Skip to main content

Premiership 2 plan gains momentum

The plan for a Premier League 2 is gaining momentum with 15 leading Championship clubs threatening to break away from the EFL. One could have a slimmed down Premier League 1 and 2 with twenty clubs in each league. Whether there would be promotion and relegation from what is now League One is a moot point.

A complicating factor is the interest of top clubs in breaking away from the Premier League to join a new European Super League. However, that would not be possible before 2022 and it would not necessarily rule out a Premier League 1 and 2 format. In some ways, it might strengthen the case for it.

A further difficulty is that there has been no discussion with the Premier League who are believed to be opposed to the project. It could be seen as a dilution of their brand. In many ways, parachute payments make the Championship a de facto Premier League 2, certainly in terms of a willingness to splash the cash.

The breakaway threat is part of a dispute over a new Sky contract which Championship clubs say does not reflect their true value, so in part it could be a negotiating ploy. The deal is worth £590m for the 2019-2024 seasons. It would be worth £119m a season compared with £88m at present. The underlying issue is that many of them are cash strapped as they pursue the dream of Premier League riches. League One and League Two teams are behind the new contract, so the EFL could force it through.

The main movers behind the breakaway threat are Leeds supremo Andrea Radrizzani, along with Derby County owner Mel Morris. All the leading Championship clubs are backing the plan according to a report in The Times, among them Aston Villa, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest, Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion.

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 income is
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 depl
Post a Comment
Read more