tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/manchester-city-5758/articlesManchester City – The Conversation2023-05-31T07:11:14Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2064472023-05-31T07:11:14Z2023-05-31T07:11:14ZManchester City: how Pep Guardiola’s leadership style formed a squad of champions<p>As the final whistle blew in Nottingham Forest’s <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/nottingham-forest-arsenal-live-stream-premier-league-2023-b2342704.html">1-0 win</a> over Arsenal on May 20, celebrations erupted approximately 85 miles away in the city of Manchester. Thanks to the points Arsenal lost in their defeat, Manchester City were crowned Premier League champions for the third consecutive year – and for the fifth time in the last six seasons.</p>
<p>Arsenal were <a href="https://theathletic.com/4540648/2023/05/24/premier-league-storylines-mythbusting/">leading the league</a> at the halfway stage, but it’s not unusual for Manchester City to turn the heat up in the second half of the season. They did so before in 2018/2019, <a href="https://www.premierleague.com/match/38514">beating Liverpool to the title</a> on the final day.</p>
<p>Two elements have been crucial to Manchester City’s sustained success – the depth and ability of the squad and manager Pep Guardiola’s leadership style.</p>
<p>Manchester City’s squad depth (the quality of all their signed players, not just the starting 11) can be attributed to their transfer activity over the past three seasons. The club has one of the <a href="https://www.squawka.com/en/premier-league-net-spend-2022-23/">highest net spends</a> in the division, but it was their strategic spending – acquiring players who would fit Guardiola’s plans for the team – that enabled their success.</p>
<p>While the squad already had long-serving, high-performing players such as midfielder <a href="https://www.premierleague.com/players/4288/Kevin-De-Bruyne/overview">Kevin De Bruyne</a> (2015), after Guardiola’s takeover in 2016, adequate cover for the first team was acquired in the form of <a href="https://www.premierleague.com/players/10768/Kalvin-Phillips/overview">Kalvin Phillips</a>, <a href="https://www.mancity.com/players/sergio-gomez">Sergio Gomez</a> and <a href="https://www.mancity.com/players/manuel-akanji">Manuel Akanji</a>. </p>
<p>This means Guardiola has enough quality players to form almost two different starting 11s without sacrificing the calibre of players and playing style. This is something their rivals, Arsenal, did not possess.</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/16184742.2017.1279203">fierce competition</a> between clubs to access and develop global top talent. To keep up, many are looking for alternative solutions. </p>
<p>One dominant approach is called vertical integration. This is where some club owners – such as City Football Group (CFG), which owns Man City, and Red Bull Sport – acquire satellite clubs in smaller leagues. These smaller or affiliated clubs are then owned or controlled by the main club or organisation. The aim is to secure playing time for young talents who would otherwise be blocked from getting first team opportunities. </p>
<p>CFG <a href="https://www.cityfootballgroup.com/our-story/#:%7E:text=Marinos%20in%20Japan%2C%20Montevideo%20City,and%20partner%20Club%2C%20Club%20Bolivar.">owns satellite clubs</a> in 10 countries, including the US, Japan, Australia and India. Manchester City uses the scouting network of these satellite clubs to learn of players that wouldn’t otherwise be on their radar. They then bring them into the CFG family offering a possible future of playing in the Manchester City first team. </p>
<p>This gives City a competitive advantage over their rivals in <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/who-are-premier-league-big-six-top-english-clubs-nickname-explained/130iokmi8t8dt1k3kudou73s1k">England’s “Big Six” clubs</a>, as none of their competitors have this kind of multi-club ownership model.</p>
<h2>Leadership style</h2>
<p>Guardiola has created a powerful identity at Manchester City. His leadership at the club can be compared to the “<a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Legacy/DHeqMQEACAAJ?hl=en">no dickheads</a>” philosophy of New Zealand’s national rugby union team, the All Blacks. It is based on the belief that the collective culture of a team can be spoiled by one selfish mindset.</p>
<p>This was demonstrated recently in Guardiola’s decision to loan full-back Joao Cancelo to Bayern Munich during the winter transfer window. In January and February, <a href="https://theathletic.com/4534976/2023/05/20/how-manchester-city-switched-on-to-win-the-premier-league/">journalists were speculating</a> about the body language and mood of the players in the City dressing room.</p>
<p>One of those players was Cancelo, who <a href="https://theathletic.com/4534976/2023/05/20/how-manchester-city-switched-on-to-win-the-premier-league/">has admitted</a> to feeling unhappy if he didn’t start every game. When Cancelo requested to leave, Guardiola was quick to oblige because he put the team above its individual members. His <a href="https://theathletic.com/4534976/2023/05/20/how-manchester-city-switched-on-to-win-the-premier-league/">staff believe</a> this was a crucial decision in improving team harmony.</p>
<p><a href="https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/19221/1/">Research shows</a> that measuring the effect of a leader on organisational performance is a challenging task. This is because there are multiple factors that can cause a positive or negative impact. But without doubt, while Manchester City had won Premier League titles before the arrival of Guardiola, his leadership has transformed the team. </p>
<p>It has helped them to become “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/may/15/chelsea-womens-fa-cup-final-lessons-emma-hayes-sam-kerr">hybrid monsters</a>”, who can play with any formation and any player combination and still consistently challenge for European honours.</p>
<p>Manchester City are yet to play in the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League finals. While they are the favourites to win both trophies, football is a funny game and nothing is certain until the final whistle is blown. </p>
<p>Should they emerge victorious, Manchester City will become the second English club to win the treble (League, Cup and Continental Championship) since their rivals, Manchester United, did it in 1999. They will also become the sixth English club to win the UEFA Champions League, cementing their place as one of the best football teams in history.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206447/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarthak Mondal is affiliated with University of Portsmouth. </span></em></p>City have become ‘hybrid monsters’, who can play with any formation and any player combination and still consistently challenge for European honours.Sarthak Mondal, Lecturer in Sport Management, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1695842021-10-12T17:18:44Z2021-10-12T17:18:44ZNewcastle United: buying a football club can still be lucrative – with the right business tactics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425964/original/file-20211012-27-1dc8qvi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=68%2C89%2C3426%2C2399&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/newcastle-upon-tyne-england-february-26-1336011551">Shutterstock/Michael715</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many Newcastle United fans cheered the announcement on October 7 that their club had finally been sold for <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58826899">£305 million</a>. The sale, to a consortium headed up by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, adds to a long list of clubs bought by the mega-rich, including Manchester City (owned by Sheikh Mansour), Arsenal (Stan Kroenke) and Chelsea (Roman Abramovich).</p>
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<p>But why do wealthy people or states buy football clubs in the first place? What is it about owning a team in a volatile and generally <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46511940">loss-making industry</a> where success on the pitch can never be guaranteed? </p>
<p>Certainly the more successful clubs are a safer financial bet than those further down the football pyramid, with the lower leagues regularly <a href="https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/status/1293632910545817602">haemorrhaging money</a> (the Championship notoriously spent an average of <a href="https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/championship-wages-efl-deloitte-report-salary-cap-443094">107% of income on wages</a> recently).</p>
<p>The Premier League meanwhile continues to flourish financially, with its clubs bringing in plenty of revenue. Collectively, they <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/press-releases/articles/premier-league-club-revenues-fall-for-the-first-time-ever.html">earned £4.5 billion</a> in the 2019-20 season (the latest set of available accounts), and its members made up 12 of the <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/sports-business-group/articles/deloitte-football-money-league.html">top 30 clubs in the world by revenue</a>. </p>
<p>Of those, the so-called “Big Six” Premier League clubs – Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur – are indeed the biggest six earners. Even the lowest earning among them, Arsenal, made 45% more than the next Premier League club on the list, Everton. </p>
<p>So maybe owning a big club is a way to make big money? Well, it’s not quite as simple as that, and the old adage, that the quickest way to become a millionaire is by starting out as a billionaire and buying a football club, still holds some weight. </p>
<p>This is because revenue (money coming in) is not the same as profit (money that owners can add to their existing pile of money at the end of the season). So making a fortune is by no means a given, <a href="https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/status/1425001984336310273">even in the Premier League</a>. </p>
<p>Of course, there are other reasons for buying a football club, even a loss-making one. It may be fandom, ego, prestige or politics – indeed, the Saudi backed takeover of Newcastle has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/07/saudi-backed-newcastle-takeover-as-much-about-status-as-sportswashing">labelled by opponents</a> as “sportswashing”, the use of sport as a means of seeking legitimacy or improving reputations. The new owners have <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/newcastle-takeover-sportswashing-isnt-buying-a-club-in-relegation-zone-says-amanda-staveley-w0znjjtkg">strongly denied</a> that this is the case.</p>
<h2>The long game</h2>
<p>The easiest motive to understand is the fan who buys the club they’ve always supported. Few of us get to choose which club we align ourselves to – the choice is instead often made for us by family, friends or locality. </p>
<p>Being a fan is similar to being locked into a monopoly – there is no other option. So the best way to ensure that your club is run the way you think it should be is to buy it yourself, like businessman <a href="https://www.brighton.ac.uk/about-us/news-and-events/news/2018/08-03-why-tony-bloom-bought-the-albion.aspx#:%7E:text=Tony%20Bloom%20took%20over%20Brighton%20%26%20Hove%20Albion,%E2%80%93%20not%20for%20business%20reasons.%203%20August%202018">Tony Bloom with Brighton & Hove Albion</a> or the TV chef Delia Smith <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2677785.stm">with Norwich City</a>. </p>
<p>Then there are owners that see a potential investment to take a loss-making club and turn it into a profitable one (or at least profitable enough to sell on at a higher price). You need to invest money to do this of course, but it is possible. </p>
<p>It is also possible to take a valuable club and make it less so. Mike Ashley may have bought Newcastle for £134 million in 2007 and just sold it for £305 million, but its <a href="https://www.themag.co.uk/2021/04/forbes-2021-most-valuable-clubs-no-newcastle-but-look-in-2007-when-mike-ashley-bought-nufc-newcastle-united/">relative value as a club</a> compared to its competitors in the Premier League, fell over the period of his ownership.</p>
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<span class="caption">Moneyball?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/crystall-soccer-ball-dollar-bill-football-1823860814">Shutterstock/muratart</a></span>
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<p>And while there are many ways to improve a football club’s fortunes, pretty much all of them involve heavy investment. Money for better players, money for better training facilities, money for better coaches and medical staff. </p>
<p>But aside from the significant costs, the benefits of owning a football club can be seen in the expertise, brand expansion and saved costs of sharing resources across a business empire, which again is particularly apparent in the Premier League. </p>
<p>In total, seven (that’s roughly a third) of the current Premier League majority owners also own at least one other sports team, and three own other football clubs outside England. Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke has Colorado Rapids in the US. Brentford owner Matthew Benham has Football Club Midtjylland in Denmark. Manchester City owner Shekh Mansour has many clubs worldwide within the City Group. </p>
<p>Some teams (Arsenal again, Leeds and Manchester United), have owners who also have American football teams (NFL) as part of their sporting business portfolio. </p>
<p>That is not a coincidence. From sharing backroom staff to developing specialist equipment to sharing ideas, there is much to be gained from <a href="https://theconversation.com/football-in-europe-is-being-transformed-by-us-private-equity-firms-heres-how-157445">crossover industries</a>. So perhaps, for these people at least, owning a football club is a clever business tactic after all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169584/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christina Philippou is a Newcastle supporter that teaches on the Premier League's EAM program..She is also affiliated with Fair Game, an organisation championing sustainability in football.</span></em></p>Running a successful club requires more than money. But the money certainly helps.Christina Philippou, Principal Lecturer, Accounting and Financial Management, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1658982021-08-10T15:16:06Z2021-08-10T15:16:06ZJack Grealish, Harry Kane and why release clauses should become standard in English football<p>Jack Grealish <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/aug/05/jack-grealish-seals-record-100m-manchester-city-move-from-aston-villa">has become</a> the first £100 million footballer in Premier League history with his move from Aston Villa to Manchester City. This record for an English club transfer may not last long, though, because Manchester City are <a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/manchestercity/transfer-rumours/man-city-set-to-offer-fresh-bid-for-150m-striker-after-euro-2020-confirms-fabrizio-romano">reportedly willing</a> to pay a lot more than £100 million to secure Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur. </p>
<p>Yet the Kane situation has become messy. The striker <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/may/17/tottenham-left-reeling-after-harry-kane-tells-club-he-wants-to-leave-this-summer">put on record</a> earlier in the summer that he wanted to leave Spurs, and talked of a “<a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/harry-kane-tottenham-transfer-gentleman-s-agreement-b935786.html">gentlemen’s agreement</a>” with chairman Daniel Levy that would allow this. Spurs, though, are holding firm and in recent days <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12371395/harry-kane-tottenham-striker-fails-to-show-up-for-pre-season-training-again-amid-man-city-transfer-interest#:%7E:text=Harry%20Kane%20has%20failed%20to,around%20his%20future%20gathers%20pace.">accused Kane</a> of failing to turn up for training, which <a href="https://theathletic.com/news/harry-kane-denies-refusing-to-train-returning-to-spurs-on-saturday-as-planned/5X0U83GMRrtc#:%7E:text=Harry%20Kane%20denies%20refusing%20to,Spurs%20on%20Saturday%20'as%20planned'&text=Tottenham%20Hotspur%20striker%20Harry%20Kane,has%20not%20refused%20to%20train.&text=He%20wrote%3A%20%E2%80%9CIt's%20almost%20ten,I%20made%20my%20Spurs%20debut.">he denied</a>. </p>
<p>A crucial difference between the Grealish and Kane transfer negotiations has been the existence of a release clause in Grealish’s contract. Such clauses appear to be relatively unusual in England, but they are common in other European countries. So why the difference, and what is the case for the Premier League doing things differently?</p>
<h2>Contrasting fortunes</h2>
<p>The Aston Villa chief executive, Christian Purslow, <a href="https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2021/august/Christian-Purslow-on-Jack-Grealish-transfer/">explained to fans</a> that Grealish’s contract allowed him to leave to play Champions League Football and if there was an offer of £100 million. Purslow said: “We set the value at a level we hoped would not be met but which would reflect his truly unique value to Aston Villa.”</p>
<p>This release clause created a very clear relationship between both sides. Aston Villa were able to reject any offer below £100 million. And the moment Manchester City expressed a willingness to pay £100 million, it was Grealish’s decision whether to accept. </p>
