To put it into perspective, Madrid and Barcelona each make £118m a year on domestic rights alone. Valencia get 42m, Atletico Madrid just over £40m and Sevilla £27m. The duo’s stranglehold is certainly a topic of debate with President’s all over Spain attempting to force the issue, but it’s clear, while both Madrid and Barca hold all the cards, the league will remain a two-horse race.
The duo protest that because 60% of the nation’s fans support either two of the club’s, then they are well within their rights to demand the lion’s share of the proceeds from TV revenues. The can of worms opened up by Ayre could lead to a slippery slope. In all honesty, how much could the likes ofWigan, Bolton and Blackburn hope to gain from striking their own individual rights deals? They’d receive a fraction of what they are currently obtain and this latest development threatens, with the assistance of the facilitating FFP rules, to make the football landscape even more segregated.
Of course, the rules with regards to owners, are a deliberate attempt to address the issue of the financial black hole that has threatened the futures and safety of football clubs all over Europe, particularly when wealthy owners quickly lose their fortunes – as happened with Portsmouth and Sacha Gaydamak, West Ham and their Icelandic owners and when former Man City owner Thaksin Shinawatra and Birmingham owner Carson Yeung’s assets were frozen by the authorities.
The latest furore with concerns to the TV rights here in England could have a devastating effect on the future of many clubs and the very fabric around which the game is based. The Premier League shares it’s money out fairly evenly at present, but if clubs are allowed to negotiate their own separate deals, it could lead to a two-tiered division both financially and out on the pitch.
The overall aim of the FFP rules is clear – it hopes to wean clubs from their over-reliance on their owners while simultaneously trying to address the issue of ballooning wages. Chelsea’s wages currently take up 82% of their turnover, a figure that is quite frankly unsustainable, while the Abu Dhabi Group have pumped in well over £500m since their takeover into Man City – an eye watering amount that few, if any, in the world can compete with.
The club’s with the 3 highest turnovers in the world at present are Real Madrid (382m), Barcelona (346m) andMan Utd (286m) – these are without question the three best footballing sides in the world too, is it a coincidence? I think not. Will the FFP rules have any affect on them any time soon? It’s difficult to say with any certainty but it looks somewhat unlikely at present.
While UEFA’s rules, though good intentioned as they are, mandate that clubs can now only lose up to a maximum of £39m in total between 2011-14 otherwise they will be banned from competing in Europe, in practice, it will make little difference to those already inside the winner’s circle.
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