Despite all this money, the total debt of EPL clubs at the end of last season was £2.4 Billion.
Prior to the start of the first Premier League season in 1992, Alan Shearer became the first British player to command a transfer fee of more than £3 million.* But in 2009, a new record transfer fee was set at £80 million when Cristiano Ronaldo was sold from manchester united to real madrid. *
Some of these figures are mind boggling, but what is even more worrying is that clubs seem to be passing the brunt of their increasing wage bills onto their loyal fans. The average cost of the cheapest adult ticket in the top four divisions of English football has risen by 11.7% - more than five times the rate of inflation*. Clubs are taking their fans for granted because they know they are not like normal customers, no matter whether their team wins or looses, they will still come back because they are loyal to their team. However, these ridiculously high prices are driving out the traditional football fan, the working class fan, who can no longer afford to regularly attend games. Buying a season ticket to watch your team has now become a very expensive investment, and fans have to think twice before purchase, especially in such bleak economic times. This has meant a decline in the traditional working class fan and an increase in a more wealthy fan, solely looking for the best entertainment. This does not only have consequences on the fans, but also on the teams. We have seen an increasing trend in football that players will not usually stay loyal to their teams if they could be earning a higher salary else where, and therefore many teams struggle to retain their best players once their talent is realised by bigger clubs. This means the richer clubs can buy the best players and pay the highest wages, making it very difficult for smaller clubs to compete. This widens the gap between a few elite teams and the rest of the league, and also between the top division and the lower tiers of league football. And without any proper regulation or system in place, this problem will only continue to get worse, and diminish the high level of competitiveness in the game, and drive the real fan from the game all together. And who wants to watch the big clubs become an elite league of their own anyway? Surely a more competitive league where anyone can win provides for better entertainment?
So, what can be done to prevent this? Well the introduction of UFEA's financial fair play system (FFP) is intended to force clubs to balance their football related expenditure over a three year period, starting in 2011/12 to 2014/15 season.* In theory this is meant to prevent rich clubs spending more than they earn in the search for success. Punishments for breaking the FFP rules include being banned from european competitions, fines, and transfer embargoes, amongst others. However, only a club’s outgoings in transfers will be counted over income, so this does not address the issue of high wages. One of the major criticisms of FFP is the possibility of solidifying the so-called big clubs which generate the largest revenue and profits, as well as attract the best sponsorship and TV deals, and can consequently spend more money on transfers.* This could potentially make it even harder for slightly lesser teams to break into the top four and gain champions league football. Therefore this does not solve the problem, but in fact could make it worse, meaning more has to be done by footballs governing bodies to create a balanced and level playing field. I strongly believe that a salary cap should be introduced, which will help prevent clubs from racking up huge mountains of debt due to ever increasing wages, that ultimately are passed onto the fans. A salary cap is a league sanctioned payroll limit that restricts the amount of money teams can spend on player salaries. Salary caps bring a wide variety of benefits to leagues that implement them. Firstly, it can increase the competition in a league by preventing the wealthiest teams from obtaining all the most talented players that require the highest salaries, therefore placing teams with a smaller payroll at more of an advantage. A greater level of competition across the league could increase television audiences and attendance rates, meaning a greater income across the league, and also meaning that clubs can lower ticket prices to make them more affordable due to other increased revenue streams. The salary cap system will also create wiser spending habits by clubs, and increase youth development and scouting, which is desperately needed in the premier league also. Therefore I believe that a sound salary cap system along with a newly modified Financial Fair Play system, as well as the incorporation of the ownership model in the Bundesliga, could help football solve many of its current issues, and create a much more competitive, balanced, and fair playing field, as well as bring back some of the support that has been lost over the past few years. It may also rid our game of wealthy tycoons that come to win status and silverware by simply throwing large sums of money into a team, and then leaving them financially crippled once they are finished playing their own game, leaving no thought to the social impact they leave on the communities that support these clubs. However these regulations need to be implemented now before it is too late, and we loose what was once a beautiful game forever!
Some of these figures are mind boggling, but what is even more worrying is that clubs seem to be passing the brunt of their increasing wage bills onto their loyal fans. The average cost of the cheapest adult ticket in the top four divisions of English football has risen by 11.7% - more than five times the rate of inflation*. Clubs are taking their fans for granted because they know they are not like normal customers, no matter whether their team wins or looses, they will still come back because they are loyal to their team. However, these ridiculously high prices are driving out the traditional football fan, the working class fan, who can no longer afford to regularly attend games. Buying a season ticket to watch your team has now become a very expensive investment, and fans have to think twice before purchase, especially in such bleak economic times. This has meant a decline in the traditional working class fan and an increase in a more wealthy fan, solely looking for the best entertainment. This does not only have consequences on the fans, but also on the teams. We have seen an increasing trend in football that players will not usually stay loyal to their teams if they could be earning a higher salary else where, and therefore many teams struggle to retain their best players once their talent is realised by bigger clubs. This means the richer clubs can buy the best players and pay the highest wages, making it very difficult for smaller clubs to compete. This widens the gap between a few elite teams and the rest of the league, and also between the top division and the lower tiers of league football. And without any proper regulation or system in place, this problem will only continue to get worse, and diminish the high level of competitiveness in the game, and drive the real fan from the game all together. And who wants to watch the big clubs become an elite league of their own anyway? Surely a more competitive league where anyone can win provides for better entertainment?