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<p>Harry Kane seems to have no such clause in his Spurs contract, which is presumably why he has been talking about the “gentlemen’s agreement”. It has resulted in a familiar bargaining impasse of <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11675/12337836/harry-kane-man-city-make-100m-transfer-bid-for-tottenham-striker#:%7E:text=Manchester%20City%20have%20made%20a,for%20Tottenham%20striker%20Harry%20Kane.">offer</a>, <a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/manchestercity/transfer-rumours/man-city-set-to-offer-fresh-bid-for-150m-striker-after-euro-2020-confirms-fabrizio-romano">counter-offer</a>, accusations and media speculation. <a href="https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/10-world-class-players-refused-train-force-transfer-ss-tl">History would suggest</a> that players in such situations ultimately move on and often for a sizeable fee, but it is still adding unwanted uncertainty and negativity for Kane and Spurs in pre-season.</p>
<p>This is a fairly familiar stand-off in the Premier League. It is therefore surprising that release clauses are not more common. The Grealish transfer joins <a href="https://www.danielgeey.com/post/buy-out-release-clauses-in-football-the-basics/">only a handful</a> of transfers within England based on release clauses, such as Swansea midfielder <a href="https://www.thisisanfield.com/2012/08/liverpool-announce-signing-of-joe-allen/">Joe Allen</a> moving to Liverpool for £15 million in 2012. More common are English clubs having to pay release clauses to attract players from the continent. For example, Chelsea paid a then record £71.6 million in 2018 to trigger <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/aug/08/chelsea-kepa-arrizabalaga-athletic-bilbao-transfer">Kepa Arrizabalaga’s</a> move from Athletic Bilbao. </p>
<p>The contrast with the continent is interesting. In <a href="https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/buy-out-clauses-how-they-work-spanish-football">Spanish football</a>, there are a lot of buy-out clauses, which are similar to release clauses. Release clauses are also relatively standard in <a href="https://www.bavarianfootballworks.com/2021/1/22/22244015/bayern-munich-florian-neuhaus-has-release-clause-but-no-tendency-toward-move">Germany</a> and <a href="https://www.getfootballnewsitaly.com/2021/fiorentina-agree-terms-for-dusan-vlahovic-contract-renewal-new-release-clause-expected/">Italy</a> (indeed Spurs are <a href="https://www.football.london/tottenham-hotspur-fc/news/tottenham-dusan-vlahovic-transfer-twist-21269532">reportedly interested</a> in buying Fiorentina striker Dušan Vlahović, who has an estimated €60 million to €70 million (£51 million to £59 million) release clause). </p>
<h2>The value of release contracts</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1574000505800104">Research on</a> bargaining from economists and game theorists certainly helps to make the case for release clauses. It is almost always advantageous to avoid uncertainty and ambiguity, which makes it important to pre-empt possible scenarios and write them into the contract. Grealish’s £100 million release clause would be an example of good practice. </p>
<p>It can also be advantageous to pre-commit and “tie one’s hands” before entering a negotiation – as powerfully outlined by Nobel prize winner Thomas Schelling in his 1960 book <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674840317&content=reviews">The Strategy of Conflict</a>. This may seem counter-intuitive, but it gives first-mover advantage in a subsequent negotiation. Aston Villa could reject lower offers for Grealish because of his £100 million clause. Tottenham have indicated they want £150 million for Kane but the lack of a contractual agreement renders that more of an aspiration than a level Manchester City have to meet. </p>
<p>Finally, research has <a href="https://academic.oup.com/restud/article-abstract/65/3/573/1565391">shown that</a> a party to a negotiation is put at significant disadvantage if there is a chance that they will be “weak” – in other words, if their negotiating position could lack credibility. So a club may claim they will only sell a player for a particular price, but the player may publicly request a transfer and maybe even stay away from training on the basis that this might damage the club enough that it backs down. </p>
<p>There are also caveats about release clauses. In particular, you have to set the clause at the right level. <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.98.4.1629">Set it too high</a> and it risks lacking credibility and weakening your bargaining power. Set it too low and you may have shot yourself in the foot – in a football situation, this could make fans angry and potentially even cost the chairman their job. This is not the situation at Aston Villa over Grealish, but in hindsight they maybe could have set the release clause higher. But either way, all of this is to argue that release clauses are difficult, not that they are the wrong choice. </p>
<p>So why are these clauses not more common in England? It may come from a sense that it is disloyal to the club for a player to insist on one. For instance, Steven Gerrard <a href="https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/steven-gerrard-jose-mourinho-liverpool-20939102">reportedly asked</a> for a release clause to be taken out of his contract to show his commitment to Liverpool. </p>
<p>But while this thought process is understandable, the Grealish transfer shows it is misplaced. His release clause put Aston Villa in a stronger position to bargain and so benefited the club. It also clearly benefited him. </p>
<p>Clubs may also be reluctant to set a release clause for fear it is set at too low a level. The experience from the continent, however, would suggest this fear is also misplaced. Instead, it offers clubs a chance to reduce uncertainty about future transfers and guarantee a minimum fee for talent. </p>
<p>In future it wouldn’t surprise me if we see more pressure from players to write release clauses into their contracts, and more acceptance from clubs and fans that the economic logic holds true. If so, perhaps the Grealish transfer could become a watershed moment in English football.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165898/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward Cartwright does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While Grealish has made an easy £100 million move to Manchester City, Kane is still playing chicken with Spurs.Edward Cartwright, Professor of Economics, De Montfort UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1609392021-05-27T15:37:35Z2021-05-27T15:37:35ZChampions League final 2021 – a game of two sides powered by gas and oil<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402635/original/file-20210525-19-4c4z6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=78%2C0%2C5719%2C3389&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-england-may-8-2021-manchester-1970696186">Shutterstock/kovop58</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On the night of the 2021 UEFA Champions League Final, Chelsea and Manchester City will battle it out for European glory. Only one of the two English teams will walk away with the trophy – but despite the rivalry on the field, both sides have plenty in common off the pitch. </p>
<p>They were, for instance, part of a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56824628">doomed attempt</a> to usurp the very tournament they are trying to win, with the establishment of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/european-super-league-owners-have-witnessed-the-power-of-fans-and-should-listen-to-them-to-avoid-future-failure-159469">European Super League</a>. That plan, involving 12 of the biggest clubs in the world, collapsed in the face of unfiltered outrage from <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2021/04/20/football-vs-greed-what-is-behind-the-outrage-over-the-european-super-league">fans, pundits and politicians</a> – and crucially, a change of heart at Chelsea and Manchester City. </p>
<p>The Super League house of cards seems to have truly started falling when Chelsea announced its intention to <a href="https://www.espn.co.uk/football/chelsea/story/4365461/chelseas-landmark-super-league-withdrawal-a-victory-that-overshadows-draw-vs-brighton">withdraw from the competition</a>. Their move was followed a few hours later by a similar <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/man-city-withdraw-european-super-league-b1834691.html">statement from City</a>. </p>
<p>There have been <a href="https://tribuna.com/en/news/chelsea-2021-04-23-putin-reportedly-behind-chelsea-withdrawal-from-super-league-for-3-key-reasons/">reports</a> that Chelsea’s U-turn was prompted by a telephone call from Russian president Vladimir Putin to his compatriot Roman Abramovich, the billionaire who owns the London club. Some media outlets have even suggested that Putin declared a super league would be <a href="https://www.rt.com/sport/522011-kremlin-abramovich-chelsea-super-league/">“against the spirit of the fatherland”</a>.</p>
<p>But however those decisions came to be made, the reality of the geopolitical and economic basis of European football is clear. And this is where the Champions League action becomes particularly interesting, especially in its associations with oil and gas. </p>
<p>Russia’s Gazprom – a corporation with origins as a state energy producer dating back to the old Soviet Union – has been a major sponsor of the competition since 2012, and has just announced a <a href="https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/about-uefa/news/0269-124ffe0cee51-2308c1da4764-1000--gazprom-partners-with-uefa-national-team-football-and-renews-ue/">big new deal with UEFA</a>.</p>
<p>Gazprom was privatised during the early 1990s reform period in Russia, but Putin’s ascent subsequently led to a majority of the company’s shares being taken back into <a href="https://www.piie.com/commentary/op-eds/folly-renationalization">state ownership</a>. Gazprom later acquired a rival energy company, the oil firm Sibneft, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2005/sep/29/oilandpetrol.russia">owned at the time by Abramovich</a>. </p>
<p>Gazprom, which is based in Putin’s home town of St Petersburg, also owns the local club, <a href="https://grantland.com/the-triangle/gazprom-zenit-st-petersburg-and-the-intersection-of-global-politics-and-world-football/">Zenit Saint Petersburg</a>. The former president of Zenit is Alexander Dyukov, a man who is also <a href="https://www.sportspromedia.com/movers-and-shakers/russian-football-president-dyukov-mutko-gazprom">president of the Russian Football Union</a>. In addition, Dyukov is chief executive of Gazprom and, in the middle of the Super League debacle, he was elected to the <a href="https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/news/0268-12163b1d0543-7ab0ff2e27b1-1000--alexander-dyukov/">executive committee of UEFA</a>.</p>
<p>If Putin really did call Abramovich about the Super League, it could be seen as yet another episode in Russia’s engagement with football as a geopolitical and diplomatic tool. </p>
<p>For many years, <a href="https://www.iris-france.org/154279-gazprom-and-its-sponsorship-of-football-from-sex-without-a-condom-to-major-strategic-threat/">some observers have wondered</a> why an organisation that sells gas to governments sits alongside the likes of McDonald’s and Coca Cola as a Champions League sponsor. But the answer to this can be found in the way that Gazprom enables Russia to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15377857.2020.1723781?journalCode=wplm20">project soft power and build legitimacy</a> through its associations with the world’s favourite game. </p>
<p>During his time as US president, <a href="https://fortune.com/2020/09/08/trump-pipeline-russia-germany-natural-gas-merkel-navalny-poisoned-nord-stream-2/">Donald Trump was bullish</a> towards Russian energy suppliers, and even imposed sanctions upon Gazprom. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-defense-congress-nord-stream-idUSKBN28E31I">Trump claimed</a> that Europe’s growing dependency on Russian energy supplies, especially in Germany (where <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-russia-has-devoted-its-energy-to-the-beautiful-game-46174">Gazprom sponsors FC Schalke 04</a>), constitutes a strategic threat to the continent’s security. The Joe Biden administration <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/05/biden-ted-cruz-russia-pipeline-473910">holds similar concerns</a>. </p>
<p>But perhaps being a sponsor of the tournament and having a strong relationship with both UEFA and Chelsea isn’t enough. For Gazprom also continues to strengthen its relations with Abu Dhabi, the small Gulf state which, via a member of its royal family, owns a majority stake in Manchester City. </p>
<h2>Gas goals</h2>
<p>Like Russia, Abu Dhabi owns some of the world’s largest carbon fuel reserves. In this sense, the Champions League final will therefore be a game powered by gas and oil.</p>
<p>Over the last decade, relations between Russia and Abu Dhabi have strengthened, leading to a series of strategic agreements, the most significant of which was <a href="https://gulfnews.com/uae/government/uae-russia-forge-strategic-partnership-1.2230246">signed in 2018</a>. <a href="https://lobelog.com/understanding-russia-and-the-uaes-special-partnership/">Described</a> as a watershed in bilateral relations, it covered all manner of issues in investment, trade, culture, space, tourism and security. </p>
<p>One outcome of this was the acquisition by Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Mubadala Investment Company of a $US271 million (£191 million), 44% stake in one of Gazprom’s subsidiaries. In 2019, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company then signed a <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/energy/adnoc-signs-strategic-framework-with-russia-s-gazprom-neft-1.924222">strategic framework agreement</a> with Gazprom to explore for and extract new oil reserves. </p>
<p>This led to a <a href="https://ntc.gazprom-neft.com/press-center/news/gazprom-neft-i-mubadala-petroleum-razvivayut-tekhnologicheskoe-sotrudnichestvo/">2020 announcement</a> that Gazprom and Mubadala will engage in technological cooperation in Siberia, where coincidentally Abramovich began building his gas powered fortune.</p>
<p>Come match day, most fans of City and Chelsea will not be overly concerned by the origins of the cash that has fuelled their clubs’ success. And with talk of a super league fading and many football fans hailing its defeat, some will see the Champions League Final as a victory parade for normality.</p>
<p>But this would be naive and misguided. For football has not merely been commercialised and industrialised over the last 30 years. It has also become intensely geopolitical, and sits at the heart of a complex global network of interests and investments. Indeed, for some powerful players, the sport has become a tactically astute means to extremely lucrative other ends – as epitomised by this year’s Champions League final.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160939/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Chelsea and Manchester City have similar goals on and off the pitch.Simon Chadwick, Global Professor of Eurasian Sport | Director of Eurasian Sport, EM Lyon Business SchoolPaul Widdop, Senior Lecturer in Sport Business, Leeds Beckett UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1593122021-04-20T14:47:49Z2021-04-20T14:47:49ZEuropean Super League: a history of splits over money in professional sport<p>The world of European football experienced one of the biggest shake-ups in its history when a prospective <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56794673">European Super League</a> (ESL) was announced. Fans, football associations and even the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/19/the-european-super-league-what-can-boris-johnson-do-about-it">government</a> united in condemning the new tournament, which was criticised as “a cynical project founded on the self-interest of a few clubs”.</p>
<p>Described as a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2021/apr/19/european-super-league-latest-reaction-to-breakaway-football-competition-live?page=with:block-607d82a78f08080a7ae65413with">new midweek competition</a>”, the league was initially announced with 12 founding members from across Europe, including the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56795811">six “top” English football clubs</a> (who have now <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/20/european-super-league-unravelling-as-manchester-city-and-chelsea-withdraw">reportedly pulled out</a>, throwing the creation of the tournament into jeopardy). These founding clubs could not be relegated from the competition – one of the major points of contention. </p>
<p>The draw for these clubs is easy to understand. Each of the founding teams <a href="https://qz.com/1998582/how-much-tv-money-could-the-european-super-league-command/">would receive</a> an expected €3.5 billion (£3.02 billion) to join, plus €10 billion (£8.6 billion) for an “initial commitment period”. </p>
<p>In a statement, the Football Supporters’ Association voiced: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>This competition is being created behind our backs by billionaire club owners who have zero regard for the game’s traditions and continue to treat football as their personal fiefdom.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is an overwhelming sense from all angry parties that owners of the already wealthy clubs have sought further financial domination by distorting competition. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1383909222895603716"}"></div></p>
<p>The initial outrage will give way to more measured thought and criticism, but the burning questions are whether this model represents a realistic challenge to the current style of competition and what the consequences would be for both the European and domestic English game. The history of sport can offer some clues.</p>
<h2>A history of break-ups and conciliation</h2>
<p>Sport has historically been mired in splits and divisions. Football experienced such episodes during the last quarter of the 19th century with the separation between football and rugby football and then the latter into the amateur Rugby Union and the professionalised Rugby League. </p>
<p>The Premier League itself was the result of a split away from the Football League in 1992. The Football Association wanted to exploit the developing commercial opportunities, notably the sale of broadcasting rights. The legal challenge by the jilted Football League failed and the Premier League clubs have since prospered, largely thanks to the new subscription model of broadcasting.</p>
