at Fossetts Farm). And their financial woes were not about to be masked by the general financial fall-out from the EFL being suspended.

February salaries were finally paid by mid-March. And the hearing over the two-thirds-of-a-million-quid tax bill was adjourned until last Wednesday…when it was adjourned again until 22md July, though who knows how that will be paid, with so limited a prospect of football before then. But financial controversy stalked Martin again, or maybe vice-versa, over furloughing first-teamers (the process of placing employees on unpaid leave in exceptional circumstances).

In mid-April, Martin told the Echo the terms under which six first-teamers were furloughed from 14th March, with the Echo able to attach a copy of his “furlough letter” to the six, dated 31st March. He made sure everyone knew that the six were among Blues’ “highest-paid individuals.” And he said “we all have to pull together,” before confirming that 59 ‘backroom staff’ were also furloughed (on 80% salary up to a maximum of £2,500-per-month, funded by government scheme) but “senior management whose contracts are not affected” were not.

The PFA did the maths and dutifully advised the six to reject Martin’s terms unless he guaranteed that any lost salary would be reimbursed. Martin told the Echo that the club “hoped, as stated in the furlough letter” to “make up any shortfall, when normality returns,” which he trumpeted as “part of” its “continuing social responsibility.” The key word was “hoped.” And the letter “stated” that such making-up “must be entirely at the board’s discretion.” without explaining why it “must be.”

Martin then “put the record straight,” telling the Echo that the furloughed players “were paid 100% of their salary up until the time they were furloughed and additionally the proportionate sum due” under the furloughing arrangements. This should not have needed saying but, given Southend’s recent record of “paying 100%” of salaries on time, it very much did.

The PFA accused Martin of “an unfair portrayal of the players, an inaccurate reflection of the club’s situation” and “consistently letting players down with…late/non-payments of salaries.” And the “furlough letter” being “published in the public domain,” meant that players were “dictated to publicly by the club.” Martin called these demonstrable truths “outrageous” (which, in a way, they were). And he told Talksh*te, from a self-awareness vacuum, that the PFA “should not just go off on one to the press,” before semi-gloating that while the players “had refused being furloughed “at the time, yesterday (22nd April) they all did”

The furlough letter also said that Blues’ future was “not in jeopardy,” (about which HMRC may yet have a say) despite the furloughing being “an alternative to imposing lay-offs or redundancies.” And he told Talkbolox that Southend had “a very competent future” (?) with “things looking great for us.” And HE accused the UNION of not “truly understanding the gravity of the situation.”

Martin’s financial commitments have occasionally kept Southend afloat, and he admitted in February that Southend have relied “on parent company support throughout the years.” But he takes no responsibility for such commitments being required despite, as chairman, BEING responsible. For instance, in a BBC Radio Essex interview last 12th December, he body-swerved responsibility AND self-awareness comprehensively.

He lambasted ex-managers Phil Brown, Chris Powell and Kevin Bond for poor recruitment, missing the irony in them all being his recruits. “The only dynamic I can change is the manager,” he admitted, missing the obvious conclusion from his many failed “changes” of “dynamic.” His pursuit of Celtic legend Henrik Larsson last October might have added another (Larsson watched two Blues games without running away screaming).

He didn’t blame “anyone in particular” for Blues’ “downward spiral,” TWENTY-ONE words after claiming that “the players established” it. HMRC’s winding-up petitions were because he “constantly” had to “put money into the club to compete in League One,” even though Blues have not “competed in League One” this season. And his headline-grabber was: “If I walked out of this club today, it would be bust tomorrow.” Thus the man running club finances for 20+ years exposed glaring financial weakness…and presented it as a virtue. How many Blues fans said “OK, bye!!”right then?

History has been a ******* to this interview. “We will change some players next month,” he declared, surely aware of the impending transfer embargo. “I don’t think we will be relegated,” he added, despite knowing he was being recorded. He will only be right if the EFL deem relegation unfair after an unfinished season. Or, as Martin wants, they declare the season null-and-void. And he promised fans that if he couldn’t “fix it, I’ll move on.” Yet, before anyone could get the bunting out, he added: “I will get it right so I won’t be moving on.”

