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JJohn Henry and Joel Glazer weren’t at the Premier League video meeting to promote Project Big Picture that they worked in the US to reshape English football, or to take fire from its takedown by the other clubs. Despite the Premier League’s emphatic assertion that the plans “will not be endorsed or pursued,” the Liverpool owner is said to consider it a victory that all 20 clubs have committed to a strategic review, in which they will inevitably be discussed. some of their proposals.
Some in the EFL were also trying to look on the bright side after a tense few days that haven’t shed the most flattering light on the inner workings of the big game. They believe that at least the idea was surprisingly raised in Liverpool and Manchester United’s plan, to share 25% of the Premier League billionaires with the EFL, and now must be negotiated.
Others, however, felt that in the midst of this immediate crisis for the game, they had little left to catch but stale air.
The stinking problem with the plan was that the brilliant idea of repairing the huge gap between the two leagues 28 years after the Premier League broke up was wrapped up in the horrible idea of control of the so-called big six clubs, and that seemed close to another . break away.
The fact that Henry and Glazer’s “project” called for each Premier League club to deliver eight live matches per season to be sold internationally through their own streaming platforms made the goal of voting control seem like a blueprint. to gain future rights to their own treasure chests. . Liverpool, United and the other major clubs are seeing the broadcast potentially become a huge source of income for the fans that the big names and the appeal of their clubs have earned around the world.
This period during the 2019-22 TV deals, which were sold for £ 8.6bn (the EFL deal is £ 360m over the same three years) was always likely to produce a battle between the six for more participation next time. Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive who held the original television distribution together for so long, eventually presided over the handover of some of the international rights to the top six. Henry had publicly lobbied for it.
Scudamore announced that he would leave office on almost the same day, the end of an era. Candidates for his replacement found reasons not to take on one of the sport’s big administrative jobs seemingly before Richard Masters, then the league’s chief commercial officer, was elevated and the search ended.
Perhaps Liverpool and United, having seen the vehement backlash against their blatant bid for control of the vote, can moderate it through this strategic review and other arguments to move on to the next round of money. Perhaps they will go ahead with the same demands. The Glazers were brave enough to buy United with £ 525 million of borrowed money and then make the club and its fans pay all the spirit-sapping costs; Henry is a billionaire with a keen insight into the potential value of his assets globally, and he won a battle for international rights.
Even without a European break-up threat to realistically handle, the six are not shy about reminding the rest that they make up a large chunk of the television audience. Even if the 14, three of whom change every season, deepen and keep the arrangements as is, and their own sections of over £ 100 million, the Champions League will inevitably expand from 2024, making the big clubs participants will get richer anyway.
But the surprising difference in the takeover plan this time around was the 25% redistribution offer to the EFL. Since 1992, when the Football League’s First Division clubs split up to keep all the money from satellite TV and left the other three divisions abandoned and resentful, no other consolidation of power has offered more participation in the pyramid. Hence the bizarre spectacle this week in which the vast majority of ESL clubs welcomed the plan to ease their endless financial struggles, even as it was generally denounced as a greedy appropriation by the wealthiest. .
Some EFL clubs believe that prospect will remain on the table through this strategic review. But on the same day, Premier League clubs announced a short-term crisis fund minimum of £ 250 million that EFL President Rick Parry had been seeking – just £ 20 million guaranteed to League clubs. One and League Two, with more available. to be applied for as loans.
Even at this stage, you can imagine a possible grim outcome of the review, where some ugly parts of Henry’s plan are granted, more power and money for the big clubs, but none of the progressive parts.
Soccer’s deeply uneven, unsatisfying and shaky status quo has been reasserted, for now.
