SBC News SBC's On the Ball: The football business insight

SBC’s On the Ball: The football business insight

From sponsorship to the ever-expanding world of football media coverage, when it comes to the business of football, SBC has got you covered. The first biweekly review tackles the continuing saga of overseas TV rights money, as well as looking at some of the winners and losers from World Cup Russia 2018 qualification.

  • Sky Sports backlash over Amazon Man City deal

Sky Sports executives have voiced their distaste over a £10 million “fly-on-the-wall” documentary series on Manchester City, set to be broadcast on Amazon Prime.

City is said to be close to finalising a deal with the online giants, despite Sky holding the rights for all Premier League club coverage.  The documentary will have an “access all areas” approach, in a similar vein to the Being: Liverpool series that was broadcast on Channel 5 back in 2012.

This is the latest attempt from online broadcasters to penetrate the highly lucrative English football market, and Sky has already announced that it will be cutting prices in response to the intensified competition.

  • No resolution in Premier League TV rights money dispute

The Premier League’s top six accepted defeat in their longstanding battle to gain a greater share of the £3 billion the Premier League receives from overseas television broadcasting deals. Since the formation of the Premier League, the money generated from the overseas TV rights has been split evenly amongst the 20 Premier League clubs, however, as the value of England’s top division grew, the top six have become more vehement with their arguments that they deserve a bigger proportion of the pot.

Ahead of the latest round of TV bidding rights in 2019, the debate simmered once again with Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham all demanding that 35% of overseas TV money be distributed as prize money based on league standings. Nonetheless, the meeting between club executives,  which was due to be held next Wednesday was called off by the Premier League, who concluded there was “no consensus for change.”

  • New potential first lady of football had Anfield bid rejected

It has been reported that Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group dismissed a £1.5 billion bid for the club from a consortium led by the businesswoman, who’s being touted as the next Newcastle owner, Amanda Staveley.

According to a national newspaper in Dubai, Staveley and the PCP Capital Partners Group were locked in drawn-out negotiations with FSG last year, before the deal was called off at the last minute.

  • Foxes cashing in on heroic Champions League run

Detailing how last season’s Champions League money was distributed Uefa revealed that Leicester City FC €81.7 million (£73 million),  an amount that was only topped by Italian champions Juventus, who netted a tidy €110.4million from their run in the competition. On the other hand, the competition’s winners Real Madrid pocketed €81.1 million from the tournament. The money is distributed based on how big each country’s tv deal is and how far each club progressed in the tournament.

  • Financial prosperity continues for German giants

German champion Bayern Munich has announced record turnover of €640.45million (£573.28 million) for the 2016-17 season.

The news came at last weekend’s AGM, where the club detailed pre-tax profits of €66.2 million (£59.23 million) and post-tax profits of €39.2 million (£35 million), up 22.2% and 18.6% from the previous year.

The financial strength came during a season that featured mixed success on the pitch, with Bayern recording a fifth successive Bundesliga victory but falling short in both the Champions League and DFB Pokal.

Chief Financial Officer Jan-Christian Dreesen told the club’s website: “Our failure to progress beyond the quarter-final of the Champions League against Real Madrid and not reaching the DFB-Pokal final cost us around €25million.

“However, we were still able to make gains and remain one of the top clubs in Europe financially.”

  • World Cup qualification set to give Egyptian economy timely boost

The Egyptian national team’s last-gasp World Cup qualification looks likely to give the unstable North African state a much-needed economic boost.

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah converted a penalty in the dying seconds of their match against Congo, giving The Pharaohs the narrowest of victories, and sending them to their first World Cup since Italia 90.

The Egyptian economy, heavily reliant on tourism and crude oil export, crashed in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring and is still trying to find its feet six years on.

But it’s nevertheless a football-mad country, and the Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria was filled to its 86,000 capacity to watch them book their place in Russia. 

Companies are expected to invest as the tournament nears, and advertising budgets are expected to benefit the country further.

There were contrasting fortunes for the USA however, who failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986, after suffering a shock defeat at the hands of Trinidad and Tobago. Heartbreak for the US, led to elation for minnows Panama as they took the third spot in the group and qualified for their first ever World Cup, so ecstatic was the Panamanian President with the success, that he declared the following day to be a national holiday.

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SBC News SBC's On the Ball: The football business insightSBC News SBC's On the Ball: The football business insight

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