[Archived] Credit Crunch To Hit Football?

[Ste B]

Sky retain rights to Premier League coverage

The 2 packages currently on Setanta go to another round

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/e...rem/7868759.stm

[Hughesy]

B-SkyB win TV Rights

For 2010 - 2013 BskyB have won 4 of 6 audio visual packages and could still win 1 of the 2 setanta packages.

Amounts to be announced at a later date

[thenodrog]

Some good news from Joe Kinnear regarding Newcastle's finances:

"Mike has lost £2bn quid in his own businesses and shares."

He then goes on to have a moan about Spurs and other understanding why other managers have 'bottled' the Newcastle job in the past.

Joe used to play for spuds!

Anyway unless my memory is mistaken Mike Ashley was never worth a billion never mind 2.

[Earlydoors]

Anyone know if this Baugur news has any bearing on Mr West Ham ?

[iamarover]

Anyone know if this Baugur news has any bearing on Mr West Ham ?

Not directly. The FT sets out the full impact here

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6698b058-f2a3-11...0b5df10621.html

But indirectly yes. The Banks are calling in debts. And the Hammers are in major trouble. Depending on a couple of things they are likely to go into administration without a buyer - as Baugur just have. Although any creditor will know that May is better than March in terms of future revenues - even with a 10 point deficit, a debt free West Ham with Zola at the helm will be OK.

Interesting that this comes 24 hours after a decidedly hasty Robbie Keane sale. This clearly occured for one of two reasons. Either Rafa is losing the plot and was prepared to go into the biggest run in in his own and Liverpool's recent history with only one recognised striker ( no one came to replace him). Or Liverpool needed the cash quickly, as Philip has long warned on this thread.

Either way they are in trouble.

[philipl]

The three immediately troubled clubs did the following:

Liverpool-

Done deals - Out: Robbie Keane (Spurs, £15m), Peter Gulacsi (Hereford, loan), Adam Hammill (Barnsley, loan), Craig Lindfield (Accrington, loan), Krisztian Nemeth (Blackpool, loan), Jermaine Pennant (Portsmouth, loan).

Cancelled the cash call due for paying Spurs for Keane by sending him back. Extended the loan from RBS and Wachovia by six months at the cost of £50m to Gillett/Hicks own pocket.

Portsmouth-

Done deals - In: Nadir Belhadj (Lens, £4m), Angelos Basinas (AEK Athens, undisclosed), Theofanis Gekas (Bayer Leverkusen, loan), Hayden Mullins (West Ham, undisclosed), Pele (Porto, loan), Jermaine Pennant (Liverpool, loan). Out: Jermain Defoe (Tottenham, £15.75m), Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid, £20m), Khaleem Hyland (Zulte Waregem, loan).

Cancelled the cash call due for paying Spurs for three players by sending Defoe back. Paid other outstanding transfer bills by selling Diarra. There was a very strong rumour that Pompey had a crisis meeting last Friday at which it was agreed they would sell more high earners but players like Crouch dug in and refused to move. There has to be a question over whether Pompey can meet their continuing massive wage bill and the stories today that they might have a buyer are their only hope. 13 players go out of contract this summer.

West Ham-

Done deals - In: Savio Nsereko (Brescia, £9m), Radoslav Kovac (Spartak Moscow, loan). Out: Lee Bowyer (Birmingham, loan), Joe Widdowson (Grimsby, loan), Calum Davenport (Sunderland, loan), Julien Faubert (Real Madrid, loan), Hayden Mullins (Portsmouth, undisclosed), Nigel Quashie (Wolves, loan), Kyel Reid (Wolves, loan), Craig Bellamy (Man City, £12m), Matthew Etherington (Stoke, £2m).

Cut their wage bill (Bowyer, Faubert, Quashie and Bellamy all on eye-watering amounts) and netted about a £30m transfer profit; more if the Nsereko number is mostly contingency as I suspect it is. Probably moved close to being cash self-sustainable for the balance of the season BUT have to survive the probable compulsory winding-up order of the company that owns them on 12 March and praying that the Arbitrators don't go to the Sheff U end of the scale when they determine the amount due to be paid in March and that the new investigation by the FA/PL finds in their favour (highly unlikely judging by the flimsiness of the reasons Hammers supporters are using to say they'll be ok). Either or both those events could tip them under.

[philipl]

The general outlook for football clubs discussed by a recent circular:

It is all very well receiving this level of money (the current Sky/Setanta deal) but it is what the clubs do with it that determines their commercial viability. Giving all the players unsustainable wages and paying out huge agent`s fees obviously takes money out of football and puts the clubs deeply into debt.

The vast majority of PL clubs are deeply into long term debt and the annual net loss of all PL clubs is 15% of their combined T/O. Current forecasts indicate that only ONE PL club will make a net profit this financial year.

Just as the rest of the economy, football cannot continue with its current trading patterns and clubs are beginning to do something about it because their banks and financial institutions that hold their loans have told them to sort it out or they will be wound up.

Keith Harris, the chairman of investment bank Seymour Pierce, who has advised on a number of recent takeovers, including Randy Lerner's of Aston Villa and Thaksin Shinawatra's of Manchester City, explained:

'The stock market has been closed to football clubs for some time. The securitisation market is basically closed. Can you borrow from banks? Unlikely, as they look the ones in most serious trouble. The people at Liverpool and Manchester United have to be concerned. They may have fixed rates but the problem comes, like with people's mortgages, when the fixed rate expires. All the signs are that the only way clubs will be able to raise money is through more wealthy benefactors.'

This is not a recent occurrence as clubs have been read the riot act over the last few months and as can be seen by the downturn in net transfer revenues (the only true indicator of the financial strength of the transfer market) the clubs are starting to liquidate some of their assets in order to appease their lenders and get the debt levels down.

