Category: Premier League
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Damaging the foundations
One organisation that has been instrumental in changing the lives of many clubs, players, fans and volunteers right down into the grass roots of the game is the Football Foundation. Their work has seen clubs able to build new community facilities and new ways to generate revenues. That has only been possible by funding from…
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Islands in the stream – the digital dilemma
But the big question is what happens when fans can return? Will clubs continue to provide streaming services and if so, will they scale back the production value to reduce costs? It seems inconceivable that the Saturday blackout period will be re-introduced as attendances are unlikely to be impacted in a way that Bob Lord…
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Don’t bet on it
These clubs are driven by growing their global footprint, increasing their global fanbase and ultimately partnering with global brands. There is no doubt that these sponsors are at the top, or near the top of their respective industries and markets and so to be associated with global football clubs gives their own brand a huge…
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Creative Destruction
And then we look at football. Since 1980 53 English football clubs have gone into administration, of which 32 are currently in the top four divisions of English football, including four current Premier League clubs (Crystal Palace, Leeds United, Leicester City and Southampton). A third of the clubs currently playing at Step 1 of the…
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Many happy returns?
The news in early December that football fans would finally be allowed back into all stadiums up and down the country was long overdue and most welcome on the face of it. Whilst clubs playing at Step 3 and below were able to start the season back in September with restricted capacities, the “elite” clubs…
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Return on Investment part 2
Level 3 – Rival fans will actively avoid engaging with the brand even if it is the natural choice for them. Arsenal fans avoided buying or drinking Holstein during the 1990s as they were the shirt sponsor for Tottenham Hotspur. So presented with a choice of unusual African destinations to go to, Rwanda may no…
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Return on Investment
There are currently 383 clubs from the Premier League down to Step 4 of the National Game. At a guess less than ten percent actually make a profit every year, which means the vast majority will be financially supported by one or two individuals. These people tend to be directors and will be doing so…
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Fuel in the tank
“We have fuel in the tank to get clubs and sports through this” was the message that the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden announced on Thursday afternoon in welcoming the news that the Premier League had agreed a £250 million “rescue” package for the English Football League. “The Premier League is a huge supporter of the…
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Happy transfer window opening day
With an exodus of the “best” players, the Premier League is no longer seen as the best league in the world and when the parties sit round the table in 2018 to renegotiate the three year deal due to expire in 2019 the offer will be significantly less than we saw in 2016. Bear in…
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Marketing 101
This season the average attendance at Upton Park is 29,446, the biggest in the division. Last season it was 4,000 higher in the Premier League. Sure, there is an argument that away support demand is less, and the police have played a part in limiting away attendees for the games versus Cardiff City and Millwall,…
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The turkey tastes just a little bit better this Christmas
As we pass the halfway mark in the season, Lewes still remain top of the Bostik League South, a position we’ve held, bar one week, since the end of September. It’s not all been plane sailing and we’ve had our fair share of injuries and suspensions as this last week will testify but the hard…
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Tough at the top, tougher down the bottom
Down in the Bostik League South (as with in most other Non-Leagues), today was the first of four games Lewes played in the next nine days. Our players and physios head home to their families tonight for Christmas and some will return to their normal jobs tomorrow and even Christmas Day before regrouping on Tuesday…
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More (I)FABulous law changes on their way
Referees have so much pressure on them to perform that it is time some of the responsibility was taken off them. The use of goal-line technology in the top flight has eradicated any doubt and opportunity for error as to whether the ball has crossed the line. Somehow, we need to get that technology working…
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The Unreal situation of counterfeiting in football
Football shirts are not like Gucci handbags or Hermes scarves. They are not luxury items. They are lifestyle items. Yet they are priced as such. Some brands will say that the reason why the shirts are priced so high is as a direct result of the problem of counterfeiting. Is that fair? This is a…
The Ball is Round 