Football's Magic Money Tree

[CoolClaret]

Any intel on Schalke?

Talks of them maybe having to start again if they get relegated due to some licence that they would need to play in the third tier - their current levels of debt wouldn't be allowed (something like that)

If this happened to Schalke - man, it can happen to anyone. An absolutely ginormous club - be a massive indictment on the current state of the craziness that is finance in football

[Chester Perry]

Any intel on Schalke?

Talks of them maybe having to start again if they get relegated due to some licence that they would need to play in the third tier - their current levels of debt wouldn't be allowed (something like that)

If this happened to Schalke - man, it can happen to anyone. An absolutely ginormous club - be a massive indictment on the current state of the craziness that is finance in football

All stems from before Covid and then Covid took it to an entirely new level - as you say they are a massive club within Germany. Then they lost their biggest sponsor - Gazprom - when Russia illegally invaded the Ukraine, a real self inflicted mess overall.

the news you are talking of has emanated from this report on German Sky
https://sport.sky.de/fussball/artikel/s ... 9445/34942 Which roughly translates as follows (courtesy of Google)

Situation at FC Schalke 04 is threatening - it's about existence
'Cause they don't know what they're doing

Robert Gherda

31.01.2024 | 09:59 a.m.

Four goals separate S04 from a direct relegation place in the 2nd Bundesliga. The situation is more than serious, but parts of the team do not yet seem to have understood that the club's existence is at stake. The coach also has a duty. An annotating analysis.

FC Schalke 04 proved once again at Betzenberg that they are the perfect build-up opponent. 1. FC Kaiserslautern had lost all of their last seven games in the 2nd Bundesliga, but celebrated a clear 4-1 victory against the miners on Friday evening and moved past the Royal Blues in the table.

As if the sometimes embarrassing debacle against former coach Dimitrios Grammozis wasn't bad enough, further low blows followed in the course of the matchday. Hansa Rostock won in injury time against Elversberg on Saturday and on Sunday Braunschweig scored their fourth three-pointer in a row against Magdeburg.

Close race against relegation
The three clubs are now tied on points with 20 points in 15th, 16th and 17th place, Schalke is only listed ahead of the competition thanks to the marginally better goal difference. Nevertheless, one could not get rid of the impression during the guest appearance in the Palatinate that numerous players did not understand the seriousness of the situation. True to the motto: They don't know what they're doing.

After an inconclusive first half, there was a brief glimmer of hope after the break when substitute Darko Churlinov equalised with Schalke's first chance, but three Lauterer goals within just eleven minutes caused the second defeat of the year. A week earlier, Schalke had already lost 2-0 at home to Hamburger SV.

No license for 3rd division
In contrast to the defeat against HSV, the team simply endured the slap at FCK. No rebelling, no interfering, no cheering each other on, nothing. It's a phenomenon that this completely mismatched team had revealed several times this season, but after a really good pre-season, it seemed that a team had emerged. This was a fatal fallacy and now coach Karel Geraerts must act accordingly. In the past, the coach repeatedly chose pithy words, but too rarely drew personnel consequences.

This has to stop. Players who are obviously not very interested in the fate of the club, or for whom the proud Schalke jersey is too heavy, have to be kicked out of the first eleven, because: Schalke would not survive a relegation.

According to Sky information, an S04 license for the 3rd league is basically excluded. A possible relegation would therefore have consequences that are not yet foreseeable, but one thing is clear: The club, as it currently exists, would be dead in the horror scenario. For many players, on the other hand, relegation would not be a big problem, because at least the higher-earning Schalke professionals would certainly find a new club again.

It's a matter of survival
There's no question about it: More mistakes have been made in and around Schalke in recent months and years than can be listed, but that doesn't matter in the current situation. It is now a matter of finding the players who can shoulder the immense load and perform on the pitch. It's no longer about building market values or giving young players playing time. It's all about the sheer survival of one of Germany's biggest football clubs.

Next Saturday, there will be far more than three points at stake against Braunschweig. Geraerts has to bring a team onto the pitch that will win back the respect of the fans and show that there is still life in the squad. It is considered documented that S04 icon Ralf Fährmann will not be one of them. The oldie has been too inconsistent so far and has not been able to build on his performances from the last second half of the season in the Bundesliga.

Ferryman probably on the bench - and what else?
Fährmann recently had a bad day at FCK and will now probably make way for Marius Müller, who was one of the best goalkeepers in the league in the first half of the season until his injury. Müller is certainly someone who can inspire teammates with his emotional nature, but he alone will not be enough. Even people like Dominick Drexler or Churlinov have to be on the pitch from the start.

Defensively, new sporting director Marc Wilmots should sign a new right-back if possible. It is conceivable that Derry-John Murkin will slide into central defence in order to have more speed in the position. On the left, Thomas Ouwejan could rotate back into the team due to his strong set-pieces. Drexler would be a candidate for the ten, which would allow Kenan Karaman to slide into attack alongside Simon Terodde.

