Radical plan to shake up Premier League

Liverpool and Manchester United have come up with a radical plan to shake up the Premier League which would see it reduced to 18 clubs: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54499998

The plan is being opposed by the league itself, but is expected to attract the backing of the other top six clubs who have been involved in talks. They would have special voting status, alongside three other clubs with a long-term Premier League record (Everton, Southampton and West Ham United). Changes could be made with the support of just six of these nine long-term 'shareholders'.

The EFL would get its £250m bailout package and 25 per cent of all future revenue, but the highly distorting parachute payments would be scrapped. Another sweetener is fan away tickets to be capped at £20.

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire is concerned that every time Championship clubs get more money they spend it on wages. He also thinks a big issue is that the top six would get a bigger share of Champions League money, but others have argued they get most of it anyway.

He also notes, 'Another interesting snippet from Project Big Picture is that PL clubs will be able to sell their own TV rights for 8 games a season internationally. This will reduce the value of the centrally negotiated overseas TV deals and concentrate more money in the hands of the big clubs.'

Maguire has suggested a levy on betting and another one on transfers.

Football journalist David Conn sees some merit in the proposal: https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2020/oct/11/plan-to-mend-the-great-crack-in-football-pyramid-should-not-be-swept-off-the-table

Seven of these nine clubs are foreign owned, while Tottenham Hotspur's owner is resident in the Bahamas.

At the moment the top club owns 1.8 times as much as the bottom club from Premier League deals. This could become four times as much, enriching the top six. It has been argued that one of the attractions of the Premier League as it is now organised is that it is very competitive and that would be undermined by the 'Project Big Picture' plan. Some see it as a trojan horse for a European Super League.

However, EFL chairman Rick Parry sees it as a means of closing the gap between the top of the Championship and the bottom of the Premier League. The plan would see two up, two down but a play off between the 16th placed Premier League club and those placed third, fourth and fifth in the Championship.

The plan got short shrift from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, a spokesman denouncing 'backroom deals cooked up that would create a closed shop at the very top of the game.'

Such has been the strength of opposition that the plan may never get off the ground. However, football expert Chris Anderson reckons it merits serious discussion - unacceptable in its present form, but what would a compromise look like?

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/

The Political Economy of Football V2

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