Would the government bail out EPL Clubs?

[dazza74]

Does make me wonder whether they would step in and be interested in your opinions on this. Had a brief look through the news of the world on Sunday and some of the level's of debt held by these clubs is pretty amazing. Manchester United for instance are paying out £60m a year just to keep on top of interest payments on the debt built up by the club since their takeover. Could Chelsea keep on top of the yearly £170M wage bill if Roman got bored with football or decamped to Barcelona. Maybe Rupert Murdoch would have to step and fund a form of bailout of certain clubs to protect his Sky TV interests.

 

[Iccz]

Why should smaller clubs have to struggle and go into administration etc and the larger clubs be bailed out by the government, I think it would cause chaos if a larger club were to be bailed out.
Both from football fans and people who do not like football and complain about the crazy wages players etc get.

 

[eric pisch]

The Football bubble will burst eventually

The teams are paying stupid salary's and prices and the club values are over inflated

With consumer money being squeezed ever more (and expect big tax rises over the next 2 years) rampant unemployment and TV advertising revenues nose diving its unsustainable.

I never worked out how my mate could afford to pay £40 a ticket for himself and his 3 sons every week

 

[kopchoir]

I think latest reports show that clubs mostly the Bigger clubs although have a lot of debt it seems to be managable, i cant see the Goverment bailing any clubs out most clubs have assets wether that be their playing staff grounds and land to sell off first and foremost.
I cant see any goverment bailing any club out that pays their employees 100k a week to be honest clubs should concentrate on getting folk through the turnstiles with reduced ticket fees

 

[sniffer66]

£40 each ?

 

[DJT75]

Not sure the government would but the Premier League certainly would - they've got a global product to look after.
Had Pompey gone bust 2 weeks ago, the played out results & unplayed fixtures nightmare that would result would affect the entire season for all 20 clubs, leaving the product in ruins for this season. I can't see the PL letting that happen.

 

[kopchoir]

£40 each ?

Concessions for kids are quite large its the money they make in the club shop after a day out with mummy and daddy they make their money on that one.

Thing is lower league clubs are the same my local team Bury charge just short of £20 for a game or i can sit in the Kop for an extra tenner makes no sense to me i understand that clubs of this size struggle and need to have structured ticketing for their revenue but when the gorund is 2/3 empty beggers belief imo

 

[Hillskill]

No chance. The public uproar would be monumental ! Besides an EPL club wouldn't disappear off the face of the earth but instead incurs a points penalty, suffer a mass exodus of staff and free fall a couple of divisions (as per charlton, southampton, leeds etc). Some might argue that this is simply a club finding its "true" level.

 

[eric pisch]

Concessions for kids are quite large its the money they make in the club shop after a day out with mummy and daddy they make their money on that one.

Thing is lower league clubs are the same my local team Bury charge just short of £20 for a game or i can sit in the Kop for an extra tenner makes no sense to me i understand that clubs of this size struggle and need to have structured ticketing for their revenue but when the gorund is 2/3 empty beggers belief imo

when i say kids the oldest is 22 now, manu fans, with travelling up there food etc they avg £200 a time

 

[HMHB]

I don't think the Premier League or the Government should bail out any club. This will be unfair on clubs like Burnley who have got there by not going into the red and Leeds and lots of other teams who've had to drop down leagues due to financial problems.

 

[sniffer66]

when i say kids the oldest is 22 now, manu fans, with travelling up there food etc they avg £200 a time

Scary, I have no idea how people afford it

 

[Deleted member 36193]

Not sure the government would but the Premier League certainly wouldQUOTE]

I I don't know about that. The Premier League looks rich, but it's only on paper (and in the overpaid player's pockets). Look at the debts each club has. And the clubs ARE the PL. No doubt some individuals have silly money, but their allegiance is to their own club, not PL.

I don't understand why clubs aren't forced into insolvency because some are undoubtedly in worse states than companies in other industries who would have to go into receivership carrying the sort of debt they do, and their inability to pay the debt down. Let's be honest, if you've been in business for over 100 years and don't make a profit, you never will.

Servicing debt by keeping up interest payments is one thing, but most clubs are probably insolvent, hence the chase to get a sugar daddy who has more money than sense.

I'd advocate all clubs having to be debt free within 5 years. If they don't work towards this, then the bubble will most certainly burst. And I for one hope it does. It would force football to re-examine what's important.

Relying on sky's money so heavily is a stupid stance to take-if they find a better way of putting dishes on houses, they'll switch their priorities.