<p>Cricket’s great split occurred in 1977 over the allocation of broadcasting rights to Australian cricket. TV magnate <a href="https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/haigh-on-the-wsc-323297">Kerry Packer</a> wanted the rights to show Australian matches but was rebuffed as the traditional relationship with the state broadcaster (ABC) prevailed. </p>
<p>Packer’s response was to launch his own competition, the innovative World Series Cricket, and in great secrecy contracted the world’s leading players, including England captain Tony Greig. <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/13/newsid_2512000/2512249.st">Greig was duly sacked</a> and players earning a living in England who had signed were banned from playing in England. The resulting court case went in favour of the players and the bans were rescinded. World Series Cricket ran for two seasons, embracing new ideas such as coloured clothing and games that were played later in the day and continued into the evening (known as day/night games), which attracted spectators and made the more traditional offering appear jaded. </p>
<p>The financial pressure on the Australian Cricket Board led to an inevitable compromise and Packer gaining the broadcasting rights. </p>
<p>More recently, the Board for Cricket Control in India (BCCI) fought off the challenge by the broadcasting-driven India Cricket League (ICL). A combination of player bans and improved prize money in existing competitions were used. However, it was the formation of its own competition, the highly successful <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ipl-history/indian-premier-league-how-it-all-started/articleshow/19337875.cms">Indian Premier League</a>, that proved the trump card. The ICL was strangled in infancy. The Packer affair and the Indian Premier League clearly demonstrate that new markets for a traditional sport could be developed and exploited.</p>
<h2>Possible outcomes</h2>
<p>These examples point towards possible outcomes for football. </p>
<p>Broadcasting income is a key driver of sports and since the formation of the Premier League and sale of the rights to Sky, new players – BT and Amazon – have entered the market, driving up the value of the content. The big clubs want a larger slice of this and other commercial income, arguing that it is their profile and popularity that attracts subscribers and viewers. </p>
<p>A new formula for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/07/premier-league-big-six-win-battle-overseas-television-rights">international broadcasting income</a> has already been agreed upon. Where previously the income from sharing rights was split equally, the top six clubs now receive larger sums. Any changes to the system would no doubt apply pressure to approve a new domestic formula. </p>
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<p>A threat to potentially <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56795811">ban teams and players involved in the ESL</a> from the Premier League will have concentrated the minds of those clubs who are dependent on broadcasting income for their viability. The smaller clubs have less in the way of gate receipts and other commercial income so are very vulnerable to any decrease in TV revenue. A domestic league without the big six clubs has significantly decreased value and the same arguments apply at European level. </p>
<p>Fans have protested about the rich clubs getting richer and the betrayal of tradition, but the combination of the attractiveness of the Premier League product, ironically created by a split orchestrated by the FA, and the willingness of club owners to exploit their assets suggests a willingness to actively pursue change. The decision for the national governing bodies across Europe and the Uefa itself is whether to embrace and incorporate change and inevitably cede some control or stand firm and fight off the threat and with it consign professional football into a maelstrom of uncertainty.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159312/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Greenfield does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From the emergence of Premier League to Cricket’s newer formats, the history of professional sport is full of breakups.Steve Greenfield, Professor of Sports Law and Practice, University of WestminsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1592922021-04-19T17:49:10Z2021-04-19T17:49:10ZEuropean Super League: why punishing the breakaway 12 could backfire badly<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395796/original/file-20210419-23-hqr4jf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/soccer-ball-95315320">Mikhael Damkier</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The football world has been rocked by the announcement of a breakaway European Super League (ESL). The majority think it a bad idea, from governing bodies <a href="https://www.fifa.com/who-we-are/news/fifa-statement-x3487">Fifa</a> and <a href="https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/news/0268-12121411400e-7897186e699a-1000--statement-by-uefa-the-english-football-association-the-premier-/">Uefa</a> through to national bodies such as the FA and English Premier League. </p>
<p>The same goes for the fan groups at the six English clubs that comprise half of the ESL’s initial membership of 12: Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd, Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal from England. The remaining founders are Barcelona, Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid from Spain; and Juventus, AC Milan and Inter from Italy. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/19/bayern-munich-and-borussia-dortmund-not-joining-european-super-league">top German</a> and French clubs are <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakgarnerpurkis/2021/04/19/why-paris-saint-germain-and-bayern-munich-bailed-on-the-super-league/?sh=43482dd299f5">not participating</a>. </p>
<p>Under the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/19/explainer-how-will-the-new-european-super-league-work">proposed system</a>, these 12 clubs would join three more unconfirmed founder members and five additional clubs that would have to qualify each year. They would play midweek fixtures in two mini-leagues of ten clubs, with the highest finishers progressing to knock-out stages and eventually a final each May. </p>
<p>Effectively replacing the <a href="https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/">Uefa Champions League</a>, the founders stand to receive €3.5 billion (£2.5 billion) in initial infrastructure payments between them, plus €10 billion for an “initial commitment period”. The 12 clubs propose to compete in their national leagues as normal. </p>
<p>The proposals are considered so outrageous that even the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/19/ministers-urged-to-take-action-over-european-super-league-plan">vowing to</a> find a way to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/19/government-pledges-to-stop-english-clubs-joining-european-super-league">block them</a> – despite not being known for his love of football. Pundits, <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12279996/gary-neville-on-european-super-league-plans-im-fuming-but-it-wont-go-through-not-a-chance">including Gary Neville</a>, the former Manchester United defender, have also been showing exasperation. </p>
<p>The ESL is being condemned as money-grabbing, since it would mostly be a “closed shop” without the jeopardy of relegation for founding clubs. Many consider it against the spirit of football’s long history, particularly with lower-league outfits struggling from the pandemic. </p>
<p>Neville thinks there is “not a chance” the proposals will go ahead, given the huge opposition. Others <a href="https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/european-super-league-teams-champions-league-reforms-arsenal-man-utd-city-liverpool-tottenham-chelsea">suggest they could</a> be intended as a bargaining chip as <a href="https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/mediaservices/mediareleases/news/0268-1213f7aa85bb-d56154ff8fe8-1000--new-uefa-club-competition-formats-from-2024-25/">Uefa unveils</a> a revamped and expanded Champions League, which it says will take place regardless of the ESL proposals. </p>
<p>In England, many also want the football authorities to punish the “big six”. Relegations, expulsions and bans on players competing in the Euros and World Cup are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/19/super-league-players-face-world-cup-and-euros-ban-warns-furious-uefa-chief">being mooted</a>. </p>
<p>But we suggest that everybody pauses for breath. Acting harshly against these clubs could achieve exactly the opposite effect to what is intended. </p>
<h2>Pots and kettles</h2>
<p>Authorities such as the English Premier League (EPL) may struggle to win hearts and minds by invoking football’s history. The EPL itself broke away from the English Football League in 1992, and the football authorities and fans were just as enraged at the time. Relegation was included in the proposal, although the clubs did not ask permission for the structure they created. </p>
<p>With the lion’s share of English football broadcasting revenues going to Premier League clubs, many in football <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/05/10/premier-league-spending-obscene-greedy-threatening-future-lower/">already criticise</a> the footballing pyramid. Not enough money filters down to the lower leagues, they argue, while years of transfer-price and wage inflation drove numerous clubs to the brink even before the pandemic.</p>
<p>Amid the empty stadiums of 2020-21, <a href="https://theconversation.com/english-football-why-financial-calamity-facing-clubs-is-even-worse-than-in-mainland-europe-147156">football is facing</a> a choice: watch more clubs go to the wall or consider some kind of reset with reduced player salaries, regulated transfers, agents removed from the game, and resources distributed more equally. </p>
<p>The clubs behind the ESL appear to be rejecting this form of sustainable austerity. They are positioning themselves above rather than atop the existing pyramid. Of course, with some <a href="https://www.espn.co.uk/football/barcelona/story/4301666/barcelonas-debt-is-greater-than-1-billion-forget-bringing-back-neymarthey-cant-even-afford-eric-garcia">sitting on</a> more than €1 billion of debt, receiving a <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f00bb232-a150-4f7d-b26a-e1b62cd175c3?desktop=true&segmentId=d8d3e364-5197-20eb-17cf-2437841d178a#myft:notification:instant-email:content">signing-on bonus</a> of €200 million to €300 million may solve their own financial crises.</p>
<h2>What happens next</h2>
<p>The ESL could be a bargaining chip, of course. The big clubs have long sought Champions League reforms that benefit them financially, and timing the announcement a day ahead of Uefa confirming the Champions League revamp was clearly no accident. </p>
<p>Adding games to the congested football calendar is not something any leading club will relish. So perhaps the ESL proposal melts away in the coming days on the back of a compromise with Uefa. As Neville has pointed out, <a href="https://accessaa.co.uk/project-big-picture-scrapped-manchester-united-down-70m/">something similar happened</a> with the English Premier League in 2020 having a plan to further strengthen the big clubs called <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/gary-neville-european-super-league-sky-sports-interview-b930353.html">Project Big Picture</a>. </p>
<p>On the other hand, the big clubs could be seeking an extreme reaction from football authorities to enable them to go further. Maybe a standalone league is what the owners really have in mind, rather than the parallel mid-week league proposed.</p>
<p>The model we need to consider is that of top American sports such as American football or basketball, where there is no relegation and teams travel thousands of miles to play. They schedule matches abroad on neutral venues, and often move the team to a new city without any care for their local fan-base. </p>
<p>That owners refer to clubs as “franchises” is <a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/raiders-las-vegas-move-explained/26kge720q0dv1stx8mwfqij0q">instructive</a> here: four of the proposed ESL founder clubs have US owners with arguably little interest in football except for its earning potential. </p>
<p>You can imagine them thinking a group of 20 clubs from Europe will act like a gigantic vacuum cleaner to suck all the cash from football broadcast revenues and sponsorship. Teams can play multiple times each year, and why not have the local Madrid or Manchester derbies played to packed audiences in Rio, Shanghai or LA? Indeed, why restrict yourself to European clubs when you could also add rivals from South America, the US or China?</p>
<p>To counter this threat, the governing bodies and national leagues need to keep the 12 teams in their competitions. If such a standalone league effectively became – excuse the pun – the only game in town, it might matter little to individual players if they were banned from playing for national teams. They could console themselves with the even greater salaries likely to be on offer as the whole world watches their every game.</p>
<p>We certainly don’t think the ESL would be good for the game, but knee-jerk measures could do untold damage to all outside of the elite. It could squander a once-in-a-generation opportunity to remodel the Champions League and ensure that football at all levels remains financially viable. It may come down to who has the strongest brand: the football authorities, leagues or clubs – at the moment it seems the clubs have confidence in the answer to this question.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159292/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian R. Bell receives funding from the AHRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Brooks receives funding from Innovate UK and the ESRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Urquhart does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Everyone seems united against the new proposals, but can they really be stopped?Adrian R Bell, Chair in the History of Finance and Research Dean, Prosperity and Resilience, Henley Business School, University of ReadingAndrew Urquhart, Associate Professor of Finance, ICMA Centre, Henley Business School, University of ReadingChris Brooks, Professor of Finance, Henley Business School, University of ReadingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1426912020-08-07T10:30:22Z2020-08-07T10:30:22ZChampions League: what you need to know about Man City, ‘sportswashing’ and future of Financial Fair Play<p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53671401">Champions League is back</a> underway, after being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, Manchester City have successfully appealed a ruling that would have seen them banned from the competition and are resuming their bid to win the most coveted trophy in European football. </p>
<p>The club recently saw off one of their biggest challenges in recent years – a 20-month <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/man-city-ban-champions-league-fine-uefa-financial-fair-play-rules-a9336866.html">legal battle</a> with European football’s governing body UEFA.</p>
<p>In July, the <a href="https://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/CAS_Media_Release_6785_Decision.pdf">Court of Arbitration for Sport</a> (CAS), an international body established to settle sports-related disputes, found in favour of City’s appeal against sanctions for “serious breaches” of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations committed between 2012 and 2016.</p>
<p>The decision meant that a two-year ban from European competition was overturned, but it came up short of full exoneration with a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53387306">€30 million fine reduced to €10 million</a>. This, CAS said, reflected the club’s culpability to the lesser charge of failing to cooperate with UEFA’s club financial control body. </p>
<p>The more serious allegation of “dishonest concealment” of revenue attracted from sponsorship deals – otherwise known as financial doping – was thrown out, much to the delight of the Abu Dhabi-owned club. <a href="https://www.mancity.com/news/club/club-statement-uefa-cas-verdict-63730222">City officials thanked CAS</a> for its “due diligence and due process” claiming “validation of the club’s position”.</p>
<h2>Why this happened</h2>
<p>In 2009, UEFA proposed FFP to try and curb European clubs’ inflationary spending on player transfers and wages. The new rules were rolled out on a staggered basis from 2012 with full implementation by 2015 and a “break-even” requirement as the main pillar of financial discipline.</p>
<p>As FFP would ultimately prevent wealthy owners from bankrolling clubs from their own vast resources, it was telling how in 2010-2011 City recorded English football’s biggest ever financial loss of £197 million a year before winning a first league title for nearly 40 years.</p>
<p>The club was sanctioned for FFP breaches in 2014 when the rules had come into force, albeit £33 million of a £49 million fine was returned three years later as City met with operational and financial measures put in place by UEFA. </p>
<p>It was thought that increased commercial revenue from Man City’s improved success had helped the club turn its losses into profit to now comply with FFP. That is until <a href="https://www.spiegel.de/international/manchester-city-exposed-bending-the-rules-to-the-tune-of-millions-a-1236346.html">leaked documents</a> alleged City had misled UEFA by inflating the value and disguising the true financial source of some commercial deals that led back to the club’s owners.</p>
<h2>Reputation and relations</h2>