Two more months of on-and-off-field failure didn’t dent his self-confidence, although he deserved credit for addressing a 24th February meeting with Blues’ many supporters groups, whose questions were not softball. His “mistake” was “putting too much money into the club.” He said HMRC were “much more hair-trigger now,” as if they hadn’t hair-triggered winding-up petitions Southend’s way for years. And he denied that not employing a Chief Executive (for three years) had been a problem, because they would “still come to me for the final decisions.”

He wanted a CEO, not because “there are any mismanagements within the club, but, because I need someone to have that responsibility.” Someone ELSE, that is. Hence: “The failings on the pitch have compounded the finances. I have put a huge amount of money into this club which would have been healthy if I could have made it sustainable a decade ago. But planning delays and the banking crisis put paid to that.” Trump would have been proud of such buck-passing.

Clearly, Martin should move on…well…he should have moved on long ago. Or never moved in. Avoiding consecutive relegations would require a handbrake turn in form. And the most cynical fans’ long-time prophecy, Blues’ opening game at Fossetts Farm being reported in the Non-League Paper, remains very possible.

Martin has failed to establish a financially-competent regime. Fossetts Farm remains farcical. His managerial appointments have largely failed. His relationship with facts remains fraught. And fans who haven’t used f-words to assess his abilities…should.

Yet Southend appear stuck with him. He won’t sell. The gods alone know who would buy. And clubs better-run than Blues are now under existential threat. Southend fans may be thankful if next season, whenever it comes, is ‘only’ a groundhog season.

[Chester Perry]

Not my usual source for this thread, or even of anything at all, but this column from Jeremy Cross in the Daily Star is worthy of inclusion - came across it because Oliver Holt recommended it. I will transcribe as the web page is horrendous. Still it is a great example of the clarity that can be afforded by the tablioid discipline of the one sentence paragraph that has become the norm on social media platforms such as this.

Coronavirus proves football is ran on greed and selfishness - all we need is transparency
JEREMY CROSS COLUMN: EFL chief Rick Parry has provided clarity and understanding which the Premier League's top dogs have not been able to in the coronavirus pandemic.

ByJeremy CrossChief Sports Writer - 07:00, 10 MAY 2020

If football has achieved one thing during the coronavirus crisis it is this - our national sport has now proved what most of us all feared in the first place.

That the game is built on foundations of sand, has ethics way beyond questionable and is filled with too many people who put themselves before others.

In the past week alone we have seen a cabal of clubs in the relegation zone reject the notion of resuming games at neutral venues once the season can start again. In response, those above them have threatened to send them down if they continue to obstruct the plan.

We've had players come out and insist they fear for their safety if matches come back, while others are desperate to get out on the field again.

Club medics are divided over the merits and morals of resuming the season, some bright spark came up with the idea of having no promotion or relegation, while PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor claimed the idea of staging games of less than 90 minutes had been discussed, which was news to a host of top flight clubs.

No one can agree on if the season should be voided, decided on a points-per-game system, or continued to the bitter end - no matter how long this takes. Does football even matter when more than 30,000 people have died?

There have been calls for wage caps, some clubs have shamelessly exploited the Government's furlough scheme, players and their bosses continue to find themselves at loggerheads over salary reductions, deferrals and how much should be donated to the NHS.

Mike Ashley presses ahead with plans to flog Newcastle to the Saudis, while parachute payments to clubs relegated to the Championship have been branded 'evil'.

There is no instruction manual for football to turn to when it comes to dealing with a pandemic like this. After all, it has never happened before.

But let's not kid ourselves into thinking whatever answers might be found to the mounting problems will be based on 'integrity' in this game of poker in which no-one has the winning hand.

The word 'integrity' is being used a lot. Do me a favour. A different one has come to define the meltdown of this billion dollar industry -and it's 'greed'.

One of the seven deadly sins is now killing the game we love, with supporters being lied to and brainwashed as the battle between profit and risk knocks the morals of the sport for six.

Football should be pulling together, but continues to rip itself apart with in-fighting between self-serving administrators, executives, owners and managers who couldn't sing from the same hymn sheet if their lives depended on it.

So thank heavens for Football League chairman Rick Parry, who has provided some light amid all the darkness with a frank and honest assessment of the current plight and where the game is heading.

Parry has been one of the few in power to speak with authority and distinction. He appears to have no ego and cares not about himself, but the immediate and long-term future of the entire game.

