Domestic TV rights deal is another cash bonanza for Premier League clubs

We can get busily borrowing against future revenues before maxing ourselves out just in time for any proposed ground move!!

Surely the deal means even WE must be able to pitch in our usual proposed pittance for any free ground ride weÂ’re after?

Several questions, how much extra will we get? Will it be invested in the team? Stadium upgrade? New stadium? Bit of both? Or will it disappear on new lawn mowers and "unknown costs" or whatever they were called.

Let the debate begin.

The finances at Everton are akin to a black hole IMO and I simply donÂ’t believe any of the spin coming out of the club. I hope IÂ’m proven wrong.

Secondly, it makes EvertonÂ’s announcement of a season ticket price freeze look like an inspired piece of PR. So inspired, that I suspect Barnacle Bill had some inside knowledge! The issue of ticket prices is now front and centre, in particular at clubs with working class fan bases, and Everton have put themselves in a good place on this subject, for now al least.

Thirdly, it will inevitably make the financial case for a new stadium much more achievable for the club(subject to my first point of course),Indeed, I have now become far less sceptical than I was on this coming about.

In turn, this will remove perhaps the biggest barrier to Everton falling under the ownership if the mega rich foreign owner. I suspect that their financial advisors at this very moment will be running the rule over every Â’availableÂ’ Premiership club, and even the larger ones at the top of the Nationwide. I think it is inevitable that we will fall under the spotlight, and this will intensify should the new stadium project gain meaningful momentum.
in the final analysis, those who have been baying for Kenwright and his mates to be replaced may finally get their wish.

A jaw-dropping comment that Richard Scudamore made at the press conference was that the new deal would mean that the bottom club in the Premier League under the new deal, will have a higher enterprise value than Ajax of Amsterdam!

Our turnover of 𧴰m had just 㿀m of match day gate receipts. Expect the tv money to go into player pockets rather than reducing home and away ticket prices.

𧵔m for winning the league from 2016-7 onwards, 㿨m alone for reaching the Champs League group stages from next season. The gap between 4th and 5th really starts to widen from next season, then that deal kicks in that summer.

I have 3 wishes to keep us in the sane world...

1. Get the ticket prices down to 㾻 maximum or pro-rata equivalent for season tickets. Fill all the stadiums for all games, reducing the prices wonÂ’t see a huge drop in income compared to TV money (unless youÂ’re Arsenal or Utd who can charge up to 𧴜 a ticket)
2. Get our debt paid off asap. If income goes up 㿔m+ extra per season clear the debts.
3. New stadium. Rebuild Goodison stand by stand. Do something now while the money is there. No excuses now. None whatsoever

Back in the real world, the race is on for the first 𧺬,000 per week salary in the Premier League...and the most important game of the season will be the Championship play off final for financial reasons alone. Relegation from the Premier League will kill teams off for good now.

All aboard the rollercoaster. Let the mayhem continue.

All PL teams will have lots of money to spend on medioka players and give astronomical wages to mercenaries! I used to think the bubble would burst but now IÂ’m not so sure it will and itÂ’s becoming more and more likely that our only chance of success is inherihiting an Arab, Russian or American who is wanting to have a plaything. Cue the debate about selling our soul etc!

ItÂ’s all very depressing really as IÂ’d love to be in a position to ignore football/footballers but my love of the blues stops me from doing it !

Rant over and back to the pills!! Only a 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge can cheer me up now!

It is obscene that with this investment into football we have clubs going out of business.

With the prospect of no European games to distract us (unless we win the Europa League, and stranger things have happened) there is no way we should consider selling any of our younger players – ie, Coleman, Barkley, Stones or Besic to raise money for funds.

We will have to rebuild at the end of this season with IMO a quality attack minded midfielder , if Mirallas leaves another speedy goalscoring wing player and a proven keeper.

The other point is if BK and the Board are going to give RM a large amount to spend as despite RM supposedly having contacts all over Europe, he has not really shown a lot of vision in his present signings with the majority of his money spent on one player.

BT enter the market and take some of the matches off Sky yet the price we pay to Sky continues to increase for a decreased amount of games.

Finishing high up in the league is now equivalent cash-wise to a good CL run. What this means - and what weÂ’re seeing even this season - is that average PL clubs have similar spending power as many of the top tier clubs abroad.

ItÂ’s going to mean that there will be less quality difference between the traditional sky 6 and the rest, and hopefully it will be more likely that an Everton or Southampton will be able to challenge near the top of the league.