Whatever Geraerts decides: If you become a build-up opponent again, the coach is also likely to get into trouble, because individual fates can no longer be taken into account.

[Chester Perry]

Kieran Maguire has been raising the issue of outstanding transfer debt for a few years now and is at it again as he calculates that for the 20 Premier League teams it has now surpassed £2bn - which sounds a lot but he is looking at old data - not everyone has published their accounts for last year yet (and we will probably be among the very last to do so), last summer was another record breaking transfer window for spend in the Premier League (and a record shattering one for Burnley too). It is not unfeasible to imagine that our club (given its finance bro ownership origins) is playing this game at previously unimaginable levels too (though that brings into question the need for borrowing and factoring the way we did last summer).

This article from The Times focuses on that outstanding total from the Premier League but actually reveals some very specific information about the next iteration of FFP for the Premier league (largely based around squad cost measures and ratios), of particular interest is the liquidity testing and sizeable working capital requirement

‘Buy now, pay later’ deals leave Premier League clubs owing £2bn
With Arsenal, Chelsea, Man United and Tottenham needing to pay off more than than £200m in fees, debts from previous signings have led to a quiet January window
https://archive.ph/iok0J

[Chester Perry]

It is something I have been saying for years , but I have never seen it as clearly argued as here by Jason Stockwood in his Guardian Column. Football is very definitely not like any other business

Running a football club has shown me the sport is a rule unto itself
From having no ‘profit motive’ as a primary objective to the practice of buying and selling players, different norms apply
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... nto-itself
https://archive.ph/3hsQd

[Chester Perry]

Kieran Maguire has been raising the issue of outstanding transfer debt for a few years now and is at it again as he calculates that for the 20 Premier League teams it has now surpassed £2bn - which sounds a lot but he is looking at old data - not everyone has published their accounts for last year yet (and we will probably be among the very last to do so), last summer was another record breaking transfer window for spend in the Premier League (and a record shattering one for Burnley too). It is not unfeasible to imagine that our club (given its finance bro ownership origins) is playing this game at previously unimaginable levels too (though that brings into question the need for borrowing and factoring the way we did last summer).

This article from The Times focuses on that outstanding total from the Premier League but actually reveals some very specific information about the next iteration of FFP for the Premier league (largely based around squad cost measures and ratios), of particular interest is the liquidity testing and sizeable working capital requirement

‘Buy now, pay later’ deals leave Premier League clubs owing £2bn
With Arsenal, Chelsea, Man United and Tottenham needing to pay off more than than £200m in fees, debts from previous signings have led to a quiet January window
https://archive.ph/iok0J

With so much focus on transfer spending and the current lack of it we have this from the Athletic looking at how the summer window will have effectively two deadlines, the actual window deadline and the year end deadline for PSR (FFP). this has been apparent for a few years now, but has been brought into stark spotlight by the cases against Everton and Nottingham Forest, the final out of which may see some real bargains to be had in the last weeks of June, for any club that has the financial capability and has not just thought about the now, i.e. ones that have a strategic plan and adhere to it.

Is it possible that Burnley may find themselves in a better position because of their July 31 year end, most buying clubs will have more financial headroom, but it is hard to say given that the situation is public information. More interesting is the situation for those clubs with a May 31 year end. The situation for them is unaltered, they have always had to have their business sorted by the end of the January window

What Europe’s leading clubs will need to do in the summer of two transfer deadlines
https://archive.ph/HyPL7

[bfc8]

It is something I have been saying for years , but I have never seen it as clearly argued as here by Jason Stockwood in his Guardian Column. Football is very definitely not like any other business

Running a football club has shown me the sport is a rule unto itself
From having no ‘profit motive’ as a primary objective to the practice of buying and selling players, different norms apply
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... nto-itself
https://archive.ph/3hsQd

Interesting piece. However think he may be wrong about selling player contracts without their agreement. Think a player can hold a club to his contract and only leaves if he wants to.

[Chester Perry]

apparently 777 Partners are still putting in money at Everton according to Alan Myers of Sky Sports News

https://www.skysports.com/football/live ... eblog-body

777 Partners - Everton.jpg

I am unsure of the veracity of this report, however the underlying stipulation for extra monies would seem to a bearing as a coercive type of move, effectively trying to force the Premier League into a positive view on the takeover

from NYBreaking.com

Everton’s prospective owners 777Partners will lend Toffees another £30m… despite vowing to stop funding the club unless the Premier League approved their takeover
https://nybreaking.com/evertons-prospec ... -takeover/
https://archive.ph/Ei9fA

[Chester Perry]

as the 2024 January Transfer window draws to a close with restraint being the polite watchword (terror being the probable cause). Martin Zeigler breaks ranks with most of the reporting from his publication and outlines in detail why the excesses of Everton and Nottingham Forest has resulted in the charges that they now face

from The Times

How Everton and Nottingham Forest broke profit and sustainability rules
From unheeded warning signs to overspending on transfers, a combination of factors brought about the clubs’ breaching of Premier League regulations
https://archive.ph/gHgnz