Football needs leaders like him and the Premier League should take note ahead of tomorrow's crucial meeting to discuss a plan moving forward.
In these crazy and unprecedented times, a bit of transparency and blue sky thinking is not too much to ask.

[Chester Perry]

Amidst all this we would do well to remember that tomorrow is 35 years to the day that 56 people died in the most horrendous manner imaginable, because they went to a match at a club when the game and country at large paid scant regard to the safety and welfare of anyone who did. The Bradford fire is subject to new scrutiny. Are we beginning the long road that Hillsborough went down?

https://twitter.com/DTathletic/status/1 ... 7542945793

https://twitter.com/GabbyLogan/status/1 ... 9674351616

[Chester Perry]

It was only a matter of time and it is a surprise that it has taken so long but a Premier League club has brought the notion of B Teams back on the agenda - no mention of it being better for the England team anymore

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... d-21998675

Naturally all those who have been against it from the start are outraged

https://twitter.com/uglygame/status/1258881556690743296

Of course you have to be suspicious of the source and the timing - it is certainly distracting a few from the issue of completing the Premier League - is it part of what has been referred to as "Project Sabotage"

I said that those who have long campaigned against B Teams were outraged - This is Tom Reed on Football365.com, keeping himself contained - Football’s latest B-team plan is nothing but b*llocks

https://www.football365.com/news/b-team ... ier-league

This has got people remembering when Brighton had their own troubles not that long ago

https://twitter.com/uglygame/status/1259416109264109568

The clubs supporters trust used to run a now defunct (will they need to resurrect it?) website called Clubs in Crisis when they had their own troubles

the page on themselves - https://web.archive.org/web/20110926121 ... story.html

The homepage - https://web.archive.org/web/20111002115 ... /index.asp that showed lots of empathy for and called for solidarity between all clubs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have to say that the ClubsinCrisis website is a fantastic historical resource I had not previously been aware of - thank goodness for the web archive

[Chester Perry]

Following on from a statement published on twitter over the weekend - Lawyers for @mercan_resifi, the fiancee of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, write to the Premier League urging them to block the sale of Newcastle United - remember he went to the embassy in Turkey to pick up legal documents for the wedding.

https://twitter.com/JamesPiotr/status/1 ... 1479577600
.

@mercan_resifi has been speaking again about the prospective Saudi takeover of Newcastle in an Interview on 5 Live this morning, immediately followed by @DanRoan (BBC Sports Journalist) speaking on the issue and what the current thinking is from the Premier League - from 1:22:35 in

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000j2kr

an associated article https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52601464

[Chester Perry]

This has got people remembering when Brighton had their own troubles not that long ago

https://twitter.com/uglygame/status/1259416109264109568

The clubs supporters trust used to run a now defunct (will they need to resurrect it?) website called Clubs in Crisis when they had their own troubles

the page on themselves - https://web.archive.org/web/20110926121 ... story.html

The homepage - https://web.archive.org/web/20111002115 ... /index.asp that showed lots of empathy for and called for solidarity between all clubs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have to say that the ClubsinCrisis website is a fantastic historical resource I had not previously been aware of - thank goodness for the web archive

This particular article is particularly illustrative of how far the Brighton tune appears to have changed

https://web.archive.org/web/20111018042 ... _rich.html

with this one not far behind

https://web.archive.org/web/20111018042 ... ating.html

[Chester Perry]

quietly loving this - a football club is the heart of it's community, whatever it's size

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p075m7fh

[Chester Perry]

A thread on Adidas - a major shirt supplier with some huge deals with equally big clubs that are on pay up-front deals at ta time when they are witnessing a collapse in sales. - I think in the new normal, the kind of deal Nike have struck with Liverpool will become much more prevalent

https://twitter.com/Lu_Class_/status/12 ... 9798115329

Just to re-inforce that message Puma's quarterly profits take a sharp downturn

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/pum ... dM.twitter

no wonder many staff and stakeholder's are reportedly horrified by the proposed £100m sponsorship of Raheem Sterling

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/rah ... ester-city

[Chester Perry]

We all know that Shirt sponsorship is a provider of much need and welcome income for Football clubs, we also lament at some of the choices clubs have to take and how (in the opinion of many die hards) the logo's deface the shirt. Yet is unlikely to stop, when at our own club the revenue it brings is greater than a season of Matchday Income. So what makes a relatively unknown brand from far shores spend vast fortunes on shirt sponsorship.

