OPINION
Leeds United fans go into Christmas on a massive high following their team’s remarkable comeback against Aston Villa on Sunday.
But crises are never far away when it comes to the Yorkshire giants and it emerged over the weekend that Andrea Radrizzani’s business is in real peril.
The United owner has made his fortune through sports media rights but appears to have bitten more than he can chew with digital-only broadcaster Eleven Sports.
He admitted that he is considering shutting down the British arm of Eleven Sports in Britain just four months after it started up amid a blaze of publicity and big promises about being at the forefront if a digital sports revolution.
In an interview with the New York Times, the Italian tycoon admitted the business is in meltdown and “you cannot just keep losing money.
Some might claim, including those high up at Leeds, that this is a personal crisis for Radrizzani and not one that will affect the club where he has majority control.
A recent report from the newspaper that broke the story about Eleven Sports’ potential closure suggests differently.
It was said earlier this month that the man who took sole ownership of Leeds in May of last year has made the alarming behind-the-scenes move to seek financial guarantees should United fail to reach the Premier League promised land at the end of this season.
That would suggest the the Eleven Sports meltdown is set to have a major knock-on-effect at Elland Road.
While Radrizzani works around the club to renegotiate deals with the Spanish and Italian leagues and concentrates on averting crisis in a business that will financially affect him hugely, there must surely be shivers down the spines of the entire Leeds fan base.
With their team flying high and automatic promotion looking such a genuine possibility, the last thing the club need is for the owner to pull up the drawbridge.