Napster
No ⭐
All-party group calls for extra £30m to be shared
Vivek Chaudhary
Thursday February 12, 2004
The Guardian
The Premier League yesterday rejected calls that it should redistribute an extra 5% of its broadcasting revenue to the Football League and the Conference, on top of an existing 5% it already distributes.
The controversial recommendation is one of 28 made in a report by the All Party Parliamentary Football Group released yesterday. It argues that giving extra money to lower-league clubs would improve competitiveness within the game and help close the gap between the Football League and the Premier League.
An extra 5% of the Premier League's television deal would amount to around £30m and the report calls for this to be given to lower-league clubs from next season.
"I can't see it happening," said the Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore. "Premier League clubs are unlikely to sign up to signing another cheque for another 5%. It's not addressing the relevant issues and it's not likely to happen."
Scudamore claimed that the Premier League already redistributed sufficient amounts of money from the television deal. "We are already the envy of Europe and give away more to the lower leagues than any other top league on the continent," he said. "There is also a lot of indirect redistribution that goes on through the FA Cup and the Football League Cup.
"We are not surprised that this report has called for us to give an extra 5% but it's a little bit narrow in some ways and does not take into account that we have to find the right balance between looking after our top clubs and the rest of the game. Top clubs in Italy and Spain do not redistribute as much money as we do."
The Premier League claims that it redistributes around £68m a season to Football League clubs. However, this includes parachute payments of £6m each to recently relegated clubs. These payments continue for two seasons unless the club returns to the top flight within that time.
The Football League claims that parachute payments do not constitute redistribution of income and that its overall share of television revenue has fallen from 25% before 1992, when the Premier League was founded, to 4.6% now.
The report claims that there is a widening financial gap within the game because of television revenue. Last season the Football League's income from television was £21.44m. The Premier League's top five clubs last season earned more from television than all 72 clubs in the Football League combined.
The report also calls for the widening financial gap between clubs at the top and bottom of the Premiership to be closed with changes to the way television money is distributed among the league's 20 clubs. It recommends that the amount of broadcasting income distributed equally among Premiership clubs should be increased from 50% to 60%.
It also wants clubs to examine reintroducing the sharing of gate revenue as a way of redistributing money within the game.
The MPs also said that new guidelines needed to be introduced so that all agents involved in transfers and the amounts of commission they receive is made public.
The report also calls for a levy to be introduced on all agents' fees from transfers with the money being given to the Football Foundation for grassroots development.
"We are confident that football will carry out some of our recommendations," said Alan Keen, the Labour MP who chairs the All Party Football Group. "Football flourishes on competition and uncertainty and that is why we have to look at the way the finances of the game are redistributed to ensure that this continues."
Keen rejected the idea of an independent statutory regulator being introduced if the game rejects most of the recommendations contained in the report.
"We have got powers behind us but we don't want to use them," he said. There should be no need for government to get involved in football. The government could introduce a statutory regulator but that is not something we want."
The report calls for better corporate governance within the game and that all clubs publish their accounts annually. It also calls for the Football Association to introduce a "fit and proper" person test for anyone who wants to become a club director or is involved in the running of a club.
The report also wants a licensing system introduced so that clubs are only allowed to compete in competitions if they meet certain standards on how they are run and their finances are fully transparent.
Vivek Chaudhary
Thursday February 12, 2004
The Guardian
The Premier League yesterday rejected calls that it should redistribute an extra 5% of its broadcasting revenue to the Football League and the Conference, on top of an existing 5% it already distributes.
The controversial recommendation is one of 28 made in a report by the All Party Parliamentary Football Group released yesterday. It argues that giving extra money to lower-league clubs would improve competitiveness within the game and help close the gap between the Football League and the Premier League.
An extra 5% of the Premier League's television deal would amount to around £30m and the report calls for this to be given to lower-league clubs from next season.
"I can't see it happening," said the Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore. "Premier League clubs are unlikely to sign up to signing another cheque for another 5%. It's not addressing the relevant issues and it's not likely to happen."
Scudamore claimed that the Premier League already redistributed sufficient amounts of money from the television deal. "We are already the envy of Europe and give away more to the lower leagues than any other top league on the continent," he said. "There is also a lot of indirect redistribution that goes on through the FA Cup and the Football League Cup.
"We are not surprised that this report has called for us to give an extra 5% but it's a little bit narrow in some ways and does not take into account that we have to find the right balance between looking after our top clubs and the rest of the game. Top clubs in Italy and Spain do not redistribute as much money as we do."
The Premier League claims that it redistributes around £68m a season to Football League clubs. However, this includes parachute payments of £6m each to recently relegated clubs. These payments continue for two seasons unless the club returns to the top flight within that time.
The Football League claims that parachute payments do not constitute redistribution of income and that its overall share of television revenue has fallen from 25% before 1992, when the Premier League was founded, to 4.6% now.
The report claims that there is a widening financial gap within the game because of television revenue. Last season the Football League's income from television was £21.44m. The Premier League's top five clubs last season earned more from television than all 72 clubs in the Football League combined.
The report also calls for the widening financial gap between clubs at the top and bottom of the Premiership to be closed with changes to the way television money is distributed among the league's 20 clubs. It recommends that the amount of broadcasting income distributed equally among Premiership clubs should be increased from 50% to 60%.
It also wants clubs to examine reintroducing the sharing of gate revenue as a way of redistributing money within the game.
The MPs also said that new guidelines needed to be introduced so that all agents involved in transfers and the amounts of commission they receive is made public.
The report also calls for a levy to be introduced on all agents' fees from transfers with the money being given to the Football Foundation for grassroots development.
"We are confident that football will carry out some of our recommendations," said Alan Keen, the Labour MP who chairs the All Party Football Group. "Football flourishes on competition and uncertainty and that is why we have to look at the way the finances of the game are redistributed to ensure that this continues."
Keen rejected the idea of an independent statutory regulator being introduced if the game rejects most of the recommendations contained in the report.
"We have got powers behind us but we don't want to use them," he said. There should be no need for government to get involved in football. The government could introduce a statutory regulator but that is not something we want."
The report calls for better corporate governance within the game and that all clubs publish their accounts annually. It also calls for the Football Association to introduce a "fit and proper" person test for anyone who wants to become a club director or is involved in the running of a club.
The report also wants a licensing system introduced so that clubs are only allowed to compete in competitions if they meet certain standards on how they are run and their finances are fully transparent.