Here the European Head Business Development and Innovation for Rakuten talks in detail about why his company tied itself to a mega deal with Barcelona - Text and video

https://johancruyffinstitute.com/en/blo ... ialnetwork

[Chester Perry]

This may be of interest to some of you - A webinar - The Football Business: Current issues in Finance, Transfers and Contracts. @FootballLaw & ⁦
@KieranMaguire - on May 20th. will run from 6 pm to 7:30 pm- it is free to watch but you must register in advance

https://twitter.com/FootballLaw/status/ ... 9267957760

[Chester Perry]

The professional game is under a lot of financial pressure at the moment and there are fears that in the lower tiers it may struggle to survive in the form we have become accustomed too. I have yet to fully comprehend the implications but news of this defeat for HMRC - part-time referees are not now being to be classed as de facto employees of PGMOL - could prevent significant increase in match cost, that would have arisen in HMRC won.

https://twitter.com/JasonBraier/status/ ... 8327344130

[Chester Perry]

@FootballLaw with some ideas on how to help the lower leagues - not convinced by any (and not thinking that existing TV deals, would have diminished value is ludicrous) but happy to open up to the floor

Football’s Financial Crisis: Three Ideas to Help Lower League Clubs
By Daniel Geey and Jonny Madill

EFL Chairman Rick Parry has explained that without serious intervention, lower league clubs face a £200m funding blackhole come September 2020. When providing information to the Digital Culture, Media and Sport committee, Parry was clear that systemic change is needed to ensure EFL club finances are future proofed – whether through tighter cost controls, sustainability tests or more robust financial practices generally.

The Context
The reasons for the concerns around the financial sustainability of clubs have been well documented in recent weeks: significant lower league reliance on gate receipts and matchday revenue; high wage to revenue ratios; loss of other income streams including sponsorship and hospitality; and the fact that the restart of the league season will mean clubs will no longer be able to rely on the ‘furlough’ scheme as a means of off-setting the wage bills of players and other staff.

With the above in mind, below are three examples of how the EPL, if the current 2019/20 season can be restarted and concluded, could provide additional solidarity assistance in order to help protect lower league clubs and avert the potential crisis.

1. TV Monies for this Season and Next
In the event that the current EPL season does restart, games will in all likelihood be played behind closed doors for an extended period of time. It is not inconceivable that this could continue deep into next season (2020/21). With that in mind and because not every game is televised live in the UK (due in part to the 3pm blackout rule), the EPL has the opportunity to sell the remaining TV games to the incumbent broadcasters.

The current season (2019/20)
With 92 games still to play in the current EPL season, and 47 being shown live (Sky having the UK rights to 39 and BT to 8), there are 45 games that could presumably be offered to Sky, BT, Amazon or others. With the current ‘cost-per-game’ approximately £9m for Sky and £6m for BT, even at a heavy discount, part of those monies could be distributed to a central solidarity pot. If 45 additional games were to be screened at circa £2m per game (accounting for a deflated rights market), an additional £90m could – on the face of it – be made available for the EPL to distribute.

Next season (2020/21)
Similarly, with Sky, BT and Amazon having the rights to broadcast 180 EPL games in the UK next season, should all 2020/21 games be played behind closed doors, this would result in an additional 200 games available to broadcast. The prospect of 200 games at £2m a game potentially provides £400m worth of additional revenue for the league to distribute.

The above would be in addition to the potential additional broadcasting revenues that the EFL could commercialise through selling the allotted 3pm games that previously were prohibited from being shown (due to the blackout period) to its incumbent broadcasters.

Gary Neville had previously suggested on Sky Sports that the EPL should forward finance a proportion of future TV monies to assist the lower leagues. Even if that came by way of a loan from the EPL that the EFL could pay back out of its central funds, this would no doubt be of assistance to cushion the significant financial blow.

2. EFL Draft
Once the transfer market re-opens (and on the basis that clubs have funds to spend), one requirement could be for EPL teams to commit to spending a minimum transfer amount of, say, £5m per season over say a two-season period. A large percentage of the transfer proceeds would go to the selling club with a small percentage distributed across the lower leagues according to a designed, weighted formula. Sell-on clauses could be built in too, so that a league solidarity pot potentially benefits from a subsequent transfer.