[Chester Perry]

Sometimes you think that FIFA president Gianni Infantino comes up with these ideas because the worlds media haven't been focused on him or his dominion - this idea like many of his has a surface level of rationality, but carries with it a lot of issues. Is pricing to be universal across all football markets, a few leagues are much more mature and wealthy than the rest, but a significant reduction in player values to enable total global movement (Infantino is always looking for ways to bring Europe down to the rest of the world) would have a huge short to medium term impact on the European clubs that have invested heavily. then there is the fact that the European club could just accelerate wage growth.

as for transparency - just create a rule that transfer fees (conditional and unconditional) are published along with agent fees along with all related taxes and levies (of which their can be many)

from The Telegraph

Fifa open to setting transfer fees by algorithm
Gianni Infantino cites transparency in the market as one of the factors to push for Fifa-approved transfer fees
https://archive.ph/nciWC

[Chester Perry]

speaking of a desperate need to be in the spotlight and a desperation to find additional revenue streams I give you Joan Laporta - read what he is quoted as saying and it sounds more like an invitation than the clubs having signed up - there are also hurdles in the new (pre-judgement, but judgement aligned) UEFA rules to overcome.

Barcelona president claims European Super League could run next season
Joan Laporta names 15 clubs he believes are willing to join
‘Whether or not the English come, I don’t care,’ he said
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... ext-season
https://archive.ph/ZjxGO

[Chester Perry]

Miguel Delaney with a lament about football's fixation on money and the public demand for transfer activity feuled by the media industry about it argues for more stringent rules on finances which already see very strong correlations between monies spent on wages and competition outcomes.

from The Independent

Dull January transfer window was the perfect therapy for football’s spending addiction
Senior figures at Premier League clubs have been complaining about the financial constraints of the Profit and Sustainability rules, but football needs to start being more prudent
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foo ... 89165.html
https://archive.ph/ztD82

[Chester Perry]

So this, from the German Cartel Office, is an interesting move that is going to be watched closely by the other major European Leagues - am i mistaken in thinking the multi broadcaster issue for domestic football deals was an EU directive/judgement?

from SportsBusiness.com

No single-buyer rule axed as DFL details seven live packages
https://archive.ph/bzpul

[bfc8]

^^^^
As I recall, yes.

[Chester Perry]

Martin Calladine (better known to this thread as @UglyGame) has compiled all his investigations into Crypto and its relationship with football into a newly released book - No Questions Asked: When football met Crypto. Here another favourite The Unofficial Partner Podcast talk to him about the book/

UP368 No Questions Asked: When football met crypto
https://www.unofficialpartner.com/podca ... met-crypto

the blurb

This is the story of when football met the crypto boom.

Spoiler: it took the money, no questions asked.

After that, everything that happened was inevitable.

Martin Calladine's new book looks at how some of the most famous clubs in the world indulged in misleading marketing, grotesque failures of due diligence, unethically monetising fan relations and failed to take responsibility for the damage their new crypto partners did.

As the energy around DeFi picks up again, we ask what the sports business can and should do to avoid a repeat.

I would love to know what Martin Calladine makes of this, Elon insists on making it almost impossible - ahem! suitably times research paper on Fan Token use - which seems very limited in sample numbers and (even the authors admit this) how they were source - Socios have been making hay with it in the media and while the authors make no declaration if potential conflicts of interest, it would be interesting to find out how the work was funded, and indeed why this research paper is free to access, when the huge majority are not. Note even these researchers recognise a significant number or purchasing for 'investment reasons' even in though the operators always argue this is not their purpose.

Incidently Calladine has been talking to The Price of Football Podcast about his book
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i ... 0643882381)

Football Fan Tokens as a mode of “serious leisure”: unveiling the dual essence of identity and investment
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10 ... ccess=true

[bfc8]

^^^^
As I recall, yes.

to clarify, yes think was an eu directive.

[Chester Perry]

The unease at Ceferin's plans to redefine his own rule has been bubbling under for a few months now, with the vote just weeks away the dissent is now being heard clearly

from the Telegraph

Uefa turmoil deepens after director of football resigns over Aleksander Ceferin's bid to stay in power
Zvonimir Boban has resigned as Uefa’s chief of football as the row over term limits and Ceferin's position intensifies
https://archive.ph/72Uf4

from The Guardian

Zvonimir Boban quits as Uefa football chief in protest at ‘fatal’ Ceferin plans
Ceferin may change statutes on how long president can serve
Former Croatia international ‘not pretending to be a hero’
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... ns-protest
https://archive.ph/Y6bLD

from The Independent

The ‘mutiny’ and key resignation behind Uefa’s pending civil war
Former Milan star Zvonimir Boban has resigned from his position as chief of football to, as Miguel Delaney argues, leave president Aleksander Ceferin exposed to a challenge of power, which could shift the trajectory of the sport’s future
https://archive.ph/ESa9z

from The Athletic

Zvonimir Boban resigns as UEFA chief in protest over Aleksander Ceferin’s plan to extend his presidency

from The Times

Uefa in crisis as Boban quits over Ceferin’s bid to extend term limits
European football’s president wants to extend term limits to allow him and other officials three more years in power — going back on rules he created
https://archive.ph/Ks8o0
https://archive.ph/uz2Qg

