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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
/
‘Peasants vs. Marie Antoinette’: What the Premier League does with
its billions of dollars is riling 72 other soccer clubs
By Ben Morse, CNN
Updated:
4:22 AM EDT, Thu April 18, 2024
Source: CNN
In Istanbul in June 2023, trophy to cap a historic Treble-winning
campaign.
Over a billion dollars has been spent by the club’s Abu Dhabi-based
owners since 2008 in recruiting players to transform City into a and
commercial juggernaut.
Further down the pyramid, Reading FC – recently relegated to the
third tier of English football – is struggling to survive.
Failure to pay players and tax bills have resulted in multiple points
deductions for Reading, as it slides down the league amid numerous fan
protests over the way the club is run.
The contrast between the fortunes of Manchester City and clubs like
Reading highlights the widening gap between the 20 teams in English
soccer’s top-tier and the other 72 clubs, which come under the
umbrella of the English Football League.
So much so that football finance expert Kieran Maguire told CNN that
British football currently has a “peasants vs. Marie Antoinette”
relationship. A hated figure symbolizing wealth and conspicuous
consumption, Marie Antoinette is famed as the last queen of France
before the revolution.
Disparity
Thanks to its multi-billion-dollar TV deals, the Premier League is
often celebrated as a UK Inc. success story. Meanwhile, EFL clubs
vainly to try to play catch up.
The financial disparity between the Premier League and EFL clubs is
evident in their respective TV rights agreements. The most recent
Premier League domestic broadcast deal is worth £6.7 billion ($8.5
billion) whereas the EFL’s TV deal with domestic package is worth
£935 million ($1.19 billion).
, the TV money is divided amongst the teams in the league, with 50%
divided equally between the clubs, 25% awarded on a merit basis
determined by final league positions and 25% distributed as a
facilities fee for televised matches.
While billion-dollar TV rights deals allow top-flight teams to sign the
best talent from across the world, Premier League clubs are also very
adept at hoovering up the most promising prospects from lower league
sides.
For example, a member of Liverpool’s recent League Cup winning side
– James McConnell – was signed from the Sunderland academy, while
highly-touted 17-year-old Welsh forward Gabriele Biancheri was snapped
up Manchester United from Cardiff City.
By targeting talents from lower-league academies, Premier League clubs
don’t have to pay inflated transfer fees. It’s a sensible financial
and recruitment strategy, but arguably denies lower league additional
transfer revenue if they had been able to keep those prospective
talents for a few more years.
, a recent proposed deal would have seen $1.14 billion (£900 million)
shared by the Premier League with the rest of the English football
pyramid. But reportedly only 10 Premier League clubs agreed to the
deal, thereby not meeting the 14-out-of-20 requirement for it to pass.
Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee and British MP,
Caroline Dinenage the actions of Premier League clubs “threatens the
financial sustainability of clubs in communities up and down the
country,” accusing the top-tier teams of “parking the bus.”
The EFL’s stance is that more money should filter down through the
English football pyramid to help its sustainability, a move which
wouldn’t affect the Premier League’s success story.
According to Maguire, the current impasse speaks to the lack of
negotiating power the EFL has and the Premier League’s current voting
structure.
“Ultimately, the Premier League is a member’s club. It has 20
shareholders; it needs two thirds of those shareholders to agree to a
change in any of the rules or to give [Premier League chief executive]
Richard Masters a mandate to negotiate and sign off the deal with the
EFL,” Maguire told CNN.
“Therefore, it comes down to owners who have not been prepared to
give up anything or give up very much because they would much rather
have the cash now,” said Maguire.
“Everybody’s acting in self-interest as opposed to the greater good
of the game and you can understand that. We’d all rather pay less tax
than more tax but sometimes you need somebody to knock heads together
and see the bigger picture.”
CNN contacted the Premier League for comment and they pointed towards
Masters’ recent interview with The Times in which he talked about his
concerns about an independent regulator.
“It is a risk to bring politics and lobbying into football,
especially when there are also genuine concerns regarding how truly
independent the regulator will be,” Masters .