To be honest IÂ’d rather the club use a lot of the money to reduce debt and improve the stadium than pay top whack for players and ramp salary levels up even more than they are.

Kenwright should do the same, clear our debt and build us a big new "house" first and foremost so that we have something when this financial bubble bursts, and then with whatÂ’s left, which would appear to be a significant amount buy us some flash players. The new deal is over 3 years so if the 𧵬 mill mentioned above is correct then we have 𧻔 million of future income to sort things out.

The players do not need huge new salaries they are already grossly overpaid, even new players coming in should just about rub along on 㿨k a week. So 20 man squad would cost us 㿨 mill a year plus manager and back room staff, youngsters etc costing a similar amount leaves us with 𧵬 million over those 3 years to build a ground and bring in new players. Somehow though I doubt anything will happen we will still be paupers and BK will still be looking 24/7 for a buyer, the bubble will burst and nothing will have changed. This is Everton.

Otherwise if this extra cash just pushes up players wages, Liverpool City Centre will be blocked up with Kevin Mirallas style gold Bentleys.

Even relegated players will be able to afford them, shameful....

The FSF have argued that ticket prices have risen by 719% since 1989. Or in lay mans terms, a pint in 1989 was ٟ.08; with an inflation rate rising at the same rate as match tickets it would now cost ٦.85. A packet of fags, then ٟ.51, would now be 㾸.37.

Clearly, the cost of tickets are no longer sustainable and the beautiful game, the game for the working class, has quickly become the game for corporate clients paying business class prices.

Tomorrow’s game at Stamford Bridge a prime example with a ticket in the Shed Lower priced at 㿠. How ironic that the ticket has a 㾶 subsidy, paid for by Everton.

Significant progress has been made with the Premier League. They and the Broadcasters actually accept that fans travelling to away games are an integral part of the game. They make the game very marketable to a global market, some openly admitting that the Premier League product, is a flawed product in the eyes of Broadcasters when Stadiums have row upon row of empty seats.

With home attendances at record high occupancy (95.8%) the only blot on the horizon is the reducing number of supporters attending away games. Yes the usual suspects us/City/United/RS/Spurs/Arsenal etc still sell out in record times. The underlying trend is one of a downward curve.

When you consider clubs like Newcastle and Sunderland, who once travelled in large numbers, now only taking the Lower Bullens it tells you somethingÂ’s not quite right.

In fairness Everton have finally attempted to address the balance, hence the reciprocal agreement with Newcastle and Swansea.

The FSF campaign continues to gather momentum. Less than two years ago when we started off on this journey it would have been beyond the wildest expectations of most for us to have gained as many concessions has we have. The 𧶀,000 a season for three seasons to "enhance the away day experience" the numerous "Road Trips" with free coach travel are all welcome.

We need to ensure that price categorisation doesnÂ’t discriminate against younger fans, with the average age of the Premier League fan at an all time high. Our younger fans are our insurance to secure the future of the game.

We all have a moral responsibility to ensure that we put enough pressure on the decision makers within the game. Starting with our own club, we also need to ensure that like the Players (PFA) the Managers (LMA) that we the fans are organised.

Up the Toffees

The really sickening thing is that you know that all this extra TV money is going to go straight into the players’ and agents’ pockets which means the insane figure of 𧺬,000 a week is just around the corner and it’s probably far too late to try and put a wage cap in place.

The idea that this will be frittered away on trying to satisfy inflated egos and greedy mercenaries is... well... sickening tbh.

If he wants to retain the PL "brand" and keep it the spectacle that they continually advertise it to be, then they need the grounds to be filled to create the atmosphere, including away fans. Therefore he should be insisting that, as a prerequisite of receiving the money, ticket prices have to be lowered to a maximum of 㾻 at every stadium.

Let’s face it, even at the most expensive grounds, the matchday income is now small beer compared to the Sky monies. The money distribution will still favour these "expensive" grounds as they generally belong to the current top sides so there will be a similar percentage drop in match revenue for all sides.

If Scudamore had any real foresight he could also dictate that every PL team have a squad salary cap, allowing teams to pay what they want for the best talent but meaning that the journey men and mercenaries making up the remainder of the squad do not receive rewards beyond their talent or effort. This would have more impact than FFP, which with these new sky monies, will take the top teams even further away from the remainder.

With this type of system some players would have to move squads to earn more money which in turn would lead to a more balanced spread of the best talent and the PL would then really become a spectacle with every team competing on a more level playing field.