Tariq Panja on the plague that is affecting governance in the worlds most popular sports

from The New York Times

They Run the World’s Biggest Sports, and They Don’t Want to Leave
A proposal that would weaken term limits at European soccer’s governing body has insiders and governance officials worried that sports’ power brokers are forgetting why the rules exist.
https://archive.ph/QjwaL

[Chester Perry]

Matt Slater takes a deep dive into the reasons behind the slow and quiet January Transfer Window - the only thing I have not seen any use as a factor is that the Premier League is exactly in mid broadcast deal cycle and as such a tightening of belts is normal after committing the monies still to be earned.

from The Athletic

Blaming FFP for not being able to spend big on transfers misses the point
https://archive.ph/uGMId

[Chester Perry]

Meanwhile Joey D'Urso looks at how FFP has changed the nature of transfer business - not always for the best, as Matt Slater highlighted above in a growing number of cases Academy's rather than being talent factories for their clubs have become revenue generators that allow the acquisition of talent, is it a new low for the game or is it a recognition of the fact that to be at the highest levels were the quality, capability and availability of such players is so scarce that the traditional methods of revenue generation don't add up enough to make such acquisitions possible. I suspect it is a self perpetuating monster where young men (and it is already entering the women's game too) are being treated as commodities with the backing of fan base.

Of course we still have spending on the 'never, never' where clubs like ours have already factored both player sales and Premier League broadcast revenues together with a number of loan-to-buy signings possibly with a number of low or zero up front payments on other incoming transfer deals and not forgetting extending deals to massage the amortisation impacts.

from The Athletic

Academy fire sales, loans with obligations… – five new types of transfer inspired by FFP
https://archive.ph/eqrY0

[bfc8]

Think ffp will need to be modified. Saw a suggestion of a numbers limit on pro players per club and another look at scale of loans in and out.

[Chester Perry]

the seemingly endless stories about 777 Partners and its principal Joss Wander (who admits in one court deposition that ' I get sued a lot') published by Josimar Football continues - this is yet another new lawsuit - this time over unpaid wages and bonuses for a former employee. the testimony of that employee, would in normal circumstances severely damage the reputation of an individual in Wander's position and his business, here the reader just wearily recognises the pattern of everything we have heard previously being repeated.

Another point that the article raises is the number of people that have jumped from the 777 Partners ship of late, which is was something I had been thinking about posting myself in the last week.

See you in court
The latest of several lawsuits filed against 777 Partners makes startling new claims about their business model, and a claim for damages sheds new light on managing partner Josh Wander at a time when the Miami firm is losing key personnel and facing a widened investigation into its finances.
https://web.archive.org/web/20240202173 ... -in-court/

[bfc8]

Maybe Everton stay at Goodison and an nfl franchise take over the new stadium !

[Chester Perry]

Maybe Everton stay at Goodison and an nfl franchise take over the new stadium !

I currently have visions of Liverpool's women's and under 21 teams taking over the stadium at Bramley Moore Dock

[Chester Perry]

Think ffp will need to be modified. Saw a suggestion of a numbers limit on pro players per club and another look at scale of loans in and out.

There is the expectation that PSR is going to move to a squad cost formula for next season, in line with with UEFA rules but with higher thresholds.

I would certainly argue that if Academies are going to be used as profit centres for the purposes of FFP , as they very clearly have at Chelsea, Manchester City and more recently Aston Villa, then there should be an element of cost at the Academies that should also fall within FFP, particularly when some clubs are paying 7 or even 8 figures to recruit academy players in the first place.

It is obviously a very complex business defining the criteria for such inclusion, and it could be gamed by clubs seeking an advantage. The number of loans allowed is dropping under FIFA rules that are being phased in and yes the next obvious solution is to look at squad limits, though the multi-club operations seem ready to game any such rule too. that last issue will also see certain owners push harder for B-teams that are a feature on the continent and even in Scotland now.

[bfc8]

^^^^
There's no going back from financial etc rules now and suspect they will need constant review. Clubs have to provide the PL with financial info but can't be right that bfc have wriggled out of publishing their accounts for so long, that ought to change. A bit of a kick in the teeth to supporters I think, they still contribute quite a lot of the money one way or another...

[bfcjg]

Reading the latest article re 777 Everton really are getting very close to being up sh1t creek without a paddle.