“We have spent the past year in discussions with the EFL about an
even more generous financial settlement. But these talks have only
served to highlight how destabilising intervention could be.
“The EFL has indicated it would happily accept a generous new deal
from the Premier League but would also immediately use the new
regulator to seek even more money for its clubs, including the
Championship, which is already the sixth-richest league in Europe, with
many very wealthy club owners of its own.”
‘Historic moment for football’
The UK government’s legislation for an independent regulator would
grant powers to a body, independent of football and government
authorities, that will oversee men’s soccer in England’s top five
tiers.
The regulator will be able to block breakaway leagues like such as the
European Super League, strengthen the tests for owners and directors of
clubs and have powers to backstop the financial distributions between
the Premier League, the EFL and National League, with the new body able
to ensure a settlement is reached.
The mooted introduction of an independent regulator comes against the
backdrop of some Premier League clubs falling foul of the Premier
League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
Everton and Nottingham Forest have been handed points deductions for
breaching financial rules previously agreed by the 20 top-flight clubs.
Earlier this month, Everton were handed a further two-point deduction
for allegedly breaching Premier League financial rules.
And Manchester City – winners of five of the last six Premier League
titles – has also been , which includes failing to provide accurate
financial information, failing to comply with UEFA’s financial fair
play (FFP) regulations, and failing to follow Premier League rules on
profit and sustainability.
The club has continuously denied any wrongdoing and a conclusion to
their case reportedly remains some time away.
With both Nottingham Forest and Everton appealing the deduction of
points, the final standings come the end of the Premier League season
might be subject to change depending on the outcome of those appeals.
The final round of Premier League fixtures are played on May 19 with
the outcome of Nottingham Forest’s appeal reportedly expected by May
24, five days after the final day of the season.
Both Forest and Everton are mired in a relegation battle near the
bottom of the Premier League table, meaning the outcome of these
appeals could have a dramatic impact on not only this season, but also
the next one.
The Premier League has said it hopes to resolve Everton’s appeal
before the May 19 finish of the current season.
The possibility of financial penalties ultimately deciding the fate of
a 38-game Premier League season will potentially “damage the
integrity” of the whole competition, according to Maguire.
“You have to be honest, as far as international fans are concerned,
their focus is very much on the top of the league,” he explains. “I
think there’s far more concentration on all the positions in the
table domestically and yes, the Premier League will suffer short term
reputational damage.
“As we’ve seen on many issues, football fans have remarkably short
memories when it suits them and the focus within a few weeks, once the
dust has settled on relegation, will be on who’s coming up, who’s
going to be signed and so on in terms of summer transfer activity.”
When contacted by CNN for comment, the Premier League pointed to their
commitment to the implementation of a “swift development and
implementation of a new League-wide financial system.”
It added: “Premier League clubs also re-confirmed their commitment to
securing a sustainably-funded financial agreement with the EFL, subject
to the new financial system being formally approved by clubs.
“The League and clubs also reaffirmed their ongoing and longstanding
commitment to the wider game which includes £1.6 billion distributed
to all levels of football across the current three-year cycle.
“The Premier League’s significant funding contributions cover all
EFL clubs and National League clubs, as well as women and girls’
football, and the grassroots of the game.”
Value of Premier League status
It’s not just in the Premier League where teams are falling foul of
financial regulations.
Leicester City, who sit near the top of the second tier of English
football, was charged in March by both the Premier League and the EFL
for breaching financial rules.
Relegated from the Premier League in 2023, Leicester any wrongdoing and
opened legal proceedings against the Premier League and the EFL, but
could face a points deduction if found guilty.
If it is promoted at the end of the season, it could begin its return
to life in the Premier League with the points deduction.
“Leicester City announcing that they’re going to issue proceedings
against both the Premier League and the EFL has thrown a major spanner
into the works,” Maguire said.
“Clearly the club is very unhappy with what has happened in regards
to charges from both parties and therefore they’ve decided to fight
back as best they can to defend their position.”
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