3. Taxing Transfers
In contrast to the draft, which would no doubt be a complicated practical and regulatory proposal, a more straightforward mechanism would be to mandate that a % of any transfer fee paid by an EPL club is collected in a central league solidarity pool to be distributed across the football pyramid. This type of redistribution already occurs within the FIFA transfer system by way of solidarity payments and training compensation and in, for example, the EPL through a 4% transfer levy. A transfer tax of, say, 1% could be agreed for players being bought by EPL clubs that could be pooled accordingly and distributed.

Conditions
The suggested funding streams outlined above would ideally be contingent on clubs showing evidence of financial discipline, including:
having in place sensible and robust business plans;

- the provision of future financial club information and attainable budget forecasts; and
- adherence to particular ratios in relation to debt and wage parameters.

Concluding thoughts
There are no obvious or easy solutions to the unprecedented challenges facing the current game, in particular the potentially devastating financial impact on EFL and lower league clubs (as well as clubs in similar leagues across the UK, Ireland and across the globe) as a result of the ongoing disruption to competitions.

There will inevitably be practical, legal and commercial barriers to overcome when exploring the above three ‘ideas’ in more detail. That said, there is an opportunity to think creatively here – as a means of sourcing and raising additional funds which can be distributed across the football family.

[IanMcL]

It should be acceptable for teams not to play their final matches, in the Prem.

They will, of course forfeit the points to their would be opponents. They will also forfeit the TV funding.

It would clear up the relegation places and leave a fight for Europe.

[Chester Perry]

It should be acceptable for teams not to play their final matches, in the Prem.

They will, of course forfeit the points to their would be opponents. They will also forfeit the TV funding.

It would clear up the relegation places and leave a fight for Europe.

It is quite possible that may happen, @AndyhHolt has openly spoken of doing that a number of times recently should the EFL force a restart behind closed doors without funding the losses. Of course the losses to his club are substantially different to a Premier League club, he knows his club will be there on the other side should relegation/administration be forced on them (and the clubs fans are with him whatever the scenario is played out).

The losses for Brighton, Bournemouth and Villa on relegation are potentially huge - not catastrophic but huge, more interestingly should administration be required to help them deal with potentially very strict EFL financial rules that may be enforced from next season, the losses are primarily to themselves so the self interest is magnified, why write off debts/shareholding if you don't have too. Their wealth is not football related (though Tony Bloom's is sports statistics/analytics based)

West Ham are largely owned by Sullivan and Gold, whatever you think of them, they are quite astute at making money, you would say that their core businesses are unlikely to die and some of their online offerings have probably seen substantial growth in the lockdown. They would not be keen on administration as it would simply devalue the loans they have given the club and take away the interest they receive on them. For the club who spent £175m+ in transfers in the last 2 summers and posted wages approaching £140m, Directors statements in their own accounts suggest relegation would be a financial disaster, and it would lead to a significant sell off, though few would retain the value at which they were brought in at - and Declan Rice would struggle to bring the reported £70m they want in the new reality.

The wealth Watford's owners is entirely football orientated after they ditched all other business holdings to focus on football some years ago, they would really struggle with relegation and that is why they are on their 3rd manager this season.

Norwich started the season fully aware of the risk/likelihood of relegation and prepared accordingly, I would have thought that they would be more interested in minimising any revenue losses, particularly as they have already begun committing themselves to incoming transfers, albeit at minimal cost and championship wages.

[Chester Perry]

Some unusual financial activity at Sunderland - not illegal but it appears to be scaring off potential buyers

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sport ... ounts.html

I posted about the loan last year

Sunderland blog - Wise Men Say - on the depressing news that broke this weekend - and puts it into the overall context of the Steward Donald takeover - it's like that documentary series "Sunderland till I die" didn't do enough damage to their credibility - "The truth will out"

http://wisemensay.co.uk/the-truth-will-out/

[Chester Perry]

A hint of normality, @SwissRamble has a delve into the Financial results of West Brom - who had just completed their first season back in the Championship

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 0629260288

[Chester Perry]

The vultures are at the door

CFG who are still being linked heavily with French club Nancy

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/man ... oronavirus

are now said to be wanting to take over Belgian club Lommel SK

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52589283

CFG covering all their bases post Brexit here - bring in the talent from overseas - develop then send to their bigger clubs - the need a Portuguese one to bring in those south American players then they look set

