It looks as if the Premiership is going to get a boost from the value of its overseas broadcasting rights. The current three-year deal is worth £625m but the new deal may well be above £1bn. However, the Premiership may not disclose the exact amount because of a potential public backlash which is an interesting reflection on reactions to success. Much of the popularity of the Premier League in Asia is linked to its use in gambling.
It looks as if the Premiership is going to get a boost from the value of its overseas broadcasting rights. The current three-year deal is worth £625m but the new deal may well be above £1bn. However, the Premiership may not disclose the exact amount because of a potential public backlash which is an interesting reflection on reactions to success. Much of the popularity of the Premier League in Asia is linked to its use in gambling.
The news will do nothing to cheer up Coventry University football finance expert John Beech who denounced the Premiership model as flawed on television last night. One has to be careful, however, of generalising from the particular case of Portsmouth to the Premiership as a whole: that would be to commit the individualistic fallacy. The competition still attracts big crowds, big television audiences and some of the world’s best players.
In an editorial this morning, the Financial Times draws some hard lessons from the Portsmouth fiasco. The Pink ‘Un declares: ‘The glittering prizes are available only to teams that come from London, Liverpool or Manchester. For the rest, it is safer to cleave to solid mediocrity. To chase greatness is simply to invite ruin.’
As far as Portsmouth is concerned, the FT comments: ‘Comparisons with small countries reinventing themselves as global financial centres may hurt, but are deserved. Better to heed the warning of Portsmouth. Teams from provincial towns should sell the costly players, throw out the oligarchs and embrace mediocrity.’