Here is your weekly financial football news round-up to keep you up to date with all things financial football! This is your round-up for the week commencing 8th January 2018, featuring Chelsea, Tottenham, Wembley, Everton and the NFL.
Chelsea Have A New Chief In Town
Chelsea have announced the appointment of Guy Laurence as the club’s new chief executive effective as of February. 56 year-old Guy is the former CEO of Vodafone UK and also has sporting pedigree, having been director of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, covering NBA, NFL and most relevant, the MLS.
Arsenal Meets Egypt In New Deal
Arsenal, despite a difficult week have announced their first Egyptian commercial partner in retail company Hyde Park Developments as they look to gain a solid base in the growing African market.
As part of the deal, Arsenal will co-host quarterly training camps at two of Hyde Park Developments projects for marketing purposes, while also giving the company player access or marketing content.
The deal makes great sense for all concerned, especially with Mohamed Elneny, a key player for Egypt, playing for Arsenal.
Tottenham In Race Against Time For New White Hart Lane
Tottenham face a race against time for their new stadium, New White Hart Lane to be ready for next season as planned.
There is still considerable work to be done internally and getting the roof on the stadium that may be subject to unexpected delays. Levy has mentioned a contingency plan of another year at Wembley, further costs that the cub will be hoping to avoid.
There is also the possibility to rearrange the venue of the first few Premier League games of next season if the stadium will be ready shortly after season starts.
This will be a similar arrangement to Liverpool who played the first 3 games away from home last season while they redeveloped Anfield. Tottenham will have to reach an agreement with the applicable teams for the switch, if any is required, to happen.
Amazon To Bid For Premier League Rights
Amazon have held talks and plan to bid for a share of the Premier League TV rights for the 2019 – 2022 seasons. Amazon have longed to enter the football market and may look to final realise those intentions for the current tender. The current total TV deal is over £5.1bn and is sure to increase in this tender.
Amazon will be competing with the dominant Sky and upcoming BT for the rights – although they have significantly more financial muscle than both of these companies, they lack the know-how and experience in the market that may reduce their willingness to go all out for the TV rights.
FA New Funding Boost For Grass Roots, Women’s Football and The FA Cup
The FA have announced an ambitious new funding package for financing the development of football in England from £123m to £180m.
The funding proposes to pump an additional £9m into grassroots, aiding over 20,000 affiliated clubs. There are also plans to set up Community Club Hub networks to help clubs have access to more direct investment.
Women’s football should benefit substantially with a commitment of an additional £50m over 6 years.
The FA also plan to double the FA Cup prize money from £15m paid out in the completion currently to £30m. This will enhance the importance of the cup which has diminished due to the growing financial importance of the Premier League and Europe.
The plan to finance this involves repaying the debt in relation to the building of Wembley Stadium, totalling £142m, with interest savings of around £3m once repaid. They are also in talks of entering an agreement with Chelsea, similar to the current deal with Tottenham, for Chelsea to rent Wembley while Stamford Bridge is rebuilt.
La Liga Overseas TV Rights Tender
La Liga have announced they are tendering the media rights for India, Europe and Oceania as they hope to bridge the growing financial gap between themselves and the English superpowers.
There has long been a sizeable gap between the TV right deals obtained in the two nations however the growing competitiveness of the league may lead to more interest in the competition for games other than between Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Football Meets Football At New White Hart Lane
The NFL have announced that a game will be played next season at Tottenham’s New White Hart Lane, despite an agreement for two a season.
The current agreement has led to increased speculation of the creation of a London Franchise club entering the NFL in the coming years due to the sheer demand and success of the games held in London so far.
Liverpool’s City Council Bail Out Everton
As mentioned last week the spiralling costs of Everton’s new stadium meant new financing was required, which has come in the form of a £280m land from the City’s council over a 25 year period for the stadium which is now projected to costs £500m.
The Council were quick to quash tax payer fears, claiming they will make a profit over each year of the repayment period, with an estimated £175m in profit. While also stating the loan will not come from any already committed funding in the local community.
Lack Of Sunlight Leaves Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge Plans in Turmoil
Chelsea’s rebuild of Stamford Bridge has been halted due to a family dispute due to the plans expected to lead to a ‘loss of sunlight’ caused by the stadium.
An injunction has been filed and will only be overturned if the stadium can be proved to be of social and economic benefit to the local community.
Chelsea will be hoping for a quick resolution to avoid missing any hard deadlines in the rebuild process that could set the project back severely.