[Chester Perry]

^^^^
There's no going back from financial etc rules now and suspect they will need constant review. Clubs have to provide the PL with financial info but can't be right that bfc have wriggled out of publishing their accounts for so long, that ought to change. A bit of a kick in the teeth to supporters I think, they still contribute quite a lot of the money one way or another...

this is the conundrum - for some reason the Premier League (and indeed the EFL) do not count Kettering Capital (named after the hometown of the then long serving manager of our club) and Calder Vale Holdings (named after the location of the clubs first home matches) as being part of the group of Burnley FC. It has been clear and apparent to most observers that these two entities serve no other purpose than their direct involvement with the club, more apparent as they were the vehicles to receive loans from the club (including the flush through of the MSD loan), which provided significant funds in enabling the takeover, including the initial payment.

Now of course it appears (though it is still far from certain) that we are heading towards a dissolution of Kettering Capital and Calder Vale Holdings in favour of Velocity Capital (UK) Holdings, an entity that has had it's official registered address forcibly changed to being at Companies House in Cardiff as of one month ago today. All this, still, without any apparent interest from the media, the games authorities or concern from the directors of said entities (they being Alan Pace, Stuart Hunt and Michael Smith in all cases).

Why is this?, we don't know for sure, the rulebook is of little help being so vague as to what constitutes 'the group' around the football club and if it should even report on it

Premier League - Annual Accounss.png (135.27 KiB) Viewed 3010 times

Ptemier Leagru - group accounts.png (46.19 KiB) Viewed 3010 times

though it si probably in the Companies Act 2006 that the full distinction applies

Cp,panies Act 2006 Group Accounts explanatory notes.png (327 Bytes) Viewed 3010 times

What we are probably seeing is a loophole in the rulebook, the Premier League and the EFL or the new Independent Regulator for Football should be closing.

[bfc8]

^^^^
mea culpa, missed the bfc accounts to 31/7/2022 published 5/2023, so just the ones to 31/7/2023 outstanding.
The debtor to bfc went up slightly to £114m but the loans came down a bit with a yearly profit made.
There was still a lot of debt around then, that was 18 months ago now, would be good to know the up to date position !

[Chester Perry]

You see articles and think that they may be informative and interesting for a wider base than normal, then you look at the subject matter that you know and think 'oh dear' and start to question everything else about the article. how can the BBC publish details about our club and not verify that things have moved on since December 2020? in our case twice. there is also no discussion of the ownership model or how it was funded, so how can they tell us what it means - which they do not do , though that is what they say they will do in the title

Premier League: Who owns your club and what does it mean?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67497377

[Chester Perry]

this comes as no surprise given the previous threat from Manchester City (they have been following through with procedural challenges in the courts and being uncooperative with record sharing), the long running situation at Chelsea where new owners are trying to offload as much as possible on the embargoed previous owner as well as the hubris at both Everton and Nottingham Forest.

from The Athletic

Premier League recruits extra legal help due to volume of ongoing cases
https://archive.ph/3J1bG

[Chester Perry]

Martin Calladine (better known to this thread as @UglyGame) has compiled all his investigations into Crypto and its relationship with football into a newly released book - No Questions Asked: When football met Crypto. Here another favourite The Unofficial Partner Podcast talk to him about the book/

UP368 No Questions Asked: When football met crypto
https://www.unofficialpartner.com/podca ... met-crypto

the blurb

This is the story of when football met the crypto boom.

Spoiler: it took the money, no questions asked.

After that, everything that happened was inevitable.

Martin Calladine's new book looks at how some of the most famous clubs in the world indulged in misleading marketing, grotesque failures of due diligence, unethically monetising fan relations and failed to take responsibility for the damage their new crypto partners did.

As the energy around DeFi picks up again, we ask what the sports business can and should do to avoid a repeat.

Martin Cloak with a review of Martin Calladin's book from his Football Fan blog

When football met crypto – a tale that will curl your toes
A superb new book from journalist Martin Calladine lays bare the shocking lack of care and crass ignorance that underpinned football's embrace of crypto
https://martincloake.substack.com/p/whe ... ue&r=8adje
https://archive.ph/hUveJ

[Chester Perry]

A US article on the growing presence of Private Equity in the global game - another to add to the Vultures are at the door collection of posts

from ABC.com licensed from Associated Press

How private equity is changing the global soccer landscape with big investments in clubs and leagues
The soccer landscape is changing quickly with a surge of investment firms injecting billions into clubs and leagues around the world
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireSto ... -106994851
https://archive.ph/Lla2K

the article mentions Pitchbook who released this dashboard overview of every PE connection in European footballs top football clubs last November - it is nice to know that Premier League status insured our club was included as a 'top' European Club

