Premier League move back decision on USM naming rights deal

Sportsmail revealed in January that the Premier League were investigating the extraordinary deal in which Usmanov's holding company, USM, will pay £30million for the option to buy naming rights for a ground that will not open until 2023 at the earliest on a site where building work has yet to begin.

The Premier League are seeking to establish if Everton's sale of a future naming-rights option for an unbuilt stadium, which would represent a first in UK sport, for £30m represents fair market value.

Executives at rival clubs raised eyebrows at the deal when it was announced in January, questioning its value and whether Usmanov could be considered independent, leading to private claims that the cash injection was an attempt to help Everton comply with the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules.

Premier League Rule E.54 states that any commercial deal 'arising from a related party transaction' must be 'recorded in the club's annual accounts at a fair market value'.

A Russian tycoon and the other shareholders of his holding company USM have donated RUB2bn ($26mn) to help in the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic in Russia, the company said in a press release on April 6.

USM

If the poor souls are so overworked then they need only announce that there can be no further action planned, never mind undertaken, until the Government gives the all clear for life to return to normal.

Next I'll need planning permission to display the name of my house.

The AGM was a bit of a shambles, but I can't see why Everton should be singled out for investigation at the request of other Premier League clubs. The only possible unknown is the extent of Usmanov involvement in Everton and whether it constitutes an ownership interest, breaking an ownership rule. Hopefully all the t's were crossed and i's dotted. The FA haven't been favourable to Everton in the past.

Bill will have to earn his corn because, in my opinion, he is in situ to deal with governing bodies.

I also believe there is no "investigation" as such, just a delay in accepting or rejecting Everton's deal.

Every deal will come under a certain amount of scrutiny to check it complies with the rules. This one is no different apart from the fact that some journo prick wants something to write about to justify his salary because there's fuck all going on in football at the moment.

Money is going to be scarce but, with a super-accountant in charge of proceedings for his super-rich boss, then I'm taking the positive side, and although we know the press won't like it one bit, we need to start finding a bit of fight to help put these one-sided reporters in their place!

Which circles was Samuel a party to? With what other deals were the 'executives' comparing 'value'? What was the criteria being used to judge Usmanov's independence? Why use the word 'private' in the claim that the finance was to assist Everton under the League's profit and sustainabiity rules?

We all know that most big deals in English football attract 'raised eyebrows'. Doubtless it is one subject among many that people in the game would look upon with interest. But what we have here is simply a journalist expressing his own opinion but without the bravery to word it as such.

All the Mail have done is taken the blindingly obvious delay and turned it into fake news to fill column inches – par for the course with the media, if there's no 'new' news – and there isn't. Let's face it, there's only one story at the moment. Make it up.

The comments from the gobshites on the article are hilarious. Even more so because I didn't think the average gobshite had the IQ to read a paper like the Daily Mail.

They say they are investigating naming rights based on market value at the minute. Well, Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea can all go and sign £3M to £40M per year deals for shirt sponsorship leaving other clubs, eg, Norwich, for instance, on maybe £3M to £4M per year estimate. How is that fair then?

When it suits the big clubs that's why, when a club comes along to threaten the top 6 cartel, a rule book comes out. Screw that... press on, Everton – forget the cartel

There are many clubs who have players out of contract in June, and I can't see too many clubs wanting to carry on paying these players after June. They probably won't get anyone offering them a new contract till the season starts again, and as yet nothing has been said about what the leagues plan to do over the transfer window. As it stands now, it would normally open in a couple of weeks and close in August; I can't see that happening at present.

When they do finally open the window, what clubs will have funds to make transfers happen? And even for the ones who have, will selling clubs have to accept massively lower prices, as this will be a very different market when it does open?

Finally to Sky: there has been speculation that they may refuse to pay the £750 million owed to the Premier League clubs if they don't fulfill this season's fixtures. If that happened, then many more clubs would go to the wall and therefore Sky would be cutting its own throat. There has been talk of increasing the number of games that Sky could show live, which may placate Sky and stop them refusing to pay the £750 million.

But, for a while now, the clubs with a worldwide fanbase have long argued that they should get a bigger slice of the cake than they do at present, and would push for a similar TV deal that both Barcelona and Real Madrid get, which is were they get millions more than the other Spanish clubs.

I believe that both Man Utd and Liverpool could make much more from selling their matches live rather than be tied up to any Sky deal. How many other clubs in the Premier League would benefit from something similar, I am not sure. But I could imagine Man City, Chelsea and maybe Arsenal may also consider it being more lucrative to them than being in a deal with Sky.

Could be time for FFP to be scrapped?

As you say Dave #24, we will see a different financial picture when we emerge from the current crisis, and as for Everton, one can only hope that the BMD project keeps its momentum. I am fairly sure Mr Ancelotti will get us sorted on the playing side, given time and perseverance.

What price "Liverpool for Sale" if the TV money dries up?

Maybe money being scarce, the big guns across Europe might be looking at how they can generate more for themselves? It's uncertain times, and who knows what the future is going to hold now.

This totally sums it up. I was pissing meself by the end!

Link

Yet no problems other clubs having large shirt sponsors, or buying cheap houses and forcing people out of their home, to expand their stadium.

It is a good job we are looking to make use of the hydraulic tower, because god forbid had we not included it in our plans, they would have been onto Everton in a flash.

Everything Everton have done towards the new stadium, and the plans for The Goodison legacy is top class.

All thought out, great use of L4 when we leave, brilliant work by EitC, everything done with no inconvenience to anyone, a great future creating jobs, redeveloping the area by Bramley-Moore Dock and leaving behind plans to not leave a wasteland or a supermarket there.

They should be patting Everton on the back, but no they have to scrutinise anything that involves Everton, and I am not just talking about the sponsorship.

Everton have followed all rules in planning and application processes, but the pathetic RS hangers-on will always try and pollute the real world, as the RS Neroistic bosses, showed last week.

EFC has class, and The RS will never catch us up, and that's the difference that can't be bought, nor believed.

EFC, we can turn this global transcend, in these dire times for the World, into our biggest victory.

Top five richest Premier League owners and where Everton's Farhad Moshiri ranks

"The 64-year-old bought into Everton in February 2016 when he took a 49.9 percent slice of the Blues but that was upped to 68.6% in September of last year.

Then, in June of last year, Moshiri increased in stake in Everton to 77.2 percent."