The worrying thing for all clubs is that even if the TV rights stay the same it will not stop them from having to cut back on their operating expenses because the majority live on debt and they have now maxed out their credit as the lenders have stopped lending money to the clubs.

[Paul]

The Independent reported today the next TV deal is likely to exceed the current £1.7b (?) package. Six packageas are available of which four look likely to go to Sky for £1.3b (roughly what they paid last time) and the remaining two packages have gone to the second round of bidding. This suggests the remaining bidders for the last two packages are within 10% of each other and will now be asked to re-bid.

So with luck they'll be able to hold the TV adverts back for two minutes in the next Merseyside derby!!!

[thenodrog]

So with luck they'll be able to hold the TV adverts back for two minutes in the next Merseyside derby!!!

Assuming that they can find somebody able to invest in advertising their rpoducts on TV by that time!

[dingles staying down 4ever]

The Independent reported today the next TV deal is likely to exceed the current £1.7b (?) package. Six packageas are available of which four look likely to go to Sky for £1.3b (roughly what they paid last time) and the remaining two packages have gone to the second round of bidding. This suggests the remaining bidders for the last two packages are within 10% of each other and will now be asked to re-bid.

So with luck they'll be able to hold the TV adverts back for two minutes in the next Merseyside derby!!!

Or after having to endure Weds Dross could we not have 118 minutes of adverts and two minutes of Merseyside Derby

[gumboots]

Or after having to endure Weds Dross could we not have 118 minutes of adverts and two minutes of Merseyside Derby

Should have gone to Ewood. At least it was live dross.

[philipl]

A pretty upbeat assessment of the prospects for the world's top sporting competitions in the Economist

[philipl]

Wise words from Rod Liddle on Chelsea and high priced footballers

[Hughesy]

Didnt know this (below), could make Italian clubs much stronger in the transfer market.

In 2007/08 title winners Manchester United came out on top with £49.3m TV money.

Since 2007, Serie A clubs have been handed the responsibility to sell their own broadcasting rights to designated channels in their own country - and it's difficult to obtain details of the deals made by the top clubs.

However, by 2010, Italy's top league will revert back to collective selling.

Forty percent of the TV revenue will go to all Serie A clubs, while 30% will be based on final-table standing and 30% on fan following, both on a sliding scale.

It is projected that a package worth 900m euros (£798m) a season would mean a club like Juventus could rake in roughly 87m euros a year (£77m) - which would dwarf United's current TV income.

[philipl]

Juve already take in more media money than United through their individually negotiated rights- makes up for an average home crowd in the 20K-ish.

The impact of the new deal in Italy is far more worrying for the like of Rovers in that the clubs outside of Juve, Inter and AC will get a windfall making them more potent competitors against middle ranking PL clubs.

[Hughesy]

Glad we dont have the same system here though - 30% based on fan following!! We would get hardly anything from that Pot if the FA had the same system.

[Ozz]

Forty percent of the TV revenue will go to all Serie A clubs, while 30% will be based on final-table standing and 30% on fan following, both on a sliding scale.

The highlighted bit would work better if the emphasis on the fan following part went to the smaller ones first, IE small clubs get more than big clubs, a bit like the NFL draught system.

[LeChuck]

The highlighted bit would work better if the emphasis on the fan following part went to the smaller ones first, IE small clubs get more than big clubs, a bit like the NFL draught system.

The thought of that being implement really gives me the chills...

[philipl]

I believe the fan following was the sop to pull Juve, Inter and AC into the deal who currently negotiate their own deals leaving the rest of Serie A deeply impoverished.

Fan Following is national market, not bums on seats. So Juve with an estimated fan following in Italy are tops with 18m followed by Milan on 12m, Inter on 8m and Roma on 1m.

This is based on district by district surveys across Italy and drives advertising revenue and TV coverage. So Juve have more fans in Sicily than Palermo and Catania combined.

[Hughesy]

So in the UK we would have United with about 20m, followed by Liverpool.

Then the rest would be miles lower. We would be probably one of the smallest earners on that system

[stuwilky]

Glad we dont have the same system here though - 30% based on fan following!! We would get hardly anything from that Pot if the FA had the same system.

Perhaps if match day tickets were comparable prices we might stand a chance.

[thenodrog]

The impact of the new deal in Italy is far more worrying for the like of Rovers in that the clubs outside of Juve, Inter and AC will get a windfall making them more potent competitors against middle ranking PL clubs.

Have you factored in the £:euro as well? It's already screwing the RU over.

[Paul]

The impact of the new deal in Italy is far more worrying for the like of Rovers in that the clubs outside of Juve, Inter and AC will get a windfall making them more potent competitors against middle ranking PL clubs.

The alternative view being Rovers and similar clubs will no longer be able to purchase poor footballers no one has heard of and who have no interest in the club beyond how much money can be earnt over the shortest period. Sounds like a great deal to me. We didn't miss all these "top players" the last time Italian football was financially dominant so I see no reason why it should make any difference if it happens again. We can't compete now, a few more £ms makes no odds at all. Everyone gets far too excited about this stuff. What matters for Rovers is we try to find footballers with some interest in playing for the club, not worrying about signing some average player never to be heard of again once he leaves.

[mhead]

"Players playing with an interest in the club"......then why weren't James Beattie ,Mattie Derbyshire and Paul Gallagher playing last night. Beattie would crawl back to Ewood to play for his beloved Rovers and with 5 times more spirit than the current strikers.

The answer is we are not patient enough with the local lads - they are the loyal players(look what it has done to Gally's career) not the one-season wonders and do not expect sky-rocket wages. And Gally would make a better midfielder than either Grella or Andrews. The 3 of them last night would not have allowed us to lose to Cov.

[Paul]

Exactly.