Fury at super league proposal

The proposal for a breakaway European Super League has drawn a storm of protest from Uefa, the Premier League, La Liga, former players, fans and even prime minister Boris Johnson. Sir Alex Ferguson has condemned the plan in his first public intervention since retiring as Manchester United manager in 2013.

12 clubs have signed up to a plan backed by $6bn in debt financing from JP Morgan which would supersede the Champions League. It is claimed that another three clubs will sign up this week (thought to be Bayern, PSG and Borussia Dortmund). Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have now issued a statement saying they will not join the Super League.

The breakaway clubs include England's top six; Barcelona and Real Madrid; and AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus. PSG and Bayern Munich have not signed up so far: PSG are said to be concerned that the initial novelty of the Super League would wear off after a couple of seasons. Real Madrid, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are thought to the biggest drivers of the proposal.

The new league would include 15 teams on a permanent basis with five places awarded on merit, effectively a franchise system. There is no settled plan for how the five places would be awarded. It is anticipated that participants would receive a fixed payment of €264m a year.

The tournament, which would start in August, would feature two groups of ten, playing home and away fixtures, with the top three automatically qualifying for the quarter-finals. Those who finish fourth and fifth then compete for the remaining quarter-final places, before a two-legged knockout format is employed for the final eight, ahead of a single fixture final at a neutral venue.

In the past Super League proposals have been forward to extract more money for top clubs from the Champions League. Uefa's conference today is set to approve a new format for the Champions League which would include more money-spinning ties between top clubs.

However, leading clubs wanted more assurances over a new joint venture that would control all media and sponsorship rights for European club competitions.

Major broadcasters are prepared to enact legal action against clubs who break away or devalue national competitions, as the broadcasters believe the product they’ve invested in would be fundamentally different without the involvement of leading sides.

The clubs have hired InHouse Communications as a British public affairs agency to promote the launch. Katie Perrior, the chair of InHouse, was formerly head of communications for Theresa May during her period as prime minister, while she also worked on Boris Johnson’s 2008 mayoral campaign.

During the 2018-19 season, the live match audience for Champions League football dropped from an average of two billion during the previous three-year cycle to 1.3 billion in the last campaign. In a single year under the current operators, therefore, the Champions League experienced a traditional television audience fall of 35 per cent. The Europa League also experienced a 17 per cent drop.

Fulham requires big funding from owner

After lengthy delays, Fulham’s shiny, new Riverside Stand has finally opened, creating “a unique Thameside destination with first class facilities for supporters and partners on match days, as well as for the wider community year-round”. This ambitious project has increased Craven Cottage’s capacity by around 4,000 to 29,600, while it has also taken advantage of the club’s fantastic location and wealthy catchment area by including two Michelin star restaurants, a rooftop swimming pool, corporate hospitality and event space, all benefiting from views of the Thames. Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh observed, “Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.” Indeed, there is also an exclusive members club – with a football season ticket as an optional extra. It’s fair to say that “the times they are a-changing”, as this is a long way from the traditional pie and a pint. However, in a world where clubs face the tw...

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...

A poor financial record, but new hope at Everton

I recently saw an amusing video online in which a group of Everton fans were rebuked in jest for being hopeful. Football fans in general tend to swing between excessive optimism and excessive pessimism, but for many it seems that moaning is in their bloodstream (Spurs fans probably take the trophy). However, Everton fans have had plenty to moan about on and off the pitch. Let’s hope that a new era is about to begin for this grand old club. Everton’s 2023/24 financial results covered a fairly momentous season, when they ended up 15th in the Premier League, though they would finished three places higher if they had not received an 8-point deduction for breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR). It was a worrying time for Everton fans, as the club faced a “perfect storm” of issues, including large financial losses, an ever increasing debt burden, a challenging stadium build and the tortuous sale of the club. There were eve...

The Political Economy of Football V2

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