Every PE connection to Europe’s top football clubs
https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/pri ... -dashboard

which itself followed the release of this report on the subject last August

Private Capital in European Football
Analysing club ownership structures in the “Big Five” European leagues
https://files.pitchbook.com/website/fil ... otball.pdf

according to Pitchbook 3 European clubs were involved in the biggest Private Equity Sports deals of 2023

Top private equity sports deals of 2023
https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/top ... deals-2023
https://archive.ph/uzism

[Vegas Claret]

You see articles and think that they may be informative and interesting for a wider base than normal, then you look at the subject matter that you know and think 'oh dear' and start to question everything else about the article. how can the BBC publish details about our club and not verify that things have moved on since December 2020? in our case twice. there is also no discussion of the ownership model or how it was funded, so how can they tell us what it means - which they do not do , though that is what they say they will do in the title

Premier League: Who owns your club and what does it mean?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67497377

what a pointless article !

[Chester Perry]

the Premier League, UEFA and the Super league pretenders in particular have been hoping for this kind of consolidation and might - with Apple TV (MLS), Amazon (Tennis, NFL, bits of football and now possibly baseball) and Netflix (Wrestling) all getting more serious about their involvement with sport, this sports platform merger will rival the reach of Comcast (Sky, NBC, Peacock) and possibly create problems for regional giants Viaplay and beIN Sport. It has the potential to create enough rivals with the cash and market penetration to allow the biggest sports attractions to fuel another gold rush.

from The Independent

New sports streaming service coming in 2024 as Disney, Fox and Warner Bros team up
The combined service will offer NFL, World Cup fixtures and more but it’s not yet clear when it will be available in the UK
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/dis ... 91969.html
https://archive.ph/pk3IC

from Sportico,com

ESPN/FOX/WBD MEGA STREAMING SKINNY BUNDLE TO SHAPE TV’S FUTURE
https://www.sportico.com/business/media ... 234765729/
https://archive.ph/LCCSY

[Chester Perry]

what a pointless article !

It is like an early draft has been published before the specified detail was added

[Chester Perry]

the Premier League, UEFA and the Super league pretenders in particular have been hoping for this kind of consolidation and might - with Apple TV (MLS), Amazon (Tennis, NFL, bits of football and now possibly baseball) and Netflix (Wrestling) all getting more serious about their involvement with sport, this sports platform merger will rival the reach of Comcast (Sky, NBC, Peacock) and possibly create problems for regional giants Viaplay and beIN Sport. It has the potential to create enough rivals with the cash and market penetration to allow the biggest sports attractions to fuel another gold rush.

from The Independent

New sports streaming service coming in 2024 as Disney, Fox and Warner Bros team up
The combined service will offer NFL, World Cup fixtures and more but it’s not yet clear when it will be available in the UK
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/dis ... 91969.html
https://archive.ph/pk3IC

from Sportico,com

ESPN/FOX/WBD MEGA STREAMING SKINNY BUNDLE TO SHAPE TV’S FUTURE
https://www.sportico.com/business/media ... 234765729/
https://archive.ph/LCCSY

I had meant to include the Athletics take on this in the same post but pressed submit by mistake - anyho

ESPN, FOX, Warner Bros. Discovery launching joint sports streaming service in fall of 2024
https://archive.ph/iP6m2

[Chester Perry]

I had meant to include the Athletics take on this in the same post but pressed submit by mistake - anyho

ESPN, FOX, Warner Bros. Discovery launching joint sports streaming service in fall of 2024
https://archive.ph/iP6m2

elsewhere in the sports business section of the Athletic is this little Q&A on the news, aimed at American subscribers for no but still interesting enough to observers over here - are we in for a Great-Rebundling


On Your TV: The streaming solution or a waste of money?
Every year seems to bring a new quasi-solution to the neverending morass of watching live sports on television. Where do I find this game? Is that streaming? Oh, didn’t you hear all those games are on [insert app] now? The cable bundle is dying, and no one has been able to actually replace it.

Yesterday brought another “solution,” which could have a massive effect on the industry at large: ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery are teaming up to launch a new, stand-alone streaming app to air their combined content. Two initial questions, answered:

- Wait, what’s included? Every ESPN property and every Fox sports channel, plus Big Ten Network, TNT, TBS and even truTV. So, every essential sports channel outside of CBS, NBC and Amazon.
- How much will it cost? Unclear as of now. We’ll get to this in a sec..

So is this The Big One? Or is it just more of the same? I asked Andrew Marchand, The Athletic’s newest sports business and media reporter, to help us contextualize:

This could be so impactful on multiple levels. What are the most important cascading effects of this, to you?
Andrew: I think it feels impactful, but it is not actually going to be. At least in the near term. The reason? It will probably cost in the $50 range per month. You can basically receive everything it is offering [plus non-sports content] for $72 a month with YouTube TV.

This might be a little simplistic, but: Are we just recreating cable?
Andrew: That’s the lede to my column, so good question. Yes and no. We are starting the Great Rebundling. There are combo deals everywhere, but we are not yet to a point that we are solving the sports fans’ problem of simplifying their viewing experience and doing it at an affordable price. This is a step in that direction, but further consolidation is needed.

