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It looks as is free to air broadcasting of international matches may be undermined with Sky poised to secure the rights for the new Uefa Nations League. The new competition is set to launch in 2018.
It will divide national teams into leagues and will replace most friendly matches. It is intended to tackle declining interest in international football outside of the major competitions.
Bolton Wanderers face the threat of administration despite a fire sale that has included putting their entire playing staff on the market and raising £4m by selling the offices at the Macron stadium. The club’s situation remains finely balanced despite the sale of the offices and the prospect of future income from transfers. The offices are rented to several businesses and generated £800,000 annually.
Manchester United will become the first football club to launch a dedicated 24 hour television channel in China next week, as it seeks to keep up with growing Chinese interest in the game. Sina Sports, an online sports platform, will begin broadcasting the club’s MUTV on its website, mobile site and app next Sunday.
Recent turbulence on the Chinese stock exchange and a fall in the country’s interest has not dampened interest in the potential of the Chinese market for football.
Relegation from the Scottish Premier League would hit Dundee United hard, chairman Stephen Thompson has warned. His family would not go on ploughing in money into the club in the long term.
The club has the 3rd biggest wage bill in the Premier League and has spent £650,000 on transfer fees in the last 18 months which is, of course, a small sum by the standards of the English Premier League. Thompson blames their present plight on poor player recruitment last summer.
The author of the Swiss Ramble blog takes his customary in depth and meticulous look at Swansea City’s finances in his latest post. In many ways, the Swans have been seen as a model of the way in which a ‘smaller’ club can succeed.
In a rather unusual intervention the chief executive officer of major Manchester United sponsors adidas has said that he wants to see the team playing more attractive football. The kit sponsor signed a record £750m ten year deal with the club last year.
The football team supported by Pope Francis, CA San Lorenzo de Almagro, is to have a new stadium built on the one it was evicted from 36 years ago. The picture above shows him displaying their traditional red and blue colours.
Almost all the major deals for Premier League television deals are now done and the total looks like being around £3.2bn over three years. This represents a 50 per cent increase on the corresponding figure for 2013-16. When the Premier League started in 1992-3 the rights were worth £8m a year.
Hard nosed American investors are replacing the oligarchs and egoists who have invested in English football over the last twenty years. If the deal at Everton goes ahead, eight of the twenty Premier League clubs will have investors from the US.
Gate money was once a strong determinant of finishing position, but although they are well supported, Aston Villa, Sunderland and Newcastle United are all in danger of relegation. Bournemouth, whose attendances are limited by stadium capacity, could well survive.