ItÂ’s just about the only hope. Clubs can use this windfall to clear debts and look at becoming sustainable. For us that clearly means a stadium that produces the matchday revenue we need to compete.

As it is, nothing seems to have changed. The clubs are spending their windfall. The day the rights payments donÂ’t increase by a large percentage weÂ’ll see clubs dropping away. The classic case of a bubble bursting.

Build a ground and build out the team and stop the shite about being paupers.

What EFC need to do as a business is refuse to pass all of this increase on to the wage bill and clearly invest in to infrastructure. Build the best possible stadium and go the extra mile in the experience of the new ground and tell fans they too need to buy in to this as it may well mean the odd players leaves (for the correct price) and the higher wage will not be met so until we get the match day income streams up and naturally stay in the EPL over a period in the new stadium then we can release more capital in to the wage bill.

Fans expectations need to reflect the clubÂ’s direction, long-term business plan against short-term cap-in-hand... ItÂ’s the way we can only operate in the future without a sugar daddy, itÂ’s a brave Chairman that states this publically but overall its best for EFC long term.

Those who continue to say "it will all end in tears" belong to the flat earth society. These links clearly show which way revenue for the PL is heading.

Link

And the worldÂ’s most influential agent, RonaldoÂ’s Jorge Mendes, agrees.

Link

With this deal alone, all 20 PL will be elevated into the top 30 richest clubs in the world ... even Burnley are Â’richerÂ’ than Ajax! Go figure...

For Everton, this represents a very real opportunity to fund our own stadium (or renovation of Goodison ... I wish!) without going around cap in hand to dubious third parties. Has BK and the board the nounce to do it...?

It also reinforces how ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL it is to maintain our PL status. To those who have advocated we could benefit from time out of the PL (yes! they exist), get yourself sectioned ...

Although the overseas rights go to a whole lot of other countries in addition to Asia. It would interesting to know how much the US market has jumped since NBC made every single Premier League game (not just the UK televised ones) available on live broadcast in the States.

YouÂ’re assuming that IÂ’m talking about a UK brand. This influx of cash compared to the German, Spanish and Dutch leagues puts the top sides in the UK (Everton amongst them) on a very different level.

This is the time to build a new stadium and the foundation for the future by targeting global markets for endorsements and sponsorships.

We were left behind at the advent of the premier league; this is an opportunity to make back some ground.

That article includes this table which shows the escalation rates for Domestic and Overseas:

Not sure how this jives with the current total being reported as ١bn...

Turning then to the new deal, as some have said, we are still no better off than our Premier League peers. Any Premier League team can now spend lots of money on players. So relatively, things will not change that much.

So what might this mean for us? I am unsure whether it means that Bill will be more likely to retain the club (there is more cash, and less urgency for "investment") or less likely (some business person looking to exploit the potential of an investment return). I would worry if it is the latter; yet do we want the current ownership structure to continue, which will mean more and more treading water unless Roberto works some miracles?

The consensus seems to be that Fox wonÂ’t want to get outbid again, ESPN are interested and that beIN Sports could swoop in and gazump the lot of they really want to. Pretty sure the US rights will sell for a lot more than 𧶲m this time and that the ٠bn for global rights for the current period will also go up quite a bit. ItÂ’s quite possible the whole thing goes for well over ٦bn (domestic and overseas combined) this time which is just staggering.

NBC's only mistake giving airtime to Men in Blazers.

I wake up early with my kids and I have EPL games on one the TVs in the background all morning, keeping me somewhat sane as I get bullied into submission by a 5-year-old and almost-two-year-old! Especially in the winter.

ESPN used to only show one, maybe two games a weekend, then no post-game, just cut right to Akron Tech vs. Northwestern Missouri A&M in a Mid-American Conference showdown!

Now we just need to get that Kate Abdo to NBC and all will be right with the SOCCER world. Some more Everton wins requested, as well. Also, if Tim Howard wants to retire to become full time analyst, wouldn't be against it! :)

Sky and the rest of the sycophants will go the same way eventually, taking the game with it, when people wake up to the real play The obscene amounts of money paid to clubs, players and their leeching agents will create a black hole from which there will be no coming back.

This is the opportunity for football 'clubs' to make themselves sustainable businesses. Sadly I suspect what will happen is the already vastly overpaid agents and players will underwrite a new golden Bentley or two and most clubs will remain on the edge of financial ruin,

But.....in the current global world if Premier League were not at the top of the pile someone else would be. Remember when Serie A was briefly king of the world – all the top English players went there – it was like the World Cup every week. When English Clubs got back into Europe, they were battered in the early 1990s.

