Skip to main content

The Premier League Division Two

An excellent piece of in depth analysis by Wigan fan Richard Pike about the Championship: New financial realities

He points out that the Championship is increasingly becoming like a Premier League Division Two. One would be hard pressed to find a second tier league anywhere else in world football with so much prestige. He argues that a growing gap is emerging between the Championship and Leagues One and Two.

Ten year income projections suggest that by 2027 each Championship club will receive an average of £13m each season from solidarity payments from the Premier League and the television deal, an increase of £6m on the current figure. League One clubs will see their income from these sources go up by only £0.25m from £2m. League Two clubs will see only the same £0.25m increase from £1.5m to £1.75m.

He makes an interesting comparison between Sheffield United and Bolton Wanderers. Sheffield has a population of over half a million and is able to sustain two Championship clubs.

One general argument he makes is that city clubs have an advantage over town clubs with an increasing presence in the Championship. In the Premier League there are only four town clubs: Watford, Huddersfield, Burnley and Bournemouth. I wouldn't count Watford as I regard it as an outer London club, albeit one punching above its weight. He later admits that it is just a 20 minute train ride from London.

He also discusses Barnsley as an example of where good management, good scouting and good recruiting can make a difference. He doesn't discuss the fact that Barnsley have new owners who have ambitions to see them in the Premier League. Of course, many clubs have such an ambition: achieving it is another matter.

In the Championship, there are just seven town clubs out of 24, compared with twelve or half in 1999-2000. There is also an interesting contrast with the situation in Italy and Spain which he discusses.

The advantage enjoyed by city clubs with their large stadium capacities does not necessarily work in a huge city like London. A club like Brentford has to compete with historically larger neighbouring clubs such as Chelsea, Fulham and QPR.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s...
1 comment
Read more

Gold standard ground boosts Tottenham's income

The gold standard in European football grounds is the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in north London, a £1bn construction project completed in 2019. Its impact on the club’s finances has become increasingly clear as the effects of the pandemic have faded. Previously, the average fan would spend less than £2 inside the ground on a typical match day, but now that figure is about £16, thanks to new facilities including the longest bar in Europe and an on-site microbrewery. Capacity has gone up from 36,000 at the club’s previous home of White Hart Lane to 62,000.  The new stadium — built on land adjacent to White Hart Lane — has opened the door to a broad range of other events that have helped to push commercial income up from €117mn in 2018 to €215mn in 2022. Last year, Tottenham hosted US singer Beyoncé for five nights on her global Renaissance tour, two NFL matches, as well as rugby games and heavyweight boxing bouts.  Money brought in from football has gone up too. Match day ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spurs to sell minority stake

Tottenham Hotspur is in talks to sell a minority stake in a deal that could value it at up to £3.75 billion and pave the way for Joe Lewis and his family to sever ties with the Premier League football club. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is seeking an investment that values the club at between £3.5 billion and £3.75 billion, including debt. While the terms of any deal have not been finalised, City sources expect Spurs to sell about 10 per cent. The club is being advised by bankers from Rothschild on the sale. Tottenham wants to raise fresh capital for new player signings and to help fund the development of an academy for its women’s team, as well as a 30-storey hotel next to its north London stadium. The financier Amanda Staveley, who brokered the deal for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take over Newcastle United, is understood to be among the parties to have expressed an interest in Tottenham. Staveley’s fund, PCP Capital Partners, has raised about £500 million to ...
Post a Comment
Read more