<p>CAS’ recent ruling, based on <a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-city-cas-verdict-ffp-18678521">“insufficient evidence” and “time-barred” dealings</a>, has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jul/14/a-good-day-for-football-pep-guardiola-defends-manchester-city-cas-verdict">left many frustrated</a>. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp described the decision as “bad for football”, while Tottenham’s Jose Mourinho branded it “disgraceful”.</p>
<p>Bullish to the end, City boss Pep Guardiola insists his club deserves an apology. “We were damaged,” said the Spaniard. “The people say we cheated and were lying – and many times. The presumption of innocence wasn’t there.”</p>
<p>The significance of Guardiola’s point about damage to reputation should not be understated. While a two-year Champions League ban could have left a £200m hole in City’s revenues, money is perhaps not the primary motive for multi-billionaire football club owners from territories such as Abu Dhabi.</p>
<p>Research suggests that what appeals to the owners of some of the world’s biggest football clubs are so-called “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19406940.2014.966135">soft power gains</a>”. Or in other words, countries whose political and human rights records have drawn criticism in the past, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13600826.2013.827632">like to invest heavily in elite sport</a>.</p>
<p>Countries such as Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan and China have all increasingly aligned themselves with elite sports and mega-sports events in the pursuit of improved international relations and geopolitical acceptance. This is sometimes referred to as “<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/sportswashing-newcastle-takeover-latest-man-city-ffp-a9557241.html">sportswashing</a>” their image. </p>
<h2>Final whistle for FFP?</h2>
<p>For parent company City Football Group then, whose pan-global interests stretch from Manchester to Mumbai, New York to Melbourne and Yokohama to Sichuan, Girona, Lommel and Montevideo, reputational damage could have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02614367.2014.964291">far-reaching and lasting effect</a>.“ </p>
<p>Nonetheless, there are those who believe the CAS decision <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/man-city-ban-uefa-champions-league-news-ffp-a9615846.html">has undermined FFP</a> to the point of no return and that the balance of power has shifted towards super-rich clubs intent on outspending their rivals regardless of cost. </p>
<p>But there are others who feel the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jul/13/manchester-city-cas-decision-not-mean-end-of-financial-fair-play-uefa">system is not completely broken</a>. UEFA, for one, might point to how Europe’s top leagues have generated more than €4.3 billion in operating profits over the past five years. This is in stark contrast to combined operating losses of more than €740 million reported in the five years from 2009 prior to FFP. </p>
<p>As proponents will say the system works if everyone plays by the same rules, opponents claim FFP serves simply to maintain the traditional economic status quo in European football – old money preventing new money from joining an exclusive elite. </p>
<p>Time will tell what the fallout really means for club ownership, FFP and <a href="https://www.footballbenchmark.com/documents/files/UEFA%20Club%20Licensing%20Benchmarking%20report_2020_FY%202018.pdf">UEFA</a>. For now, Manchester City will rest safe in the knowledge that regardless of how they fare in this season’s delayed Champions League competition, they will be sat at the top table again next year.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142691/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Randles does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>City can rest safe in the knowledge that should they win this season’s delayed Champions League competition, they will get the opportunity to defend the title next year.David Randles, Senior Lecturer in Sports Journalism, Liverpool John Moores UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1281552019-12-05T10:48:14Z2019-12-05T10:48:14ZManchester City v Manchester United: a battle for ideological dominance<p>The Manchester derby is <a href="https://theconversation.com/manchester-a-city-united-by-sport-76186">always a key clash in the Premier League calendar</a> and all eyes will be on the Etihad Stadium when City take on United, as the two footballing giants face-off for the first time this season. Yet the confrontation will be significant for reasons that go way beyond goals and titles. </p>
<p>So far this season, City have fallen some way short of the exacting standards they have set themselves over recent years under Pep Guardiola’s tutelage. Meanwhile, United is still immersed in post-Ferguson angst as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer grapples with his team’s continuing underachievement.</p>
<p>Adding some spice, each of the clubs’ off-field struggles are no less troubling. City has seen a Court for Arbitration in Sport ruling go against it as the club deals with charges that it <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50435304">breached UEFA’s Financial Fair Play</a> (FFP) regulations. Over at United, fans remain concerned about the club’s owners and their <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2019/oct/08/manchester-united-problems-ole-gunnar-solskjaer">failure to deliver the levels of success</a> they have previously enjoyed.</p>
<p>Yet despite the tensions associated with the head-to-head and the perpetual financial waltz of trying to work within the constraints of FFP, a bigger battle is being fought out in Manchester – one that is largely anonymous though profoundly more important than anything that a single Premier League game can manifest.</p>
<p>In 2005, Manchester United was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2005/may/16/newsstory.manchesterunited">acquired by the Glazers</a>, a family of American sports entrepreneurs and owners of National Football League franchise the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Glazers are steeped in the traditions of a US domestic sports economy that remains the largest in the world, possibly accounting for 40% of the total <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=2ahUKEwjt0-eu8ZbmAhUhQEEAHZ9IBEMQFjAAegQIBBAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pwc.com%2Fgx%2Fen%2Fhospitality-leisure%2Fpdf%2Fchanging-the-game-outlook-for-the-global-sports-market-to-2015.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1JZkn_P_4hYpirGY-cbS6B">global sports industry</a>.</p>
<p>The growth and dominance of the US sports industry remains striking, as it has been governed largely by the free market. Unlike most countries in the world, America effectively has no government sports ministry. Instead, sport in the US is driven by commercial principles, where profit rules and financial returns are generated by and for private investors.</p>
<p>In many ways, Manchester United has become the embodiment of this western, capitalist model of sport. While costs are carefully controlled, revenue growth is pursued with gusto. This has constantly reaffirmed United’s position as being one of the most <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49808790">commercially valuable football clubs in the world</a>, even though the club has been struggling on the pitch. </p>
<p>It also sees the organisation locked into a perpetual cycle of rights sales. The club now makes money on deals with anything from <a href="http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/manchester_united_agree_deal_with_japans_kansai">Japanese paint brands</a> to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgekoutsakis/2018/10/01/first-50-year-old-chivas-whisky-celebrates-manchester-uniteds-1968-cup-victory/#19f7c5bdb411">Scottish whisky distillers</a>.</p>
<p>United needs a win this weekend, not just for the club but also for the capitalist ideology that it represents. The club <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/773f17be-1320-11e9-a581-4ff78404524e">goes to great lengths</a> in its pursuit of revenues, though its <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/07/football/manchester-united-ole-gunnar-solskjaer-spt-intl/index.html">recent travails</a> have taken some of the lustre off the brand. Victory at the Etihad will say just as much about the best way to run a football club as it does the team’s capabilities. </p>
<h2>The ‘rentier state’ owners</h2>
<p>A cursory glance at the list of Manchester City’s commercial partners might lead one to conclude that the club is of the same ilk as United. However, City is a very different proposition. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2008/sep/01/manchestercity.premierleague">In 2008</a>, the east Manchester outfit was acquired by the <a href="https://www.cityfootballgroup.com/our-business/ownership/">Abu Dhabi United Group</a> for Development and Investment, a state investment vehicle.</p>
<p>Hence, City is owned and run by a petrodollar-fuelled Gulf state, which exhibits the characteristics of a <a href="http://www.ejinsight.com/20191125-the-rentier-states-ruling-football/">“rentier state”</a>. As was discussed in a <a href="https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/sport-politics-and-society-in-the-middle-east/">recently published book chapter</a> that I wrote, among their characteristics rentier states are typically dependent upon natural resource deposits for revenues which are, in turn, used to invest in overseas rent-generating assets. </p>
<p>These rents are then utilised domestically as a substitute for taxation and spending, which mitigates the need for democratic structures and processes. Manchester City-generated revenues therefore play their part in keeping Abu Dhabi’s population happy.</p>
<p>The importance of Asian state ownership at City is further illustrated by the way in which its owners use the club as an <a href="http://www.ejinsight.com/20190225-manchester-city-chengdu-deal-a-matter-of-business-or-politics/">instrument of state policy</a>, notably in international relations and diplomacy. For instance, the City Football Group (CFG, of which Manchester City is a constituent element) is part-owned by Chinese investors, a stake that was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/01/manchester-city-265m-deal-chinese-investment-group">publicly announced</a> to coincide with Chinese president Xi’s Jinping’s visit to Britain in 2015. </p>
<p>Utilising City as a policy instrument has enabled all manner of deals between Abu Dhabi and Beijing to be agreed. Earlier this year, as the football world responded to CFG’s announcement that it will set up a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/feb/20/manchester-city-football-group-buy-chinese-club">franchise club in Chengdu</a> (China), few people noticed the simultaneous announcement that Abu Dhabi’s state airline Etihad (the main shirt sponsor of Manchester City) <a href="https://www.khaleejtimes.com/etihad-airways-to-deploy-new-787-dreamliners-to-china">will establish new links with …. Chengdu</a>.</p>
<p>The rentier state game plan in football is already <a href="http://www.ejinsight.com/20191125-the-rentier-states-ruling-football/">well established</a>, has been playing out <a href="https://theconversation.com/english-football-a-proxy-battleground-for-feuding-gulf-states-117812">for most of this year</a> and, indeed, looks <a href="https://www.policyforum.net/a-different-kind-of-sporting-contest/">set to intensify</a> as we head into 2020. A City victory in this weekend’s Manchester derby will add impetus to an increasingly powerful influence on the sport.</p>
<h2>Not just a football match</h2>
<p>City versus United is therefore no longer just a football match, it is a front line in what has fast become an <a href="http://www.ejinsight.com/20171122-europe-s-flat-footed-response-to-the-rise-of-asian-sports/">ideological war between the West and the East</a>. Sure, the war doesn’t solely involve a battle for the heart and soul of football. Similar skirmishes are also being played out in various sports and across other industrial sectors such as real estate, financial technologies and leisure. </p>
<p>Two decades ago, <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/international-sports_b_1246775">western capitalism ruled</a> and United dominated. But the world order is now changing with Asian states in the ascendancy. Perhaps no surprise, then, that City is now dominant. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, as with many conflicts, there is collateral damage which, in this case, seems to be the football fans of Manchester. City supporters from Openshaw and West Gorton no doubt remain nostalgic for the good old days of Francis Lee and Colin Bell. Over in Stretford and Gorse Hill, United fans will often hark back to the days of the <a href="https://www.manutd.com/en/history/munich-remembered/the-busby-babes">Busby Babes</a> and <a href="https://www.manutd.com/en/players-and-staff/detail/EricCantona">King Eric</a>.</p>
<p>But these once locally embedded social institutions, which were a tangible manifestation of peoples’ geographic identity and community, have now simply become instruments in a global ideological war. </p>
<p>However fans might reminisce, the reality is that the clubs are no longer “theirs”. Instead, the avaricious corporate appetites of western capitalism and the rent hungry sheikhs of the Gulf are now engaged in playing the biggest derby game of them all – the battle for ideological dominance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128155/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Chadwick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The clubs no longer ‘belong’ to the fans - they have become instruments in an ideological war between Western capitalism and the rent hungry sheikhs of the Gulf states.Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sports Enterprise, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1280142019-11-28T11:44:32Z2019-11-28T11:44:32ZHow Manchester City’s owners became the titans of a global sports-entertainment complex<p>US private equity firm Silver Lake acquiring a stake in the City Football Group (CFG), owners of English Premier League football team Manchester City, is a stunning development. Based in California, the investor has taken a 10% share in CFG for £380 million, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/1c082178-104b-11ea-a7e6-62bf4f9e548a">valuing the group at almost £4 billion</a>. Headlines have inevitably hailed the deal as one that makes Manchester City the <a href="https://talksport.com/football/635142/manchester-city-worlds-most-valuable-club-city-football-group-3billion/">world’s most valuable football club</a>.</p>
<p>There is no doubt that the east Manchester outfit is a much more valuable asset than it was just over a decade ago. When current owner Sheikh Mansour (a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family) bought Manchester City in 2008, he paid £210 million. </p>
<p>But valuing football clubs is not necessarily a precise science, as the proliferation of valuation rankings demonstrates. At the same time, CFG is not just Manchester City alone. It is a group of clubs and related commercial activities that has been built up across the world.</p>
<p>So to imply that City is the world’s most valuable club is slightly disingenuous. Nevertheless, the punt that Silver Lake has just taken on CFG reveals a great deal about the trajectory its business is on.</p>
<h2>The Disney of sport</h2>
<p>Nearly 20 years ago the group’s chief executive, Ferran Soriano, was vice president and finance director of Spain’s FC Barcelona. During his spell there, Soriano spoke of his vision to build a football club in the <a href="https://www.espn.co.uk/football/club/manchester-city/382/blog/post/2993475/ferran-soriano-leading-man-city-to-global-success-following-disney-model">image of the Walt Disney empire</a>. </p>
<p>He foresaw the convergence of entertainment <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Handbook-of-Football-Business-and-Management-1st-Edition/Chadwick-Parnell-Widdop-Anagnostopoulos/p/book/9781138579071">and sport in a globalising world</a>. And he also highlighted the role that franchising could play in football, along with the contribution that merchandise could make to club revenues.</p>
<p>Fast forward several years and by 2012 Soriano was in charge at CFG. Released from the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14660971003780446?scroll=top&needAccess=true">political constraints of working for Barcelona</a> (where board members are elected by fans, known as “socios”) and instead underwritten by the petrodollars of Abu Dhabi, the Catalan business leader was given the resources and autonomy to transform the organisation.</p>
<p>Since then, CFG has established franchise clubs around the world, including the US, Australia, Japan, Spain, and Uruguay. Latest news also indicates that CFG are on the verge of <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-england-mci-india/man-city-owners-to-add-mumbai-team-to-their-collection-idUKKBN1Y20LQ">acquiring a club in Mumbai, India</a>. No surprise that the city has a sizeable <a href="https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/look-how-fans-reinvigorating-indian-football-sunil-chhetri">community of football fans</a>, but is also the <a href="https://t.co/kk3scOkKfS?amp=1">spiritual home of Bollywood</a> and a focal point for <a href="https://t.co/FGfERHRGyo?amp=1">India’s tech sector</a>.</p>
<p>In 2015, CFG’s financial and political fortunes were further boosted as a Chinese investor <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/01/manchester-city-265m-deal-chinese-investment-group">took a stake in the business</a>. Tellingly, the deal was announced during Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit to the UK, during which he met then prime minister David Cameron and all manner of football, business and political deals were agreed.</p>