FIFA/UEFA really need to put a stop to this

The vultures are at the door - It has been confirmed that CFG now have added Lommel SK as the 9th club in the stable

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... eir-stable

[Chester Perry]

We have seen a number of legal articles about Player contracts impacted by the Pandemic - this is slightly different, Agents discuss what they are actually having to deal with on the subject now - from football Agent Education - Being a Football Agent: Inside the Business - EP.6 'The Impact of Covid-19 on Player Contracts'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkAyRLZNn0c

[Royboyclaret]

A hint of normality, @SwissRamble has a delve into the Financial results of West Brom - who had just completed their first season back in the Championship

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 0629260288

Never easy to manage the financial aspects of a club in the season following relegation from the PL, but West Brom seem to have made a decent fist of things. Sensible relegation clauses in player contracts have ensured the Wage bill has almost halved from £92m to £47m and the Wage/Turnover at 66% is realistic enough. Look to be on their way back to the PL if this season is ever concluded.

Did they sell Jay Rod to us during that financial year?.....Also interesting to see again the chart of Distribution of Broadcast Income for the year and Burnley still there with a figure of £107.3m. Still bugs me that the figure became £115m by the time it hit our Profit and Loss account.

[Chester Perry]

Never easy to manage the financial aspects of a club in the season following relegation from the PL, but West Brom seem to have made a decent fist of things. Sensible relegation clauses in player contracts have ensured the Wage bill has almost halved from £92m to £47m and the Wage/Turnover at 66% is realistic enough. Look to be on their way back to the PL if this season is ever concluded.

Did they sell Jay Rod to us during that financial year?.....Also interesting to see again the chart of Distribution of Broadcast Income for the year and Burnley still there with a figure of £107.3m. Still bugs me that the figure became £115m by the time it hit our Profit and Loss account.

Jay was sold in this financial year part of the £36m in overall sales referred to by @SwissRamble

I am no closer to figuring out the TV money figure either - it is all very strange as you suggest

[Chester Perry]

In a move that shows how quickly the world is changing. and how some organisations are consolidating and while others expanding and grasping at new opportunities, It has been announced that Watford will replace Adidas with Chinese brand Kelme for it's kit in a new 4 year deal worth £10m, more than tripling the value of it's outgoing one.

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/wat ... eal-adidas

[Chester Perry]

The vultures are at the door - It has been confirmed that CFG now have added Lommel SK as the 9th club in the stable

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... eir-stable

Which makes this webinar on Wednesday particularly timely - Business, politics, entertainment and beyond – what City Football Group tells us about elite professional sport in the 21st century

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 0029521922

[Chester Perry]

Simon Chadwick points to more stringent financial cutbacks in Saudi Arabia

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 0364570627

as I have posted before - in this light it is a little difficult to understand the Newcastle bid - which seems to be taking a very long time to get approved

[Chester Perry]

Comcast who bought SKY not so long ago are feeling the pinch - Revenues down significantly in Q1 and warnings about Q2

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/30/comcast ... r=sharebar

This is significant because the Premier League are hoping that Sky will pay them the outstanding £350m for this season, even if it does not complete (BT just have £50m outstanding)

SKY themselves have reported a Q1 reduction across Europe and are talking about a reset in revenue rights

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/sky- ... contracts/

This is interesting and potentially bad news for the Premier League from SportsBusines.com

Serie A fees stop
Kevin McCullagh - May 11, 2020

Pay-television broadcaster Sky, OTT operator DAZN, and the IMG agency have not paid their instalments due for Serie A’s 2019-20 domestic media rights, it has been reported.

The instalments are thought to total €220m ($239m) but the companies are said to have held off on meeting them due to the ongoing shutdown of the league because of Covid-19.

Sky Italia, DAZN and IMG were due to make their latest rights fee instalment payments on May 1 as part of their deals running from 2018-19 to 2020-21.

Domestic live rights to Serie A games are held by Sky and DAZN in deals worth €973m per season. IMG’s deal is worth just over €380m per season for international broadcast rights, club archive rights, betting rights, a marketing spend and fee for access to the broadcast signal.