[Vegas Claret]

It is like an early draft has been published before the specified detail was added

it's like they said to an intern 'go and write an article, you choose the topic' and the intern knew nothing about football !!!!

[Chester Perry]

the Athletic with yet another way that some unscrupulous people are shaking down Football's Magic Money Tree - which is why I always try and state/link where the stories/articles originate - there is already too much plagiarism in the in football media as it is

Fake Man United news: Tracking down the people making thousands out of fictitious stories
https://archive.ph/GccYt

[forzagranata]

elsewhere in the sports business section of the Athletic is this little Q&A on the news, aimed at American subscribers for no but still interesting enough to observers over here - are we in for a Great-Rebundling


On Your TV: The streaming solution or a waste of money?
Every year seems to bring a new quasi-solution to the neverending morass of watching live sports on television. Where do I find this game? Is that streaming? Oh, didn’t you hear all those games are on [insert app] now? The cable bundle is dying, and no one has been able to actually replace it.

Yesterday brought another “solution,” which could have a massive effect on the industry at large: ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery are teaming up to launch a new, stand-alone streaming app to air their combined content. Two initial questions, answered:

- Wait, what’s included? Every ESPN property and every Fox sports channel, plus Big Ten Network, TNT, TBS and even truTV. So, every essential sports channel outside of CBS, NBC and Amazon.
- How much will it cost? Unclear as of now. We’ll get to this in a sec..

So is this The Big One? Or is it just more of the same? I asked Andrew Marchand, The Athletic’s newest sports business and media reporter, to help us contextualize:

This could be so impactful on multiple levels. What are the most important cascading effects of this, to you?
Andrew: I think it feels impactful, but it is not actually going to be. At least in the near term. The reason? It will probably cost in the $50 range per month. You can basically receive everything it is offering [plus non-sports content] for $72 a month with YouTube TV.

This might be a little simplistic, but: Are we just recreating cable?
Andrew: That’s the lede to my column, so good question. Yes and no. We are starting the Great Rebundling. There are combo deals everywhere, but we are not yet to a point that we are solving the sports fans’ problem of simplifying their viewing experience and doing it at an affordable price. This is a step in that direction, but further consolidation is needed.

The main plus of this for the consumer is it offers a way to stream ESPN and Fox sports content without having to pay for the entertainment and news channels offered by cable and other streaming services. In theory that should make it cheaper.

But - this would be fantastic if it gave you all your sport but it doesn't even include all the nationally broadcast NFL games - because it doesn't include CBS or NBC. It doesn't have the PGA Tour golf and for soccer fans its without the Premier League, Champions League or MLS (all of which require three different streaming subscriptions).

So its an interesting development but not quite the solution to fans having to have multiple streaming subs to watch their favourite sports.

It would actually be easier to do something more effective in the UK - if you could just buy a standalone 'Sports Streaming Pack' with Sky Sports and TNT Sports and not have to pay for all the rest of Sky/TNT content. But I doubt they will go down that route as the model has obviously been to use sport to drive the broader packages.

[Chester Perry]

It is a while since I have given an update of the scale of American ownership in English professional club football - mainly because Elon has made it impossible to go to my usual source and bring eyes to the social network he dies not want outsiders to see.

Thankfully Bloomberg have given us an update - using data from my usual source CIES Sports Intelligence

Americans Are Taking Over English Football Everywhere
More than a third of the 92 professional teams in England’s top four leagues now have some form of US ownership.
https://archive.ph/rKQxD

[bfcjg]

Americans are in this to make money, they'll change the game and the running of the game as we know it given half a chance.

[Chester Perry]

You see articles and think that they may be informative and interesting for a wider base than normal, then you look at the subject matter that you know and think 'oh dear' and start to question everything else about the article. how can the BBC publish details about our club and not verify that things have moved on since December 2020? in our case twice. there is also no discussion of the ownership model or how it was funded, so how can they tell us what it means - which they do not do , though that is what they say they will do in the title

Premier League: Who owns your club and what does it mean?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67497377

last night I (and another poster) was critical of the above article, here is an article from last summer that effectively is about the same subject but is very different - not perfect but a whole lot better

from Bloomberg

WHO REALLY OWNS YOUR FOOTBALL CLUB?
A Bloomberg News analysis shows that funds and investment firms now control 17% of the clubs in Europe’s five biggest leagues
https://archive.ph/0Ia9k

[Chester Perry]

Americans are in this to make money, they'll change the game and the running of the game as we know it given half a chance.

Indeed - this is a lengthy podcast but covers a lot of these bases in particular about how sport is losing touch with its customers, basically not caring because stadiums are still full, but there is a a feeling in the long term that a generation is or two is now growing up with a significant disconnect with their local team as families are being priced out and treated shoddily. The examples discussed of Netflix and Disney and their absolute customer focus is hugely contrasting.