<p>So it was no surprise when, earlier this year, CFG announced plans to establish a Chinese club franchise (in Chengdu). At the same time, Abu Dhabi announced that its state airline Etihad (Manchester City’s shirt and stadium sponsor) <a href="https://www.khaleejtimes.com/etihad-airways-to-deploy-new-787-dreamliners-to-china">would be enhancing its links with Chengdu’s airport</a>. At CFG, football is often the means to an end, not just an end in itself.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304256/original/file-20191128-178089-bhy898.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304256/original/file-20191128-178089-bhy898.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304256/original/file-20191128-178089-bhy898.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304256/original/file-20191128-178089-bhy898.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304256/original/file-20191128-178089-bhy898.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304256/original/file-20191128-178089-bhy898.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304256/original/file-20191128-178089-bhy898.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Manchester City’s main sponsor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/etihad-stadium-manchester-england-31-may-1413341237?src=ef508869-d5b8-42fe-abbf-8e6c24cc1cdd-1-26&studio=1">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>No Mickey Mouse pursuit</h2>
<p>Many of these deals were overseen by Soriano who, in the midst of it all, was also closely monitoring and responding to technological changes. Notwithstanding his original Disney vision, the nature of the movie, broadcasting and sport industries has changed dramatically over the last decade – meaning that football and entertainment are no longer Mickey Mouse pursuits.</p>
<p>New digital platforms have emerged, streaming has taken hold and content generation has become the fuel adding impetus to a new industrial revolution. Indeed, CFG has already taken advantage of this through, for instance, the development of its <a href="https://cityzens.mancity.com/home">Cityzens platform</a> and the club’s involvement in the Amazon TV series <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/08/19/man-citys-sanitised-amazon-documentary-worrying-step-towards/">All or Nothing</a>.</p>
<p>The investment made by Silver Lake in CFG is a clear acknowledgement that football is a globally compelling product, a superb source of content, and a basis upon <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Handbook-of-Football-Business-and-Management-1st-Edition/Chadwick-Parnell-Widdop-Anagnostopoulos/p/book/9781138579071">which shrewd business people can make a profit</a>. More importantly, as if further evidence was needed, it marks the latest move in a convergence of sport, entertainment and digital technology.</p>
<p>With Ferran Soriano providing his foresight and strategy, and Sheikh Mansour providing the money and politics of a <a href="http://www.ejinsight.com/20191125-the-rentier-states-ruling-football/">wealthy new state seeking its place in the world</a>, Silver Lake is set to bring entrepreneurial zeal and a strong track record of <a href="https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/investor-spotlight-how-silver-lakes-four-amigos-built-a-tech-buyout-behemoth">successful tech investments</a>. This should help CFG, and more specifically the various franchises within the group, to establish a competitive advantage over their football rivals.</p>
<p>As such, CFG is at the apex of what it means to be a 21st century football business – a mixture of money, entertainment, technology and politics. Clubs like Red Bull Salzburg and Leipzig are following <a href="https://thesefootballtimes.co/2018/11/14/why-red-bulls-football-empire-isnt-the-force-of-evil-many-believe-it-to-be/">their own franchise path</a>, while a growing number of teams across Europe have had fly-on-the-wall documentary series made about them. Bayern Munich and Real Madrid take their digital footprints very seriously, while French champions Paris Saint Germain has a Qatari owner.</p>
<p>It is currently only CFG that brings everything together in one place, however. And it is on this basis that Silver Lake has invested in what was once a football club with historic roots in the working class communities of east Manchester, but is now a global entertainment business catapulted to the top of the football’s valuation charts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128014/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Chadwick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>One of the world’s biggest tech investors has bought a 10% stake in Manchester City’s owners, valuing the group at nearly £4 billion.Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sports Enterprise, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1178122019-05-29T07:00:17Z2019-05-29T07:00:17ZEnglish football: a proxy battleground for feuding Gulf states?<p>There’s nothing like a Saturday night scoop to get social media buzzing. <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6e42c740-7f1e-11e9-b592-5fe435b57a3b">Revelations</a> that a Qatari investor wants to acquire a stake in Leeds United certainly did. If the story is correct, then it seems Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), which already owns French club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), is interested in buying shares in the Yorkshire based English Championship football club.</p>
<p>In some ways, we shouldn’t be surprised by the report, as Leeds United’s current majority shareholder, Italian Andrea Radrizzani, is <a href="https://www.calciomercato.com/en/news/report-leeds-owner-interested-in-buying-genoa-84227">thought to be seeking a buyer</a> for his holding in the club. Indeed, some reports suggest that he may be <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/qatar-talks-buy-leeds-united-report">negotiating with as many as six parties</a> with a view to them buying a stake.</p>
<p>That a Qatari group is showing interest should be no surprise either; after all, the Yorkshire outfit already has a partnership with the small <a href="http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/leeds-united-team-up-with-aspire-academy">Gulf nation’s Aspire Academy</a>. Over the last two years, rumours have been recurrent that big money from Doha will, sooner or later, be invested.</p>
<p>Hence, it was the timing of the latest rumour’s emergence that was actually more revealing than the rumour itself. It came after a tumultuous week in football (and sport more generally) which was stitched together by a narrative stretching from Manchester, through Paris, to Doha and Abu Dhabi.</p>
<h2>A big week for Qatar</h2>
<p>The previous weekend, Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/may/18/manchester-city-win-treble-watford-fa-cup-final-match-report">won the English FA Cup</a>, which ensured the club secured an unprecedented domestic treble of trophies (alongside the club’s Premier League title and Carabao Cup win). City’s success, however, was very quickly tempered by stories that <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/14/football/manchester-city-uefa-investigation-champions-league-nyt-spt-intl/index.html">UEFA may ban the club</a> from the Champions League for what are alleged to be serious breaches of the European football governing body’s Financial Fair Play regulations.</p>
<p>Later in the week, news came through that two PSG board members – <a href="https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1079583/bein-sports-president-charged-with-corruption-over-bidding-process-for-2019-iaaf-world-championships-in-qatar">Nasser Al-Khelaifi</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/may/22/qatar-tv-channel-chief-world-athletics-championships-corruption-investigation">Yousef Al-Obaidly</a> – are being investigated on suspicion of corruption in connection with Qatar’s bid to host the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championship in Doha. Significantly, Al-Khelaifi is president of PSG but also chairman of QSI (the Qatari investment group behind the alleged Leeds bid) and a member of UEFA’s executive committee. Al-Obaidly is chief executive of the Qatari media group beIN.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/football-may-be-caught-in-the-crossfire-between-qatar-and-the-saudis-100103">Football may be caught in the crossfire between Qatar and the Saudis</a>
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<p>It was quite a week for the Qataris, as news also broke that FIFA will concede during its forthcoming council meeting that <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/fifa-only-32-teams-in-qatar-world-cup-2022/a-48839778">the 2022 World Cup will be contested by 32 teams</a>. FIFA had been pressing for an increase in tournament size <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-cup-2022-plan-to-expand-to-48-countries-exposes-footballs-regional-fault-lines-113231">to 48 teams</a>, though this would have necessitated Qatar sharing the tournament with at least one other country. Qatar, though, is currently engaged in an <a href="https://www.policyforum.net/saudi-arabia-versus-qatar-more-than-a-clash-of-football-cultures/">acrimonious feud with its near neighbours</a>, notably the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, so FIFA’s capitulation was effectively a victory for Qatar over its rivals.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276649/original/file-20190527-193540-1cp9w13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276649/original/file-20190527-193540-1cp9w13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276649/original/file-20190527-193540-1cp9w13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276649/original/file-20190527-193540-1cp9w13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276649/original/file-20190527-193540-1cp9w13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276649/original/file-20190527-193540-1cp9w13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276649/original/file-20190527-193540-1cp9w13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Qatar is a major investor in football.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTU1OTAxNTQzOSwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTA5ODE1MzM0NyIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xMDk4MTUzMzQ3L21lZGl1bS5qcGciLCJtIjoxLCJkIjoic2h1dHRlcnN0b2NrLW1lZGlhIn0sIkVUU3F1RjJ5OGVzR3o4R3had01lRENUOFpkWSJd%2Fshutterstock_1098153347.jpg&pi=33421636&m=1098153347&src=Pgs48BO65JAQj_H9OU-ZKw-1-99">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.policyforum.net/saudi-arabia-versus-qatar-more-than-a-clash-of-football-cultures/">Gulf feud</a> is ongoing, having broken out two years ago following a visit to Riyadh by a <a href="https://theconversation.com/saudi-arabias-standoff-with-qatar-continues-and-donald-trump-has-made-it-worse-96953">bellicose Donald Trump</a>. Since then, all manner of tactics have been used by the countries involved, ranging from heavy political lobbying in Washington DC through to an online war in which misinformation has been spread.</p>
<p>The spat has spread into sport, too. Frequent <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190204-exposed-aggressive-uae-led-campaign-to-strip-qatar-of-fifa-world-cup/">reports allegedly spread by pro-Saudi consultants</a> have sought to discredit Qatar’s World Cup hosting by making dubious claims about its ability to stage the tournament. Meanwhile, BeIN has fallen victim to a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-01/qatar-s-bein-sports-seeks-1-billion-damages-from-saudi-arabia">massive and concerted bootlegging operation instigated by BeoutQ</a>, which appears to be a Saudi Arabian-backed pirate channel that has stolen the Qatari broadcaster’s content.</p>
<h2>The feud spreads</h2>
<p>Qatar hasn’t stood idly by in the face of such provocation, often spending lavishly both to demonstrate its oil and gas fuelled economic strength and to project its soft power. The <a href="http://theconversation.com/qatar-psg-and-the-real-reason-neymar-could-sell-for-a-record-198m-81859">world record breaking transfer</a> of Brazilian international Neymar, from FC Barcelona to PSG, is the most potent symbol of this, as the government in Doha set out to shift attention away from its rivals while simultaneously making a statement about the aspirations of Qatar.</p>
<p>As such, the news that QSI may be circling Leeds United doesn’t seem to be about a Qatari penchant for Yorkshire puddings, nor is it merely a nice opportunity to generate some Saturday night clickbait. Rather, it suggests the opening of another front in a feud which, instead of resolving itself, appears to be intensifying. Rather than being the dawn of a new era for Leeds United, the club may consequently be on the cusp of being drawn into a bitter battle of competing geopolitical interests.</p>
<p>The dense network of connections and conflicts between the likes of Qatar Sports Investments, Saudi Arabia, UEFA and Abu Dhabi may therefore be about to span the English Pennines, sparking a new War of the Roses between Yorkshire and Lancashire. Given the on-off speculation about <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/manchester-united-sale-saudi-arabia-interest-reports-latest-buy-club-mohammad-bin-salman-a8586866.html">Saudi Arabia’s purchase of Manchester United</a>, and Abu Dhabi’s continued lavishing of its wealth upon Manchester City (as well as its <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/may/27/mike-ashley-uae-sheikh-khaled-newcastle-sale-rafael-benitez">rumoured acquisition of Newcaste United</a>), these Gulf states are strengthening their hold over Lancashire, the western side of the Pennines, and possibly further north too.</p>
<p>In buying Leeds United, their rival, Qatar, would be shoring up its own defences in neighbouring Yorkshire, meaning that the Gulf region’s proxy war could spill over into English football. Thus, as fans on both sides of a historic English divide anticipate the prospect of their clubs’ battle for supremacy, they should remain mindful that Elland Road and the Etihad Stadium could become modern day proxy battlefields in a new stand-off between the houses of York and Lancaster.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117812/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Chadwick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The ongoing conflict between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours could be about to spill onto the football fields of northern England.Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sports Enterprise, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1020802018-09-11T11:15:35Z2018-09-11T11:15:35Z‘Hyperdigitalised’ sports fans are connecting with their heroes like never before<p>Sports clubs and sporting mega stars are big business. They <a href="https://theconversation.com/qatar-psg-and-the-real-reason-neymar-could-sell-for-a-record-198m-81859">collect billions</a> through endorsements and TV deals and it sometimes seems like the fans are being left behind while clubs and players cash in. But the advent of social media means that players and clubs can now reconnect with supporters on a global scale. One great example of this power for good was when <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45185521">Barnsley FC reached out to a fan</a> it thought was suffering from depression. </p>
<p>But it is also fair to say that sport and social media have <a href="https://theconversation.com/sport-and-social-medias-rocky-relationship-is-safe-for-now-89624">a rocky relationship</a> and so this still must be managed well. </p>
<p>The business of sport is huge. To give some idea of the scale of sport, in 2018, Forbes released a table of the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/consent/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbespr/2018/07/18/forbes-releases-2018-list-of-the-worlds-most-valuable-sports-teams/#79cedbd475ff">top 50 global sports clubs</a> in terms of value. It placed the Dallas Cowboys NFL team top of the pile with a US$4.8 billion valuation. This was closely followed by Manchester United on US$4.1 billion and Real Madrid on just over US$4 billion.</p>
<p>This mega wealth is fuelled by lucrative sponsorship deals and broadcast rights, which are closely linked with digital technologies for fans. Thanks to the <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/networked">triple revolution</a> of fast internet, smartphones and social media, fans globally are always connected and some have argued that they have become “<a href="http://usir.salford.ac.uk/46800/">hyperdigitalised</a>”. The number of smartphone owners in the world is growing swiftly and is <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/330695/number-of-smartphone-users-worldwide/">expected to rise to 2.5 billion</a> by 2019.</p>
<p>Social media is now the key connection between clubs and their fans – and the attraction and retention of new fans. It benefits clubs and players by allowing them to amplify their messages, discuss and interact with supporters and listen to what they are saying in an ongoing way. </p>
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<h2>Reaching out</h2>
<p>Each sports club is a little different in terms of their audience and needs. When Barnsley FC wrote a letter to the fan it believed was <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45185521">suffering from depression</a>, the club used a traditional format to express sympathy – but social media was used to amplify the message. It was a great bit of PR by the club and garnered 28,000 retweets and 134,000 likes as well as nearly 2,000 comments. It showed how a “small” club can use social media to make a big impression.</p>
<p>Essentially, clubs need to be wherever their fans or potential fans are. Manchester United are an example of a global sports brand and therefore, they need to be mindful of global audiences. United has been quite late to the party with their use of social media. It launched its <a href="https://twitter.com/ManUtd">Twitter feed</a> in 2013 – four years after Chelsea. But this has not stopped the club developing a huge international fan base of 18.3m followers, compared to just over 6m for Manchester City, 13m for Arsenal and 12m for Chelsea.</p>
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<h2>The club brand</h2>