So, would the govt rescue a PL club? They haven't so far (Leeds), and the votes they would lose by rescuing a Man U for example would make it a political No No.

 

[dazza74]

What makes English clubs so vunerable imo is that they are no longer in principle owned by the fans.

Apparently we are about the only country in the world that allows a billionaire to come in and buy a football club. It's no wonder the big clubs like the old guard top 4 are concerned by Man City and want to bring in regulation to stop your Sugar Daddy's of this world buying a club, going to be difficult to service the debt if you don't make the champions league one year.

 

[GasDad]

I'd argue that to an extent the government has already bailed out a number of clubs - doesn't the fact the Portsmouth owe £2M tax, mean they have been at least temporarily bailed out?

 

[dazza74]

A couple more stats for you, average players wage when the premiership started was £75K a year, by 2006 it was £676K a year, it's now £1M a year. Not all players are coining it in though, Kevin Davies is the highest paid at Bolton and they reckon he gets £1.3M a year.

 

[Hillskill]

What makes English clubs so vunerable imo is that they are no longer in principle owned by the fans.

Apparently we are about the only country in the world that allows a billionaire to come in and buy a football club. It's no wonder the big clubs like the old guard top 4 are concerned by Man City and want to bring in regulation to stop your Sugar Daddy's of this world buying a club, going to be difficult to service the debt if you don't make the champions league one year.

Really interesting point. Do you think English fans could ever run a Barca style club where the Board and chairman are voted in by season ticket holders ?

 

[kopchoir]

when i say kids the oldest is 22 now, manu fans, with travelling up there food etc they avg £200 a time

I can quite belive it mate my wifes uncle had 5 season tickets every year for the past 20 years at old trafford as well as a box, and has just decided this season to relinquish them all and keep his club wembley seats on.

I wouldnt like to put a figure on how much football cost him or did up until last year

 

[GasDad]

Not all players are coining it in though, Kevin Davies is the highest paid at Bolton and they reckon he gets £1.3M a year.

That sentence uses a definition of the word 'Not' that I'm unfamiliar with.

I support a club (Bristol Rovers), where top whack the players get £5K a week. Oddly enough the football is just as exciting (or is that because we're allowed to stand?)

 

[kopchoir]

(or is that because we're allowed to stand?)

I miss standing its what brought sky and the EPL the money it has now IMO

 

[Iccz]

Oddly enough the football is just as exciting (or is that because we're allowed to stand?)

That's because you have passion, for a lot of people it's all about seeing the big names, if only every sports fan had the same outlook as you and the other true fans.

A lot of the premiership fans say lower division football is boring because there is less talent, even though the levels of talent are equally matched with a few players who stand out, it's the same game, same levels of excitement etc but to some the level of quality is what makes it for them, not true fans of the sport IMO.

 

[dazza74]

Really interesting point. Do you think English fans could ever run a Barca style club where the Board and chairman are voted in by season ticket holders ?

Seems like the bigger clubs here have only ever had a few large stake owners of shares which makes them vulnerable to any take over. Arsenal for example nearly 86% of the club is owned by four individuals now.

There laughing really a club like Barcelona for example, they've got around £140M a year coming in from being able to sell their own tv rights and like Real Madrid getting the lions share of any pot of money available. Pretty much guaranteed CL football given the lack of competition which makes them a sound investment. And due to fan ownership not vulnerable to somebody without the clubs interests at heart in it for a quick buck.

 

[kopchoir]

My own team set up an ambitious plan to do that but its hard to find 100,000 folk with 5 grand in their pocket to spare these days.

SHARELIVERPOOLFC MAKE REVISED PROPOSAL

 

[dazza74]

That sentence uses a definition of the word 'Not' that I'm unfamiliar with.

Sorry, I meant I was a little surprised that a top earner at one club could only barely make it above the player average across the league as a whole. Similar to wages in this country, I believe the average wage is about 26K yet only about 10% earn 40K or more (could be wrong on that though).

 

[Iccz]

Sorry, I meant I was a little surprised that a top earner at one club could only barely make it above the player average across the league as a whole. Similar to wages in this country, I believe the average wage is about 26K yet only about 10% earn 40K or more (could be wrong on that though).

The problem is a huge amount people do not earn the "average" wage, it's a misleading figure.

 

[dazza74]

The problem is a huge amount people do not earn the "average" wage, it's a misleading figure.

Oh yes, best not get me started on that one