UP369 If Netflix Ran Sport
https://www.unofficialpartner.com/podca ... -ran-sport

the blurb

Erin Ruane was vice president of content acquisition at Netflix for more than a decade, participating in the formulation and execution of the company’s strategy, from the launch of the streaming service, international, pricing and culture. Her responsibilities included negotiating and managing all studio relationships, over $350 million in annual spend.

Joining Erin is Claire Kelly, General Manager of Gemba Europe. Gemba is a strategy consultancy for the Sport & Entertainment industry, driven by data to support rightsholders and brands grow fans, deepen engagement and achieve their commercial goals.

Topics include Netflix's recent ten year $5billion deal with WWE and the lessons for the sports industry to be gleaned from Netflix and Disney.

[bfcjg]

basically not caring because stadiums are still full, but there is a a feeling in the long term that a generation is or two is now growing up with a significant disconnect with their local team as families are being priced out and treated shoddily.
That sounds familiar, sadly.

[Chester Perry]

Tariq Panja on the plague that is affecting governance in the worlds most popular sports

from The New York Times

They Run the World’s Biggest Sports, and They Don’t Want to Leave
A proposal that would weaken term limits at European soccer’s governing body has insiders and governance officials worried that sports’ power brokers are forgetting why the rules exist.
https://archive.ph/QjwaL

Today the FA amongst others made a final plea to get UEFA to change its mind and have separate votes tomorrow on the very diverse group of issues that have been bundled together just so that the vote on Presidential terms is carried. they failed, and as a consequence will vote against the bundle even though they actually want some of the measures contained within. Ceferin will win and who knows what political fall out will befall the FA and the English game as a result - it is sad to say that must be the expectation given the history of such actions previously .

from The Times

FA to oppose Uefa reforms allowing Aleksander Ceferin a fourth term
At Thursday’s congress in Paris, England’s national body is likely to be among a minority seeking to block amendments that will permit president to stay until 2031
https://archive.ph/qHfQF

[Chester Perry]

More on the above courtesy of Miguel Delaney - I am not convinced about the long game, visible fracture angle, though I can hope

from The Independent

How English football can sway power and change the future of the European game
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin faces a vote over proposed statutes, explains Miguel Delaney, with particular focus on the FA, which intends to vote against his demands
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foo ... 92096.html
https://archive.ph/Dsbgp

[Chester Perry]

Disappointing, but certainly not a surprise in the modern world of dictatorial sports governance were fear of missing out rules almost all

from The Guardian

English FA votes alone against Uefa rule change that allows Ceferin another term
FA’s Mark Bullingham the only delegate to show red card
Ceferin cites Lord of the Rings and Romans in Congress speach
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... rom%202027.
https://archive.ph/NJX1R

[Chester Perry]

When people ask about why the Premier League is bothered with Charges about events that happened over a decade ago, it is because those activities are the ones which facilitated the growth of Manchester City into this - the excellence that the world now associates with Manchester City would have been vey much more difficult to deliver if rules had been properly adhered to. All this before we consider the abomination that is the multi-club model

For City the hearts and minds battle (and therefore the long term support) is more or less won, irrespective of the outcome of the cases against them, the American audience in particular is young and new to the game with little desire to care about such history.

from The Athletic

How Manchester City became the most popular Premier League team in America
https://archive.ph/x9RRR

[Foshiznik]

UEFA Statutes amended to include a minimum of two women on the UEFA Executive Committee


It's been ratified.

https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/news/02 ... s-amended/

[Chester Perry]

as ever it is always intriguing to pair valuations between Premier League (worlds largest TV revenues) and MLS where until now TV revenues have been less than in the Championship and even under the deal with Apple are likely to be no more than double the Championship and still less than the Premier League receives from US broadcasters. It is amazing what closed leagues, very egalitarian revenue share and strong fiscal rules can do for franchise owners admittedly in what could be a huge domestic marketplace

Major League Soccer's Most Valuable Clubs 2023: LAFC Is The First Billion-Dollar Franchise
https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirn ... 9ab3a85324
https://archive.is/atbKJ

and here we are a year later with MLS's second $billion franchise which David Beckham picked up for a song and was smart enough to bring a couple of billionaires in it with him - that said Inter Miami's tour of the Far and Middle East has been nothing short of a reputational disaster story

Of course we have to be wary of Forbes valuations, as we have shown a number of times previously and particularly last year. Still it is always fascinating at just how much more these organisations are valued in a league that generates less than the championship in commercial and media rights even post Apple TV, than those in Europe's major leagues. All 29 are probably valued higher than the likes of Bournemouth, Brentford, Burnley, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Southampton, Wolves and possibly Leeds.

Major League Soccer’s Most Valuable Teams 2024
https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirn ... =featstory
https://archive.ph/kIZbp