Football equals money!
On the back of news that Portsmouth football club is on the verge of being taken over by UN goodwill ambassador Sulaiman Al Fahim we are starting to see a significant pattern emerging in relation to UK football and UAE business figures. So what exactly is going on and why is the UK Premiership being targeted.
Background to the post
In effect this post has alerted readers to the fact that Portsmouth football club is about to change hands in a multi-million pound deal involving the “Mr Fixit” who organised the Manchester City deal last year. While Manchester City football club and Portsmouth football club are by far the two most prominent English football clubs to be taken over as yet, there is significant interest in other leading English football club.
Why the Premiership?
Even though the UK press, and to some extent the worldwide press, will have you believe that these business people from the United Arab Emirates are looking to acquire the likes of Manchester City and Portsmouth football club purely for their own enjoyment, this is perhaps not the whole story.
The English Premiership is by far and away the richest football league in the world and possibly the richest sporting league on the planet. We are regularly seen multibillion pound deals announced for TV rights, both in the UK and overseas, and the UK Premiership bug has spread around the world. While it is unclear as to whether any of these United Arab Emirates business people who have acquired, or are looking to acquire, UK football clubs are actually looking for a return it may be foolish to suggest that money will be wasted.
Worldwide football rights
The English Premiership is by far and away the most popular football league in the world with regular audiences of hundreds of millions of people watching from all corners of the globe. There has for many years been a suggestion that at some stage the leading football clubs in the UK will take over their own TV rights and further develop their own TV channels.
While the current setup for the Premiership does not offer such an option at the moment it seems almost inevitable that the likes of Manchester United, with a worldwide following that few can match, and other clubs such as Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and possibly Manchester City will at some stage introduce their own subscription TV channels for live games. This is where the big money will come in and this is where investors will make significant returns.
Football around the world
It is interesting to see that Sulaiman Al Fahim, the man who is on the verge of taking over Portsmouth, also has an agreement with Inter Milan to build and manage a football academy in Dubai. Those who believe that football is still a sport which people play for the love of it are in many ways blinkered because the money involved today, and in the future, dwarfs many other areas of business in the UK and around the world.
Events such as the Champions League, which was recently held in Rome, are the creme de la creme of the football sector and the winners can expect a substantial windfall from the only winning this competition but the merchandise spin-offs which will follow. This is why many football club owners with a chance of winning the likes of the Champions League are happy to invest significant money in the knowledge that the longer term benefits are enormous if they are successful on a regular basis.
The future of UK football
There have for some time been rumours that Liverpool football club could be the next to fall into foreign hands with the current American owners struggling to refinance their debts and possibly open to a takeover in due course. There have been numerous suggestions of a Dubai-based consortium stepped into the fray, with many believing that talks have already taken place, when the time is right. Then we have the likes of Newcastle United football club, recently relegated, but again mentioned as a possible takeover target for a rich United Arab Emirates business consortium with a prominent head figure.
Those who are fooled into thinking that these business people are ploughing millions upon millions of pounds into a football club with no chance of a return are kidding themselves. Football is now big money on a worldwide basis and as satellite TV, the Internet and merchandising rights all come into play we are sure to see a changing landscape in the months and years to come. The Premiership is the pinnacle of the worldwide football sector having taken over from the likes of Spain and Italy, which for so long led the way in the world of football.
On a side note it is also interesting to note that there has been consistent talk about a number of Premiership games being played in places such as Dubai in order to try and increase recognition of the league in the area. As more and more business people from the region invest in UK football clubs it seems somewhat inevitable that we will see closer contact with the region in due course.
The World Cup
The football World Cup attracts the highest viewing figures of any sporting event around the world with literally millions upon millions of pounds worth of talent on show. While there are no plans to hold such events in the Middle East many people believe that as football becomes more and more popular and United Arab Emirates business people become more and more involved we could see a future World Cup tournament held in the area.
Conclusion
While there is no doubt that football continues to increase in popularity many people believe the romances has gone out of the game as ruthless business people step into the fray. Those who believe that the millionaires and billionaires of the world are investing in UK football for “fun” may well be missing the point. These are people who have made money by looking ahead and looking to the future and with suggestions that the UK Premier League will at some stage “go global” with matches played overseas, it would seem to offer the perfect tourist attraction for places such as Dubai.
Football is a sport which has over the last few years become a serious business in the UK and with many football clubs now run on a professional basis by professional people, much of the old romance has been removed.
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I also am an avid fan of MU. However I have noted the efforts of the UAE football team which has resulted in good showings at the Asian level.
I really hope they are able to produce a better team and have football matches of world caliber like they have for tennis. Cheers