<p><a href="http://usir.salford.ac.uk/44387/">Our research</a> on Manchester United and Liverpool FC’s local and international fans on Instagram demonstrated that both fan comments and club posts form part of the brand of these clubs. Our study showed that Instagram gives fans a more active role in the branding process through comments. So teams should bear this in mind and think carefully about the kinds of images they post, as well as pay close attention to fan comments. </p>
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<p><a href="http://alexfenton.co.uk/football-and-social-media/">My own research</a> on how clubs use social media to build relationships used Salford FC as a case study. Salford FC are an interesting case because they are much smaller (at the time they were playing in the sixth tier of English football). But because of their connections to <a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-united-class-92-david-6270475">United’s Class of 92</a> (the team which included David Beckham, the Neville brothers, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt), they have acquired an international audience of fans through social media and now have over 140,000 followers on their official Twitter channel alone. </p>
<p>This impressive following and their online interactions are not lost on potential sponsors and partners who want their message to spread to a wider audience. Drinks brand Vimto are partners of Salford FC and they interwove this with a social media campaign with <a href="https://salfordcityfc.co.uk/new-sponsorship-vimto-salford-city/">its own hashtag</a>.</p>
<h2>Player power and the backlash</h2>
<p>Players also use social media to raise their profiles and create their own brands. If you look for example at Ronaldo – his 318m <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/11/football/cristiano-ronaldo-juventus-value-spt-intl/index.html">social media followers</a> will have helped his <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/11/football/cristiano-ronaldo-juventus-value-spt-intl/index.html">big money move to Juventus</a>. </p>
<p>After he left Real Madrid, their Twitter followers alone <a href="https://www.rt.com/sport/437526-ronaldo-social-media-juventus-madrid/">dropped by over a million</a>. This demonstrates that fans often follow high profile players wherever they go. My research found the same happens with <a href="http://alexfenton.co.uk/football-and-social-media/">smaller clubs too</a>.</p>
<p>Social media gives players and sporting stars a voice and connects them to the fans like never before. Benjamin Mendy had hardly kicked a ball for Manchester City but still managed to develop a rapport with the fans <a href="https://www.joe.co.uk/sport/benjamin-mendy-explains-why-he-keeps-calling-man-city-the-shark-team-142690">through social media</a> by posting a string of amusing tweets and Instagram posts, poking fun at fellow players and himself in the process.</p>
<p>But it is notable that some sports managers have been critical of social media and its use by their players. City coach Pep Guardiola told Mendy to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45164736">use social media less</a> and to concentrate on improvements on the pitch.</p>
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<p>It is also true to say that players are role models and social media amplifies their voice – so it should be used wisely. There have been numerous examples of players and others in the game using social media badly to voice controversial opinions. Phil Neville fell foul of this just after accepting the head coach job for England’s women team. He was on the end of a social media backlash after alleged sexist comments were found on his social media. He apologised but still felt compelled to <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/01/23/phil-neville-deletes-twitter-account-controversial-posts-women/">delete his Twitter account</a>. </p>
<p>So it’s great when everyone is happy, engaged, responding and “liking” your content. But whoever uses social media – whether player or club – needs to be very careful to avoid the pitfalls that come up all too often in this era of hyperdigitilised sports fandom.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102080/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Fenton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Social media is key when it comes to connecting clubs with fans and building a brand identity. But with great power, comes great responsibility.Alex Fenton, Lecturer in Digital Business, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/952472018-05-03T10:35:27Z2018-05-03T10:35:27ZPep Guardiola and the long tradition of mixing football with politics<p>As manager of Manchester City, this season <a href="https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/pep-guardiolas-trophy-cabinet-36809173.html">Pep Guardiola has won</a> the Premier League and the Carabao Cup. By wearing a yellow ribbon on his chest, he has also been charged and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43350447">fined £20,000</a> by the English Football Association (FA) for “wearing a political message”. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/03/06/pep-guardiola-claims-fa-chief-martin-glenn-failed-understand/">Guardiola insists</a> the ribbon does not represent support for Catalan independence, but instead shows solidarity with pro-independence politicians who have been imprisoned. Either way, the political undertones are clear, and led to the chief of the FA, Martin Glenn, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/mar/04/fa-pep-guardiola-yellow-ribbon-manchester-city-poppy">stating</a>: “We don’t want political symbols in football.” </p>
<p>But whether or not we want politics to be a part of football, clubs are, to a great extent, made up of their sense of history and place. This fact is demonstrated on the terraces, on the pitch and beyond, where football, politics, and identity all come together.</p>
<p>Football as an expression of political identification and resistance has plenty of examples. FC Barcelona’s slogan “<a href="https://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/identity/card/more-than-a-club-">more than a Club</a>” is well-known, as is its association with Catalan culture and society. The club was also a popular symbol of resistance during the dictatorships of Primo de Rivera and Francisco Franco, and has a famous rivalry with Real Madrid, the club seen by many as the footballing representation of the centralist Spanish state.</p>
<p>Perhaps less famous is the territorial development of Athletic de Bilbao in the Basque Country. Like Catalonia, the Basque Country is an historical “autonomous community” within the Spanish state, with a strong sense of self.</p>
<p>Founded in 1901, Athletic de Bilbao has, since around 1912, only signed local Basque players (albeit with varying degrees of strictness and interpretation). Given the timing of the club’s foundation and growing feelings of Basque nationalism, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/16138171.2012.11687887">some have speculated</a> that the origins of this tradition may be tied to the Basque nationalist ideology of Sabino Arana, who founded the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Basque-Nationalist-Party">Basque Nationalist Party</a> (PNV) in 1895. Many of the club’s bosses were affiliated to the PNV, and Jose Antonio Aguirre, the first president of the Basque Country, once played for Athletic de Bilbao.</p>
<p>The Franco dictatorship – which imposed restrictions on the Basque language – did little to weaken Athletic de Bilbao’s insistence on recruiting local players. And the club’s crest, which includes images of a San Anton church and bridge, located in the province of Bizkaia, is yet another symbolic expression of its geographical and political roots. </p>
<p>In the UK, too, when football clubs play, their <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Football-Against-Enemy-Simon-Kuper/dp/0752848771">histories also play</a>. This could not be truer than in the case of the two Glasgow clubs, Rangers and Celtic. When these sides meet, football, politics and religion are all inside the stadium.</p>
<h2>Old Firm holds firm</h2>
<p>Celtic FC was set up in Glasgow’s poverty stricken East End, where many Irish Catholics had settled in a bid to escape the famine in their home country. The club has its origins in the displacement of people, with the club acting as a point of cohesion. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, many Protestants began to gravitate towards Rangers, and over time the club came to be associated with Scottish Protestantism and Unionism. When the two teams meet on the pitch, the interaction of football and identity is in plain sight, through traditional songs and historic intense rivalry. </p>
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<p>A more recent connection between football and politics is clear in the Serbian clubs Partizan Belgrade and Red Star Belgrade, which were described by journalist <a href="http://inbedwithmaradona.com/journal/2017/5/3/an-in-depth-analysis-of-serbian-football-partizan-red-star-belgrade">Nebojsa Markovic</a> as “socialist institutions”. </p>
<p>In 1944, after the National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (with help from the Soviet Army) took control of Yugoslavia, many of the country’s pre-war clubs ceased to exist. This created space for new clubs to emerge which would reflect the developing political reality. </p>
<p>Red Star came first and took the communist inspired five-pointed red star as its symbol. Partizan was later formed by members of the Yugoslav army.
Both clubs survived the break up of Yugoslavia. </p>
<p>With the two clubs located in Belgrade, efforts were later made to turn them into symbols of Serbian national identification. However, they were unable to shake off their Yugoslav heritage and links to the communist state. </p>
<p>As Markovic <a href="http://inbedwithmaradona.com/journal/2017/5/3/an-in-depth-analysis-of-serbian-football-partizan-red-star-belgrade">observed</a>, Partizan’s club crest maintains its image of the six flames which represent the six nations and six republics that were part of communist Yugoslavia. Red Star clearly maintain their red star. A complex political situation forged the evolving identities of the two clubs, including a global context that pitched communism against democracy and the Soviet state against the West. At a more local level, the clubs came to embody a distinctly Serbian identity sitting uneasily beside a wider Yugoslavian one. </p>
<p>Serbia, Scotland and Spain are just three examples of the close relationship between politics and football which exists across the world. Perhaps that’s why Guardiola continues to wear his yellow ribbon. His focus is on his club’s quest for trophies. Because in football, like politics, winning is everything.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95247/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nothing to disclose.</span></em></p>Football clubs are, to a great extent, made up of their sense of history and place.Scott Rawlinson, PhD Candidate, Political Science, University of East AngliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/852832017-10-11T12:30:53Z2017-10-11T12:30:53ZPremier League giants go hunting for a bigger slice of the pie … and it will harm the game<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189647/original/file-20171010-17673-1028mlt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=71%2C40%2C3301%2C2182&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bangkok-thailand-august-5-logo-manchester-690392746?src=z46AN09ocNAiiWwZaVqSpw-4-69">charnsitr/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the English Premier League was founded in 1992, clubs agreed an egalitarian system for distributing Sky TV money. Skip forward 25 years, and that model is under threat after the 20 Premier League clubs <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-england-finance/smaller-premier-league-clubs-to-argue-for-balance-in-tv-cash-split-idUKKCN1C80TX">met to discuss</a> how to share future international TV rights.</p>
<p>Overseas broadcasters have discovered that Premier League football is a key vehicle to deliver subscriptions. The money paid to broadcast football has increased considerably. Glancing back to 1992 shows broadcast <a href="http://www.totalsportek.com/money/premier-league-tv-rights-deals-history-1992-2019/">revenue of £192m</a>. In the current cycle (2016-19), these payments total about £8.1 billion (£5.1 billion from the UK and £3 billion international). The cost of international rights is expected to <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4525808/Premier-League-earn-billions-thanks-foreign-TV-deals.html">rise further</a>. </p>
<p>Six clubs now want a change in the formula for spreading this source of revenue. They <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/sports/soccer/premier-league-tv.html">want a bigger</a> slice of the pie but, perhaps unsurprisingly, many other clubs are opposed to the proposals. No consensus has yet been reached, and a vote on the matter has been deferred until November.</p>
<h2>The Big Six?</h2>
<p>The dissent in the ranks is driven by the “Big Six” clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. They believe they are the key force behind the popularity of the Premier League in overseas territories, and are therefore entitled to greater financial reward.</p>
<p>In 2016, the Big Six received 70% of Premier League matchday income, 77% of commercial income, but “only” 43% of broadcast income. In their mind, they are effectively subsidising the other clubs. The argument put forward is that overseas TV fans will only tune in to watch the Big Six. They evidence this by the viewing figures for individual matches. </p>
<p>Premier League TV rights are initially divided into a number of “pots”. Domestic rights consist of three pots: 50% divided equally, 25% based on the number of TV appearances, and 25% on final league position. International rights are split evenly between all 20 clubs. </p>
<p>Overall, the ratio between the club generating the highest amount of Premier League TV income in 2016/17 (Chelsea) and that of the club bottom of the league (Sunderland) was 1.6:1. So for every £100 of Premier League TV income generated by Sunderland, Chelsea earned £160. This ratio in other European countries is at least 2:1. </p>
<p>The Big Six also believe that the present TV arrangement <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/sports-business-group/deloitte-uk-sport-football-money-league-2017.pdf">gives them a financial disadvantage</a> in relation to other large European clubs, such as Real Madrid and Barcelona. </p>
<p>Premier League chairman, Richard Scudamore, has <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/09/27/premier-leagues-big-six-fail-first-attempt-increase-tv-share/">proposed a change</a> for international rights whereby 65% would be shared evenly and 35% based on league position (“merit payment”). But this has caused a falling out between club owners. The Big Six want more, ideally identical to the domestic TV rights formula. </p>
<p>One side effect of these proposals is that money paid to relegated clubs under “parachute payment” rules is likely to decrease, as they would not be entitled to merit payments. This would result in about £40m of existing parachute payments moving from relegated clubs to those remaining in the Premier League. </p>
<p>The chart below shows how things would change if Scudamore’s proposal was approved. </p>
<h2>Driving revenue</h2>
<p>Professional team sports need to benefit from the concept of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/24748668.2012.11868603">competitive balance</a>. First pioneered in the 1950s and taking its origins from North American team sports, the theory suggests that to make a strong competition, you need a contest with equally matched opponents. </p>
<p>However, what tends to happen is that professional sport leagues produce games between teams with <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sjpe.12066/full">unequal market power</a>. One team becomes dominant, reducing the spectacle of the competition and, therefore, its value to spectators, broadcasters and sponsors. </p>
<p>Professional team sports are intrinsically different from other businesses, in which a firm prospers if it can eliminate competition and establish a monopoly supplier position. In sport this doesn’t work. Competitive opponents are required at a level that produces excitement and jeopardy.</p>
<p>This is important in relation to the vote on Premier League TV rights. The league has even <a href="https://www.premierleague.com/this-is-pl/the-premier-league/final-standings">praised itself</a> for keeping broadcast distribution relatively equal compared to other big European leagues. And as a result the games tend to be more competitively balanced too. Smaller teams can invest money to secure better playing talent and compete more effectively. </p>
<p>It is true that top teams in the league have a bigger appeal to fans in a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27369580">global market</a>. But it is also true that what makes the Premier League such an attractive product is that, on any given day, any team has a realistic chance of beating another. And in extremis, a team like Leicester <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35988673">might even win the league</a>.</p>
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<h2>The thin end of the wedge?</h2>
<p>If clubs agree to the Scudamore proposals, or accede to Big Six demands, then the outcomes will be challenging. </p>
<p>First, when most international rights are renegotiated from 2019 it is likely they will see an increase in value, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/10/05/premier-league-big-six-want-greater-share-overseas-tv-money/">by an estimated £1.2 billion</a> over three years. This will increase the money gap. If distributed evenly, every club in the Premier League would receive an extra £20 million a year. </p>
<p>Let’s not forget, the Big Six clubs are also far more likely to qualify for UEFA competitions, such as the Champions League, where they have a £30-90m financial advantage from separate TV rights. </p>
