Rumors abound that the Premier League are planning to build their own broadcast platform, which by definition would mean abandoning established broadcast relationships and eventually captaining their own ship.
Despite the obvious benefits of not having to listen to Gary Neville, a legion of meaningless influencers and the seemingly endless societal messages we have to endure from Sky, this represents the biggest egg-breaking to make omelettes since the creation of the Premier League.
The cynical view is that this is merely a workhorse ahead of negotiations for upcoming broadcast deals, but it shouldn’t be. Premier League leaders must prepare their stand for what is a huge opportunity.
They need to support each other, have faith in their product and realize that they don’t really need traditional broadcasters like Sky or BT Sport anymore.
Streaming through their own platform means the Premier League could be the Netflix of football.
Fans are used to listening to pundits like Gary Neville on Sky, but the Premier League no longer needs the broadcast giant
BT Sport may also be dropped if the Premier League implement their own Netflix-style platform
I think the Premier League going out on its own would benefit clubs and supporters
Netflix has built its business on other people’s content, put it on its platform and charged its subscribers, while the Premier League is in the unique position that it is a proven model that has a global audience – and it owns its content!
It might be easier to continue with third-party distribution, but if the Premier League launched its own platform, it would be better for English football, clubs and fans. It takes innovation, application, drive and ambition, but these are meant to be the basic diet of the supposedly best league in the world.
The Premier League must be free from being controlled by broadcasters who are their payers and in control of their own destiny.
You no longer need conventional linear spaces to be able to stream from because, in the digital age, you can build platforms yourself. Digital is now a maturing market, the quality is there, the proof of concept is there.
I can understand why there might be some reluctance, because why mess with a guaranteed income stream? But all of this can be overcome and really wouldn’t be a journey into the unknown.
I have long advocated for the Premier League to start rowing its own boat and if I still owned a football club I would unequivocally push it. Any owner of a Premier League club who wasn’t already a billionaire would quickly become one many times over.
Here is a chance to leverage the global market to benefit us in this country as a result of this unique phenomenon. We have a tiger by the tail – the Premier League is bigger than any other league and launching its own broadcast platform would eclipse any other sport.
Yes, the self-glorifying NFL, I’m looking at you. Vision, foresight and deliverables are necessities. Of course, this would require huge investment and infrastructure, but please let me pause if you don’t think it would be readily available and feasible.
There’s this huge Tutankhamun-like crypt of gold ready to plunder, but if the Premier League decides not to, it can’t be because they aren’t ambitious or confident enough. Current revenues are £2.9 billion a year, which is equal to the Iron Man franchise. So Premier League revenue is currently like a movie of the week.
If the Premier League launched its own platform, it could easily have 100 million subscribers. If they then charged £10 a month for all-you-can-eat football, they would generate £1bn a month and £36bn over the three-year cycle – as opposed to the current £9bn – and that’s even before to take into account in advertising revenue.
Launching a Netflix-style platform would be better for Premier League clubs
It would also be cheaper for fans, allowing them to watch defending champions Man City and all the other top-flight teams for just £10 a month.
On a trading level, you would instantly remove the churn from the market as the price resistance would be gone. In one fell swoop, you would also eliminate the criminal side of society that profits from piracy. All aspects of our football would benefit. Fans would pay considerably less than the current inflated subscription prices and the pyramid and base would benefit considerably.
The opportunities are phenomenal and the benefits incalculable. The Premier League is not a product that has to be sold around the world and presented to people.
Domestic rights are now overtaken by overseas rights, so you not only have a proof of concept that you can market in your own country, you also have a product that you can market worldwide and an audience existing and engaged.
It’s here, it’s now, they just have to go get it. Take advantage of the globalized world and the demand for this product. It could be a good night for traditional broadcasters who have been very successful in the boom in English football… but it is progress.
You’re never too old to handle
Neil Warnock and Roy Hodgson busted the myth that you’re too old to pass a certain age.
Warnock, 74, went to Huddersfield as they were dead in the water and heading for the fall. Hodgson, 75, took the Palace job with the club on the brink of relegation.
Two old boys demonstrated the basic principles of football. Bring in people who communicate effectively with athletes and place square pegs in square holes. Neither side is safe yet, but their prospects look much better.
If you’re good enough, you’re young enough.
What are Boehly and Co waiting for?
The idea that Chelsea have to wait for Luis Enrique or Julian Nagelsmann to decide if they want to become their manager is ridiculous.
The club should have gone out and already had the manager they wanted. Chelsea have all the economic power in the world – use it.
Nagelsmann could come in and understand the dynamics of the locker room, figure out who he wants and doesn’t want. He could have learned on the job and had a free kick for the rest of this season.
So why don’t you use the influence and economic power at your disposal to bring in a manager now?
Todd Boehly waiting until summer to name Chelsea’s next permanent manager is bizarre
Chelsea have ignored all the other rules, all the other myths around what you can and can’t do, so grab your man and put yourself in a better position for next season.
If the reason Nagelsmann or Luis Enrique doesn’t want the job now is because they don’t want to risk their reputation being tarnished by someone else’s work, then give them an incentive. Stop messing around. Get your man in now and build.
They started this wildfire by buying the club for £2.5bn and spending £600m on new players. Yet all of a sudden they’re going the stereotypical, lazy, populist, appeasing fan route of putting Frank Lampard back in place. It’s hardly progressive!
Leeds only have to go after Augustine
Sometimes in football you are stitched up, as Leeds now find they have been ordered to pay former striker Jean-Kevin Augustin £24.5m for breach of contract.
Unfortunately for Leeds, they appear to be the architects of their own downfall having apparently signed the player before the event.
Quite how Leeds ended up in this mess with bills to the selling club, debts for an ongoing contract and no transfer fee, perhaps exemplifies the banana republic of football finance and reeks of the regime of Peter Ridsdale from years past.
It reminds me a bit of a situation I experienced at Crystal Palace six weeks after walking through the door regarding Australian midfielder Craig Foster. He had a three-year contract worth £500,000 per season, but had to have his work permit renewed every year.
Leeds must take responsibility for the mess surrounding Jean-Kevin Augustin
At the end of his first season, his work permit was refused and I was ordered by the Football League to pay his contract. The law of the land said he couldn’t play and yet I was told to pay the player £1million.
It wasn’t until I said I would kick and scream them in every court in the land if they made me pay that they backed down.
Even then I was told I had to pay his £100,000 entry fee. I was ready to go back to war before my lawyer told me to resign while I was in front. I had won the battle.
Painfully for Leeds, they lost theirs.
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