All three have been looking for a deferral on any rights fee payment given the current suspension of the league and no visibility on when – or if – the 2019-20 season will resume.

Sky has written a letter to the clubs and the league to reiterate that it will not pay the sixth and final fee instalment and has bemoaned the fact that no counter proposals have been suggested, according to the Gazzetta dello Sport.

International pay-television broadcaster beIN Media Group, which holds the exclusive Serie A rights in 36 territories, has been moving closer to terminating its Serie A rights agreement with IMG, as recently reported by SportBusiness. BeIN is currently in the second season of a three-season deal, paying $170m (€157m) per season. The deal includes France, Spain, Australia, Turkey, seven Asian territories and a further 24 in the Middle East and North Africa.

On May 1, the Serie A clubs reiterated their desire to finish the 2019-20 season at a league assembly meeting.

[Royboyclaret]

Simon Chadwick points to more stringent financial cutbacks in Saudi Arabia

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 0364570627

as I have posted before - in this light it is a little difficult to understand the Newcastle bid - which seems to be taking a very long time to get approved

Be somewhat ironic if the bid for Newcastle (or Marseille for that matter) was approved in the next few days, only for a representative of the highest order of government in Riyadh to pull the plug on sports activity spending.

Will be the last straw for some Geordies.

[Chester Perry]

this however is better news for the Premier League as it prepares to open up the TV rights bids for the next cycle - A major Austrailian pay tv provider (and current Premier League rights holder) confirms that it's only sports offering will be football - from Sports Business

Rugby Australia dealt blow as Optus focuses on football
SportBusiness Staff - May 11, 2020

Embattled Rugby Australia has been dealt a fresh blow after telecoms operator Optus said it won’t be bidding for the sport’s domestic broadcast rights.

In March, Optus was considered to be the leading candidate to acquire pay-television rights in Rugby Australia’s invitation to tender process, and had reportedly begun to seek out production companies.

The national governing body issued its media-rights tender in the middle of February, seeking partners for the period spanning 2021 to 2025. However, Rugby Australia later suspended talks as then chief executive Raelene Castle conceded that it may need to approach the government for financial assistance during the Covid-19 crisis.

Optus director of sport Rich Bayliss has now said the company will not be bidding, rejecting talk it had been close to securing rights prior to the suspension of the process.

Bayliss told Australian radio show Big Sports Breakfast: “It’s hard to almost look at that now given what’s happened in rugby since, I think the speculation was out there but to be honest we weren’t particularly close, nor was it going to happen given Covid.

“Once that popped up all bets were off. To be honest we were focusing on football, that’s been our number one sport – our only sport – for the last couple of years. And whilst we’d like to go into different sports at some point, I don’t think it was particularly close.

“Once Covid came along as well it meant we had to bunker down and focus on our subscribers and keeping people employed for a start, and who knows what will happen in the future but certainly in the short term there’s not much chance of us adding any major Australian rights.”

Optus has positioned itself as the leader in football coverage in Australia. Earlier this year, it secured rights to follow Australia’s progress at its maiden Copa America campaign. It also has rights for the English Premier League in the 2019-22 cycle, the Uefa Champions League and Europa League in the 2018-21 cycle and the Uefa Euro 2020 championship (now rescheduled to 2021). A three-season J.League rights deal was announced in February, following on from a deal for rights to the FA Women’s Super League.

Rugby Australia’s current five-year rights agreement with pay-television operator Foxtel runs from 2016 to 2020 and is worth a total of A$285m (€171.7m/$186m). Reports that Foxtel had not signed Rugby Australia’s non-disclosure agreements raised serious doubts over whether it would submit an offer as relationships with the Rugby Australia leadership team headed by Castle appeared to sour.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that Fox Sports has not changed its stance, despite the recent departure of Castle, adding that its main focus is on securing longer deals with rugby league competition the NRL and Aussie rules football league the AFL.

Foxtel was unable to negotiate an agreement with Rugby Australia during an exclusive negotiation period. It is reported to have lodged a bid of A$40m per year during that process. Pay-television’s Fox Sports broadcast the inaugural Super 12 season in 1996 and has backed Australian rugby ever since.

Former Rugby Australia chief operating officer Rob Clarke was last week appointed interim chief executive, after Castle resigned last month at the instigation of the governing body’s board after nearly two-and-a-half years in the position.