<p>The proposals will make the Premier League less competitive, potentially reducing the value of the competition’s brand and making it less attractive to viewers. The Leicester miracle will look more and more like a one-off; more likely will be Crystal Palace’s season so far, which has seen the London club lose its opening <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/manchester-united-4-crystal-palace-0-marouane-fellaini-hits-two-as-palace-lose-seventh-straight-game-a3647606.html">seven games without scoring a goal</a>. </p>
<p>When the clubs vote, any proposal will require a two-thirds majority to be approved. The Big Six must therefore convince another eight clubs that they have a sniff of tasting the increased riches on offer for league success. That will deliver another hit to the egalitarian spirit of 25 years ago. Turkeys don’t normally vote for Christmas but if these ones do, the future of the Premier League looks less competitive and ultimately, worth less too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85283/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Will England’s top-flight teams really decide to weaken their global blockbuster brand?Rob Wilson, Principal Lecturer in Sport Finance, Sheffield Hallam UniversityDan Plumley, Senior Lecturer in Sport Business Management, Sheffield Hallam UniversityKieran Maguire, Senior Teacher in Accountancy and member of Football Industries Group, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/761862017-04-18T11:52:29Z2017-04-18T11:52:29ZManchester: a city united by sport<p>When Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores for United or Sergio Aguero scores for City, one half of Manchester roars while the other half groans. Yet with every goal scored, game won and trophy secured, the mythology of Manchester strengthens just a little bit more. The two Premier League football clubs forever keep their city in the spotlight - both domestically and internationally. This is good for City and United. But it is also good for Greater Manchester and for Britain too.</p>
<p>Football reinforces the image of Brand Manchester as being one of the world’s most important cities for the sport. People identify and engage with the city, often resulting in them visiting, attending games, staying in hotels and spending their money in Manchester’s shops, cafes, tourist attractions and on its public transport. One 2013 study said <a href="http://www.neweconomymanchester.com/media/1404/280613_technical_reportcompressed.pdf">football added £330m a year to the Manchester economy</a>, securing 8,500 jobs in the process. </p>
<p>When United or City play at home, hotel occupancy rises from a typical 70% to around 90%, and one in eight international visitors to Manchester go to a game at Old Trafford (compared to an average of one in 40 elsewhere in Britain). Each of those visitors spends an average of £800 per visit to the city. Furthermore, the same 2013 study discovered that the value of football to the Manchester brand is estimated to have been worth more than £2.5 billion over the last 20 years.</p>
<p>Football in Greater Manchester though is not just City and United. The likes of Bury, Oldham Athletic, Stockport County, Salford City and FC United are also making an important contribution to Greater Manchester and beyond. And not just in economic and financial terms. FC United is a beacon for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/may/26/fc-united-manchester-benfica-united-fans">fan ownership of clubs and supporter democracy</a> after supporters opposed the Glazer family’s debt-loaded takeover of their club set up their own team which has been promoted four times since it was established in a pub 12 years ago. Meanwhile Salford City has become a media sensation following the BBC’s <a href="http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/tv/class-of-92-bbc-one-11758072">two recent documentary series about it</a>. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Class of ‘92: Out of their League.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Just as football in Greater Manchester is not only about City or United, similarly the conurbation is not just about football. The list of other sport clubs and organisations that either have their homes in Manchester or which are a prominent part of the local, national and international sport landscapes is endless. British Cycling, architect of the country’s considerable success in the sport over the last decade, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/7890fdf0-ac5f-11e6-9cb3-bb8207902122">is based in Manchester</a>. In addition, one of the country’s leading cricket teams, Lancashire, is based in the city and plays its matches at <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/old-trafford-cricket-ground-to-be-renamed-after-sponsorship-deal-is-agreed-with-emirates-8515294.html">Emirates Old Trafford</a>, itself also a major test cricket venue. </p>
<p>Added to the list are athletics, netball, rugby, squash, ice hockey, swimming, water polo, basketball and more. Data reported by Manchester City Council showed that in the 11 years <a href="http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/greater-manchester-remains-heart-sport-11840443">after the Commonwealth Games</a> were staged in Manchester in 2002, 216 major sporting events were hosted in Manchester. These events are thought to have generated £92m worth of economic impact, while also securing £37m of inward investment into the area.</p>
<p>The economic and financial effects of sport in Greater Manchester are not however simply an on-field phenomenon. Success fosters success, which has led to industrial clustering effects that have seen Manchester become one of the world’s most important cities for sport and commerce. For instance, the world-famous <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/sports-business-group/articles/annual-review-of-football-finance.html">Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance</a> is compiled in Manchester, where the company’s Sport Business Group is based. Reflecting the importance of sports businesses around the region, there is even an organisation – Pro Manchester – which helps bring people together to inform, educate and engage people working in the industry.</p>
<h2>Health and lifestyle</h2>
<p>Although sport in Greater Manchester generates revenues and creates jobs, it also has a much broader economic impact too. As with any large urban conurbation, Manchester must continually contend with issues of health and lifestyle. To get a sense of the conurbation’s issues, it is worth considering that the <a href="http://www.greatersport.co.uk/_media/uploads/dc9f9d23-7f4d-4942-b68e-a61f1c1bc661.pdf">Blueprint for Physical Activity and Sport in Greater Manchester</a> identified that: 20% of its children are classed as obese; 47.3% of its adults do not meet the chief medical officer’s recommendations for physical activity; and that NHS costs linked to these may exceed £35m. </p>
<p>It is therefore no surprise that the <a href="http://www.greatersport.co.uk/_media/uploads/44274365-4253-49b5-8bf1-695f5d4188c7.pdf">Greater Manchester Sports Partnership</a> has, among other things, set targets that include getting 800,000 adults active once a week. Indeed, its figures show that physical activity correlates with greater workforce earnings and productivity. Those who exercise (150 minutes moderate intensity activity per week) are thought to earn on average £6,500 more each year. Sport is about so much more than an injury time goal at the Etihad or Old Trafford. </p>
<p>Greater Manchester’s new mayor will inevitably need to have his or her mind on the conurbation’s post-Brexit incarnation – job creation, welfare provision and social cohesion to name just a few. But they must not forget sport. Not only are its teams, events, businesses and other organisations major drivers of economic and commercial activity across the conurbation, they are also deeply embedded in the life of the city. Indeed, sport helps define Greater Manchester – it is part of its heritage, identity and vibrancy. One hopes the new mayor will understand this, embrace it and continue to build Manchester as a united conurbation of sport and for sport.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76186/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Chadwick serves as a member of Pro Manchester's sport industry group. He also received a research award from the ESRC to stage an event entitled 'Manchester: A Global Centre of Sport' as part of the city's Festival of Social Science in November 2016.</span></em></p>It’s not all about United and City – sport defines Greater Manchester, boosts the economy and is essential to the overall health of the region.Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sports Enterprise, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/650712016-09-08T10:53:44Z2016-09-08T10:53:44ZWhy there’s so much more than football at stake in Manchester’s mega derby<p>United vs City, red vs blue, Jose Mourinho vs Pep Guardiola – the Manchester derby is one of football’s epic contests. It was first played in 1881 and is today a match that’s about far more than football. Pitting people, businesses and brands against each other, there are big commercial, financial and managerial implications to the game.</p>
<p>There’s a heightened expectancy around this season’s first encounter of the two clubs. Both are on winning streaks and the rivalry between their managers, Mourinho and Guardiola, goes back to when they managed Spanish rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona. The previous encounters between the Portuguese pragmatist and the Spanish stylist were often <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/may/23/pep-guardiola-jose-mourinho-manchester-city-united-rivalry">irritable, fractious affairs</a>. But the meaning of this Manchester derby runs much deeper than the potential for physical confrontation between the two of them. </p>
<p>The cult of manager has always been a peculiarly English phenomenon, a narrative into which Mourinho and Guardiola play very nicely. It is a narrative that seems to have emerged in a 21st century form with the two of them rapidly being positioned as the world’s leading football management brands. </p>
<p>Mourinho: the self-styled “Special One” is known for being <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/jan/20/jose-mourinho-emotion-manchester-united-chelsea">emotional</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/20/chelsea-jose-mourinho">confrontational</a>. Guardiola: a man with the efficiency of a successful CEO, known for being <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-city/12135156/Pep-Guardiola-The-secrets-of-his-success-and-how-he-will-change-Manchester-City.html">obsessive and high maintenance</a>. </p>
<h2>Battle of the brands</h2>
<p>At the same time, an equally intriguing battle of their respective brands has emerged on the field of play, which is reminiscent of their previous Spanish clubs. Over the last decade, Real Madrid has branded itself as a team of <a href="https://madridgalacticos.com/about/the-galacticos-era/">“galacticos”</a>, repeatedly breaking the world transfer record to buy-in superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale. Whereas Barcelona, especially under Guardiola, were always more team oriented.</p>
<p>Something similar is taking place in Manchester’s battle of the brands. United brought in big summer signings Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Pogba’s transfer <a href="https://theconversation.com/man-utd-splash-record-89m-on-paul-pogba-but-is-he-worth-it-63745">was a record breaking £89m</a>, accompanied by marketing fanfare by Adidas which put out a music video featuring another high profile client, grime artist Stormzy. <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/06/30/zlatan-ibrahimovic-deal-shows-how-manchester-united-and-the-prem/">Ibrahimovic</a>, meanwhile, came laden with a bad boy turned elder statesman tag that sees him still fronting a whole range of commercial deals.</p>
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<p>City on the other hand come more as a team, which is entirely in keeping with Guardiolian philosophy and no surprise given that the club’s chief executive, Ferran Soriano, was previously director of finance at Barcelona. These differing approaches to creating winning teams and global brands are emblematic of the broader strategies being employed by the two clubs.</p>
<h2>Different business models</h2>
<p>United is historically the commercially stronger and richer of the two – although City is <a href="https://www.marketingweek.com/2015/08/05/footballs-most-innovative-business-model/">catching up fast</a>. Indeed, in the various <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2016/05/11/the-worlds-most-valuable-soccer-teams-2016/#11a55bcb2d04">rankings</a> and money leagues produced each year both are among the global football elite, at least in commercial terms.</p>
<p>United, though, has always tended to focus on revenue generation by engaging in, for example, the global sale of association rights, which see the club’s name on products ranging from soft drinks to paint in different countries <a href="http://www.manutd.com/en/Club/Brand-Protection.aspx">across the world</a>. This has served the club well and <a href="https://www.london.edu/faculty-and-research/lbsr/why-is-manchester-united-so-successful#.V9EyVZMrK00">generated big money</a>, although some observers remain critical of the owners’ and management’s exploitation of the United name.</p>
<p>Over in the blue half of Manchester, the strategy has been rather different. While revenue generation is no less important to City, the club has adopted a relationship-driven approach to financial, as well as on-field, success. This is epitomised by <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/11065644/Manchester-City-FC-have-plans-for-global-brand-domination.html">City’s franchising model</a>, which has resulted in satellite clubs being established in New York, Yokohama and Melbourne (with <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/city-poised-to-expand-global-stable-by-moving-into-china-a6940136.html">speculation growing that Shanghai will be the next destination</a>).</p>
<h2>A constellation of rivalries</h2>
<p>Among this already crowded constellation of brands sits a series of other commercial battles that will be played out in the Manchester derby. As massive global television and social media audiences look on, Adidas (and its key properties of United and Pogba) goes head-to-head with Nike (and its representatives City and the likes of Raheem Stirling). </p>
<p>This is a contest that should not be underestimated. The sportswear brands have spent big on their respective clubs; indeed, Adidas chiefs have been <a href="http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/10119346/adidas-chief-executive-criticises-manchester-united-style">known to comment on United’s playing style</a>, while some have speculated that the German sportswear giant <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3732412/Football-loses-plot-Man-United-spend-100million-player-let-got-peanuts-290-000-week-contract-ex-pizza-chef-agent-trousers-20m.html">was behind the Pogba signing</a> – the company now has a leading Adidas player in a leading Adidas team.</p>
<p>Otherwise, look out for the car confrontation between Chevrolet (United’s shirt sponsor) and Nissan (City’s “Official Automotive Partner”); the airline assault involving Etihad (City’s shirt sponsor) and Aeroflot (United’s “Official Airline Carrier”), and numerous others. The Manchester derby is not just a battle for the hearts and minds of fans, it is a contest for their wallets as well.</p>
<p>With big money being paid out to attract Mourinho and Guardiola to Manchester, even bigger money being paid for their star players, and the millions being thrown into the mix by global corporations, one is left to ponder the huge value that’s tied up in it.</p>
<p>Spain’s El Classico (between Real Madrid and Barcelona) is normally identified as the <a href="http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11833/9766627/el-clasico-is-the-biggest-game-on-earth-says-thierry-henry">world’s biggest club game</a>. But their two former sons now seem to be spearheading a shift in football’s global power balance. The Manchester derby’s historic rivalry is only set to get bigger and bigger.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65071/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
As United and City go head-to-head in their first encounter of the football season, their rivalry reaches new levels on and off the pitch.Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sports Enterprise & Director of Sport Industry Collaboration Zone, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/581732016-05-09T13:27:38Z2016-05-09T13:27:38ZChina’s huge punt on football needs a heart as well as deep pockets<p>Jackson Martinez, Alex Teixeira, and Ramires – formerly among Europe’s top footballers – <a href="http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2887/asia/2016/02/24/20677442/watch-how-alex-teixeira-ramires-jackson-martinez-fared-on">are now the centrepiece</a> of the Chinese Super League’s recent <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4c597b6e-c983-11e5-a8ef-ea66e967dd44.html#axzz489n8Bwqo">£200m acquisition of footballing talent</a>. <a href="http://www.espnfc.co.uk/chinese-super-league/story/2824777/premier-league-spending-topped-by-chinese-super-league">Outspending England’s Premier League</a> in the usually inflated January transfer window is no easy feat, yet this is only one plank of a huge investment in football that aims to drive China into the heart of the international game. </p>