Just talk to Dutch or Scottish fans. Their once proud clubs are now also-rans. Burnley bigger than Ajax. Imagine Falkirk or NAC Breda being bigger than Man Utd... that is what this deal means.

Italy is now suffering the same fate and if this goes on it will gradually pull down the Germans and the Spanish. Maybe Bayern, Barca and Real Madrid will manage to avoid the fate of Ajax and Rangers, but I am not so sure.

It becomes a virtual circle for us and vicious circle for them. The best players come here, the global interest increases... the more money the Premier League gets... so the better players continue to join. Eventually there will only be one – and it will be the Premier League.

No, people who say it will all end in tears are very aware that the numbers are going up at a massive rate.

Fact is, growth like that isn't sustainable. How many new markets are left to explore? How much are people prepared to pay? Clubs will now go spending this increase (and probably the next one too). I'm not saying that Sky will go all "ITV Digital" on us. They don't need to. All it will take is the increase to slow down for a few clubs to go under. It's the only thing covering their costs.

Thing is, if you were an owner right now you would absolutely gamble anything to stay in the PL because you know the rights will likely go up again next time. Bill, for example, knows that all he has to do is keep this club in the league and his revenues and club worth will multiply every few years. We can't go down but who gives a fuck what we actually achieve? It would take tens or even hundreds of millions to get top 4 but if you miss it's wasted. Survival is achievable on a relative shoestring.

What odds he finds his fabled buyer when only the desperate are still prepared to take the punt?

According to them, it's the fans' fault when players are bought for exorbitant fees and paid outrageous wages when many club employees are on minimum wage. It's also the fans' fault for watching footy on Sky and BT. It's also the fans' fault for flocking to the grounds (95-96%) to watch their teams. So, after all, as football is a business, the owners have fuck all reason to rein in their expenditure nor limit wages for their overpaid prima donnas.

Fuck 'em all. Rant over.

She basically said footballers deserve everything and we are lucky to have them grace our lives and cheer up our sad, miserable existence. That the agreed 5% levy to be paid to grass roots canÂ’t be a proper contract and we should all stop moaning. DidnÂ’t mention who she represented though,

I shouldn’t think even the wildest optimist considers the leap in TV revenue in the last two deals will be exponentially reflected in the next or future deals. It doesn’t have to be. Modest, equal, or even lesser deals will not be a ball-breaker. The sums garnered in the existing deals, over – what? – a 5-6 year period, will help those clubs already sat at the top table to cement their place even more.

"Growth like that isn’t sustainable" you claim, but the North American market alone has plenty of growth (and bucks!) in it yet. Even in ’lesser’ markets like Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa, with large upwardly mobile, young and ambitious populations, there is plenty of potential growth.

Now a potential game changer may well be when clubs start negotiating their own media deals and offer something like paid live streaming which goes directly into their coffers. But that would inevitably lead to the mega clubs cornering that market and becoming even richer. That could result in an even poorer distribution of the media monies than exists, for example, in Spain and their club by club media deal which sees RM and Barca obscenely rewarded and the rest nowhere.

In addition, if the clubs wanted exclusive rights and control over their media rights, I can’t imagine they would not be interested in maintaining their own media station, so inevitably they would still be beholden to using the existing established media outlets, such as Sky and BT. The current deal at least evicts that.

So, I continue to disagree with you and others who claim "it will all end in tears." Yes, there is a danger some clubs will go under... but it’s highly improbable that it will be a club in, or yo-yoing between the PL and the Championship.

Anyway, that's not why I came back to this thread. It was to post this table.

Even Cardiff in 20th position earned more than double of any team in the Bundesliga, the entire French league, all but the top 3 in Italy and huge amounts more than the entire Spanish league other than RM and Barcelona.

The table reinforces my belief that the PL is on a global scale the most followed and thus marketable ’product’ and it is not going ’to end in tears’ any time soon.

And you help me reinforce another point in relation to my hypothetical, (re: the PL status quo only ending if club’s negotiated their own media deals).

Look at the gross imbalance in La Liga. In the wake of last week’s deal a Spanish official came out and said Spain needed a more equitable TV deal or risk seeing the likes of Messi and Ronaldo plying their trade in England.

Clubs aren’t stupid. The majority will insist on collective bargaining rather than allowing clubs to negotiate their own deals.