Skip to main content

Championship clubs hold back on legal action

Championship clubs enraged by the new Sky TV deal are holding back on legal action against the EFL until they have consulted all 24 clubs in the Championship. Some of the smaller clubs are more accepting of the deal and were opposed to a plan for a breakaway league.

The clubs argue that the EFL lacks the authority to sign a contract against the wishes of its leading members and are calling for the resignation of Shaun Harvey, the EFL Chief Executive.

21 clubs are opposed to the new contract with Leeds United, Aston Villa and Derby County being among the most outspoken. However, the threat of a breakaway league has receded for now.

While the new deal represents a 35 per cent increase on the current contract, Sky has secured added content so that it will now be able to show Championship matches simultaneously on midweek evenings and add commentary and graphics to its red button broadcasts. In addition the final two years of the contract give Sky the right to increase the number of televised matches from 138 to 158.

No other broadcaster has come forward to challenge Sky whose offer was considerably higher than all of its rivals. It has been suggested that Championship clubs should be careful what they wish for: The ITV digital fiasco

Football finance experts Kieran Maguire and Simon Chadwick discuss the situation with City AM: Why clubs are in revolt

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Wolves get raw deal from FFP

  I used to see a lifelong Wolves fan for lunch once a month.   He was approaching ninety, but still went to games.   Sadly he passed away the other week. As football finance guru Kieran Maguire has noted, Wolves continue to be constrained by financial fair play rules.  Radio 4 this morning described them as this year's 'crisis club' and the pessimists have certainly been piling in. Martin Samuel wrote sympathetically in the Sunday Times yesterday, saying that the Premier League drives talent away with regulatory red tape: 'Why could Al-Hilal sign Neves? Because Wolves needed the money. And why did Wolves need the money? Because the club had to comply with an artificial construct known as financial fair play. So Wolves are going skint, yes? No. There is no suggestion that Wolves are in financial trouble, only that they are failing to meet the rigours of FFP. Wolves’ owners appear to have the money to run the club, and invest in the club, and in fact came up with a pow

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 income is

Charlton takeover approved

The long awaited takeover of Charlton Athletic by SE7 Partners from Thomas Sandgaard has been approved:  https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/se7-partners-obtain-efl-approval-for-charlton-athletic-takeover/ Charlton have had unhappy experiences with owners for over a decade, so how this works out will remain to be seen.  There is certainly potential there, but will it be realised? This interview with Charlie Methven gives detail not available elsewhere:  https://thecharltondossier.com/charlie-methven-on-the-record/