<p>The latest Chinese effort to upset the apple cart does show progress. Historic attempts to uproot foreign stars and plant a competitive footballing environment in China have largely failed because of a barren grassroots environment. Rowan Simons’ book <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3275611-bamboo-goalposts">Bamboo Goalposts</a> provides a humorous account of the difficulties in establishing the foundations of football in a country lacking inner-city space and where, until recently, strict rules applied to group activities of any kind. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121687/original/image-20160509-20575-1cyr46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121687/original/image-20160509-20575-1cyr46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121687/original/image-20160509-20575-1cyr46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121687/original/image-20160509-20575-1cyr46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121687/original/image-20160509-20575-1cyr46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121687/original/image-20160509-20575-1cyr46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121687/original/image-20160509-20575-1cyr46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121687/original/image-20160509-20575-1cyr46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A matter of national pride.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thepismire/3238755332/in/photolist-5Wct8b-dKTGb1-4MZtmC-7xZLUp-dKQb4P-eduWnB-dKU1rs-eduWv6-5x4sTD-aWZco-8hPm6u-9d232h-9cXWdi-ixkRo5-5dRQ1K-9d23bA-7Sxnjp-4WWvJ9-3LgZcL-5emhrz-axskD1-4ZvK6o-dRqaHV-cr9agb-61hgZw-9hjvpQ-bk81Za-8vw2Hj-bLJW1X-dijo9-8vsCQR-buDJE5-brvcDr-8vwHnS-2kLPPy-kqUHo4-defQnb-4HomaH-4ZBfpJ-cbhEC5-8V6HUa-hAiDeM-4nA8V7-hktY15-89tWKs-by2YoR-6B5sD2-hs6fDv-7H1Z2p-8vtJRX">Buzz/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Ambitious plans</h2>
<p>This time there is a difference, however – most notably the efforts of President Xi Jinping. In his vision, China will become a global force in everything from aviation and nanotechnology – to football. His <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/26/football/china-football-ambition-transfer-window/">10-year plan runs until 2025</a> and is based around the creation of a Chinese sports economy worth <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/chinese-super-league-why-850bn-investment-could-tempt-wayne-rooney-new-football-superpower-1541686">US$850 billion</a>. This is a startling target considering the entire global sports market is currently valued at <a href="http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/hospitality-leisure/changing-the-game-outlook-for-the-global-sports-market-to-2015.html">just over US$145 billion.</a> </p>
<p>To achieve this, Xi wants to build 20,000 football schools by 2017, and 30,000 more by 2025 in the hope of producing 100,000 potential players. Some might consider these lofty and even unrealistic ambitions, but for those who have experience of doing business in China this statement of ambition is <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-28288550">nothing unusual</a>. It is reflective of China’s “factory approach” to socio-economic growth and development.</p>
<h2>From Ambition to Practice</h2>
<p>While Shanghai gets ready to <a href="https://www.shanghaidisneyresort.com/en/">welcome Disney to the Middle Kingdom</a>, Guangzhou has <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/15/football/football-china-guangzhou-evergrande/">Evergrande Football School</a>. Funded by real estate giants Evergrande, it cost US$185m and is the world’s largest school dedicated purely to football. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121688/original/image-20160509-20581-8v5q13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121688/original/image-20160509-20581-8v5q13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121688/original/image-20160509-20581-8v5q13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121688/original/image-20160509-20581-8v5q13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121688/original/image-20160509-20581-8v5q13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121688/original/image-20160509-20581-8v5q13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121688/original/image-20160509-20581-8v5q13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121688/original/image-20160509-20581-8v5q13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wojtekgurak/5222437448/in/photolist-8XumGY-7cZW4U-8VX2pe-ojdH7o-5hqDpA-5kxPWw-8W15W1-4QY87D-5vBcCb-8WdjhC-8Xbpbx-q12zJQ-8VX2jv-4G8vP9-fyAnZm-69AQi4-6x8uBx-5ewXwh-gidHdF-4GuZoy-4DHnhX-78YtD6-4xm8NW-qhpoBk-JSm3r-qfifmb-5ePDM9-8XumNm-33KyWM-bAEjBu-fuQcXb-bWtYUM-qfiftf-5gfh9g-pkPJhM-pmyQ8U-q12Azs-qhw615-q12zKw-5gjBTA-9BE5Yd-8Wdj8C-8VLCBW-83kTGp-9nMqRq-3GATFf-ffc7hn-2BJe3F-8fRE8w-8QwFVM">Wojtek Gurak</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With around 3,000 registered students, the scale of the project has led to the tag “football factory”. As with all other industrial sectors in China, the blueprint comes from the top, and this also applies to sport education. This is achieved through the creation of sport-specific vocational institutions, identifying athletes of the future and encouraging them to spend their primary and secondary education refining their raw talent into sporting success. This approach has yielded countless Olympic medals at youth and senior levels, but its success has mainly been for individual, rather than team sports. </p>
<h2>A hybrid model</h2>
<p>This strategy of investment at both ends of the football pyramid is refreshing, and arguably gives China its best shot yet at developing a modern footballing environment. While big name stars attract the desired media interest, capital investments in some of the world’s biggest football clubs, such as the <a href="http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/manchester-city-set-strike-rich-10863147">£265m investment in Manchester City</a>, will reassure lurking sponsors and likely investors that China’s recent foray into the global football industry is no wayward long-shot. </p>
<p>This recent surge in elite level investment might be impressive, but couple it with the possibility of producing 100,000 home grown players by 2025, and the legacy potential of up to 50,000 football schools, and China really could become the home of the world’s first major non-European football league. The question now is what else can it do to achieve this?</p>
<p>There is no doubt that in modern sport capital investment and thorough strategic planning is needed to develop and compete. The current model by China has caught everyone’s attention, but is it sustainable in the long-term? And are the capital investments by Chinese business owners just a way of forging a positive relationship with President Xi? </p>
<h2>Best shot</h2>
<p>In Europe, we don’t have “football schools” as such, but we do have football on the brain. The media plays a significant role in this. Chinese football probably needs an equivalent to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007t9y1">England’s Match of the Day highlights programme</a>. Lots of football fans in the UK don’t necessarily enjoy watching full games, nor do they attend live games. Yet the humorous, in-depth and passionate analysis of the weekend’s action has become a hallmark of football in England. Chinese clubs need to go beyond attracting hard-core fans, and should focus more on the casual supporter. This is the group that will ultimately sustain a club’s legacy. </p>
<p>One approach could be to use education, arguably the one thing Chinese families will spend their money on. If enterprising Chinese clubs can partner with local organisations and education providers then the development of a casual fan base will naturally occur alongside meaningful contributions to other areas of the Chinese economy. English language skills delivered through football would be a powerful benefit, too. </p>
<p>China has a chance to crack the global football industry. The strategy to date reflects the country’s broader approach to economic planning and development, and for the first time it is being driven by the man at the top. That said, the longevity and potential of China’s football market will remain questionable in the absence of an intermediary, socially-focused agenda to help unite fans, athletes, investors – and the people of China. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>More articles about China and Xi Jinping, written by academics:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/world-cup-glory-is-xi-jinpings-dream-for-china-96750?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=WorldCup2018">World Cup glory is Xi Jinping’s dream for China</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/xi-jinpings-chilling-grab-for-absolute-power-in-china-92563?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=WorldCup2018">Xi Jinping’s chilling grab for absolute power in China</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/is-china-on-a-collision-course-with-world-footballs-governing-body-72779?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=WorldCup2018">Is China on a collision course with FIFA?</a></em></p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58173/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Cockayne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Xi Jinping is spearheading an extraordinary bid to dominate the world’s favourite sport. But will he take the Chinese people with him?David Cockayne, Senior Lecturer, Management School, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/146482013-05-31T05:48:58Z2013-05-31T05:48:58ZDo you want franchise with that? McDonald’s model for football<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/24721/original/3xjpchh2-1369937223.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Manchester City: soon to be celebrating global domination?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dave Thompson/PA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Walk down the high streets of Britain, through the shopping malls of the United States or around the retail complexes of East Asia, and you will inevitably be confronted with a McDonald’s food outlet. </p>
<p>We’ve long become accustomed to global fast food franchises, but what if football was also heading that way? Manchester City’s recent <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/may/21/manchester-city-new-york-yankees-major-league-soccer">acquisition</a> of a US team may be just the start of the era of the global football franchise.</p>
<h2>The McModel</h2>
<p>Franchised across the world, the McDonald’s business model ensures the company can secure mass-market coverage in international territories, leveraging best possible (financial) value for the business. It assists the company in targeting customers in established markets, but also facilitates new market entry by prompting consumer purchase based on familiarity. This familiarity helps ease consumption of products by evoking a sense of security in the minds of consumers, leading them to engage and transact based on a feeling of trust.</p>
<p>In sport, such franchising exists in some places; in the United States, for instance, cities are allocated franchises in sports like basketball, baseball and ice hockey. Franchises are generally awarded to sports entrepreneurs based upon the extent to which they and the cities in which they are located can deliver a sustainable financial return. In other words, it is about using sport to make a profit. No profit, no franchise, and the team moves elsewhere to play in a city where it can make a profit. </p>
<p>This approach to sport has led to the emergence of a sports entrepreneurial class, consisting of individuals like Malcolm Glazer (owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and current owner of Manchester United), John W. Henry (Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC) and Tom Hicks (former owner of both the Texas Rangers and Liverpool FC). However, in spite of the experience, power and wealth that such individuals bring to sport, their ability to bring a franchise approach to other sports, most notably football, has been very limited.</p>
<h2>Roots and culture</h2>
<p>Unlike North American sport, which developed on an overtly commercial and strategic basis, European football has emerged on a more socio-cultural basis. In England, for example, football clubs were often established in towns where industry grew in the 19th century. Hence, the development of football in Europe has become inextricably linked with history, heritage, community and identity, rather than with business, commerce and least of all franchising.</p>
<p>A stark illustration of the role that history and heritage plays in football occurred when the new owner of Wimbledon FC <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wimbledon/1483683.stm">announced in 2001</a> that he would move the underperforming team from its home in the suburbs of south London to Milton Keynes, 50 miles away. There was outcry among fans across the country, with people labelling it “franchise football”. Fans <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2003/jan/11/clubsincrisis.sport">vociferously complained</a> that they would not countenance this and, indeed, some refused to support the newly branded “MK Dons” and set up a new club, AFC Wimbledon.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/24722/original/czk98497-1369952722.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/24722/original/czk98497-1369952722.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/24722/original/czk98497-1369952722.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/24722/original/czk98497-1369952722.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/24722/original/czk98497-1369952722.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/24722/original/czk98497-1369952722.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/24722/original/czk98497-1369952722.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Still bitter: AFC Wimbledon fans at a recent match against MK Dons,</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nick Potts/PA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There were fewer complaints when, in the 1990s, Cape Town Seven Stars <a href="http://www.ajaxct.com/the_club.htm?category=club+history">became Ajax Cape Town</a> following the acquisition of a controlling interest in the club by Ajax of Amsterdam. At the time, this was labelled as being a “franchise arrangement”, a way for the Dutch club to tap in to the same scouting networks that had spotted South African players like one-time Ajax signing, Steven Pienaar.</p>
<p>In spite of the Wimbledon and Ajax cases however, franchising has thus far failed to take hold in Europe. It is anathema to fans, clubs and governing bodies – it simply has not been the way things are in football.</p>
<h2>World domination</h2>
<p>Yet as football has become more commercial, the world has globalised and the international balance of economic power has shifted, the prospect of franchising taking hold appears to be emerging. </p>
<p>The Italian Football Association has already effectively franchised out its annual Super Cup competition (a match between the league winners and the cup winners), which is now <a href="http://www.china.org.cn/sports/2012-08/11/content_26206319.htm">played in Beijing</a>. Also in China, Chengdu Wuniu is now Chengdu Blades, following acquisition of the club by Sheffield United. In the former case, playing a season-opening game in Asia builds existing customer engagement and extends presence in a strategically important market. In the latter case, a relatively modest English club is able to build business, access player scouting networks, and diversify the club owner’s investment portfolio.</p>
<p>Adding further intensity to the debate, FC Barcelona has in recent years referred to the “<a href="http://buffettismyidol.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/two-lessons-from-mary-buffett-and.html">Walt Disney model</a>” being used as a basis for the club’s business, whereby symbols of the brand are used to sell everything from football to theme parks to cartoon characters. </p>
<p>Within the last couple of weeks Manchester City, now run by former Barcelona man Ferran Soriano, has taken this logic further by <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/may/21/manchester-city-new-york-yankees-major-league-soccer">buying</a> a New York based Major League Soccer franchise.</p>
<h2>A franchised future?</h2>
<p>With the prospect ahead of City playing in both Manchester and New York, franchising in the McDonald’s sense is looming large on the horizon. So much so, that one has to ask how long before we see Beijing City or Mumbai United joining leagues in their respective countries. </p>
<p>Just as franchising makes sense for fast food businesses, so too it makes sense for some football clubs: the same commercial logic, the same business and managerial benefits. In football, where clubs are often little more than small or medium enterprises at best, this is especially important. Playing the franchise game will enable clubs to capitalise on their history, heritage, profile, and brand strength as a basis for building business in new markets.</p>
<p>The football fans of America, China and India may be excited by the prospect of being able to engage with their favourite European football clubs on a more immediate basis. However, many football fans in Europe are likely to be in uproar as their lifetime loves become even more overtly commercial entities. This implies that there are some important management challenges ahead for clubs, notably reconciling the need to preserve heritage in some parts of the world while operating like a burger business or global entertainment corporation in other parts of the world. </p>
<p>It will make for interesting times, not least if one considers in the meantime that by 2030 we could well have a World Club Championship contested by franchised clubs owned solely by one organisation – look out for City versus City in the final.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/14648/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Chadwick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Walk down the high streets of Britain, through the shopping malls of the United States or around the retail complexes of East Asia, and you will inevitably be confronted with a McDonald’s food outlet…Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sport Business Strategy, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.