So, what can be done to prevent this? Well the introduction of UFEA's financial fair play system (FFP) is intended to force clubs to balance their football related expenditure over a three year period, starting in 2011/12 to 2014/15 season.* In theory this is meant to prevent rich clubs spending more than they earn in the search for success. Punishments for breaking the FFP rules include being banned from european competitions, fines, and transfer embargoes, amongst others. However, only a club’s outgoings in transfers will be counted over income, so this does not address the issue of high wages. One of the major criticisms of FFP is the possibility of solidifying the so-called big clubs which generate the largest revenue and profits, as well as attract the best sponsorship and TV deals, and can consequently spend more money on transfers.* This could potentially make it even harder for slightly lesser teams to break into the top four and gain champions league football. Therefore this does not solve the problem, but in fact could make it worse, meaning more has to be done by footballs governing bodies to create a balanced and level playing field. I strongly believe that a salary cap should be introduced, which will help prevent clubs from racking up huge mountains of debt due to ever increasing wages, that ultimately are passed onto the fans. A salary cap is a league sanctioned payroll limit that restricts the amount of money teams can spend on player salaries. Salary caps bring a wide variety of benefits to leagues that implement them. Firstly, it can increase the competition in a league by preventing the wealthiest teams from obtaining all the most talented players that require the highest salaries, therefore placing teams with a smaller payroll at more of an advantage. A greater level of competition across the league could increase television audiences and attendance rates, meaning a greater income across the league, and also meaning that clubs can lower ticket prices to make them more affordable due to other increased revenue streams. The salary cap system will also create wiser spending habits by clubs, and increase youth development and scouting, which is desperately needed in the premier league also. Therefore I believe that a sound salary cap system along with a newly modified Financial Fair Play system, as well as the incorporation of the ownership model in the Bundesliga, could help football solve many of its current issues, and create a much more competitive, balanced, and fair playing field, as well as bring back some of the support that has been lost over the past few years. It may also rid our game of wealthy tycoons that come to win status and silverware by simply throwing large sums of money into a team, and then leaving them financially crippled once they are finished playing their own game, leaving no thought to the social impact they leave on the communities that support these clubs. However these regulations need to be implemented now before it is too late, and we loose what was once a beautiful game forever!
References:
- Game changer: 20 years of the premier league. BBC Radio (British Broadcasting Corporation). 4th September 2012.
- Game changer: 20 years of the premier league. BBC Radio (British Broadcasting Corporation). 4th September 2012.
- "Forty factors fuelling football inflation". The Guardian. 31 July 2003. Retrieved 8 August 2006.
- Official figures show top-flight wages are now FIVE times more than in Championship, Daily Mail online, By ALEX MILLER , 29 October 2011
- "From £250,000 to £29.1m". The Observer. 5 March 2006. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
- "Man Utd accept £80m Ronaldo bid". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 12 June 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
- Price of Football: Survey of 166 British clubs revealed. BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation) 18th October 2012.
- BBC News Website 7 September 2011
- Conn, David (25 May 2011). "Just how fair is Michel Platini's financial fair-play ruling?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-05-28.
I love the idea of some financial fair play system, and I welcome it, by all means. As you say, Luke, a salary cap would be great. Especially considering how wages have gotten out of control the last decade. The biggest pity is they cannot be reset. A wage cap would help slow down the ever increasing wages. However, should the wage cap be a percentage of total revenues for every club or the same for all of them? Remember, the wage cap must be implemented in all UEFA leagues. I think the first option is the best one.
RépondreSupprimerHowever, there is one point that I do not get from UEFA's rules. Why should clubs only be allowed to lose €45m and not rely on owner funding? First, loss number should a percentage of revenue, not a exact figure. And, if you rely on owner funding, but still can make the business go round, then why not?
With the wage cap, i think their would have to be a different limit for each league based on the leagues overall revenue, im not sure if it would work as well as it could if each club had their own limit, because the wealthiest clubs could still spend the most on player wages. But to be honest im not really sure, it would be very difficult to implement in football now because of its current financial situation. But i think it needs to be done, or some sort of new financial regulations need to be introduced soon. And i totally agree with your second point about club losses and funding!
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