Will money ruin football in the future?

[Genesis1]

I've just got home and read that Athletico Madrid have signed somebody for 113m, I thought we'd seen the last of triple figures with Neymar and Mbappe.

 

Figures just keep rising and I wonder if anybody else worries that eventually lower league clubs can't afford quality and only a select few will have the money to get a good side.

 

It's silly I know but perhaps I'm behind on the understanding of this. Perhaps in another 5 years time 80-100m will be the norm for a average player.

 

We spent less than 10m on Matt Mills when we were a top side and he was considered a top player and that seemed a lot then, now a decent championship center back would be double/triple that.

[foxile5]

We were never a top side when we signed Mills. And football has already been irrevocably changed by money. 

[PhillippaT]

Will money ruin

The sport we know as football?

The future is now?

[urban.spaceman]

It’s the weak and bias governance that concerns me.

 

The season we won the league we should surely have been the highest earners, right? We were 5th. By virtue of the “facility fee” - basically games broadcast by UK TV rights holders. So the more “popular” teams got more games shown in the UK, earning them more money. This is at the same time that every single Premier League Match is broadcast around the world at the same time - walk into a bar in Botswana and you can choose which match you want to watch. 

 

That same season West Ham were gifted a £700m stadium for free, on behalf of the taxpayer. Man City got their £100m+ stadium for free thanks to the taxpayer. The KP basically bankrupted us back in 2002 (not forgetting ITV Digital). West Ham we gifted the Olympic Stadium despite Leyton Orient being situated closer. 

 

Not to mention Chelsea and Man City flouting law after law, with UEFA not having the balls to really punish them. 

 

I’m just glad we’re doing everything right IMO. 

[LCFCSOULBOY]

Already has for several years now. 

[old koppite]

56 minutes ago, LCFCSOULBOY said:

Already has for several years now. 

Yep, absolutely agree. 

[ozleicester]

1 hour ago, LCFCSOULBOY said:

Already has for several years now. 

2019 - 100 million pound players

1992 -  beginning of the EPL

1979 - Trevor Francis - million pound player

1961 - End of maximum wage - Jimmy Hill

1884 - PNE admit to paying players - Professional footballers

1863 - codification of the Football Association

[Guest Markyblue]

It is ruining football but it doesn't stop me being selfish and being glad we have it , had enough years when we didn't have a pot to piss in.

[Tielemans63]

It does seem like €113m for a kid who only made his debut in August is a new level of obscene. 

[Daggers]

In the future?

 

Football was done when you stopped being able to pay at a turnstile on the day of the match, go stand on the terraces, and when toilets were put on coaches. It died when rattles and rosettes ceased being the limit - and when all matches stopped being played on Saturday at 3pm.

 

You can stick your fan park, pay-to-mascot, annual kit, membership scheme, season ticket swipe card, matchday package, convenient payment scheme, widescreen TV, parking permit, dedicated satellite channel, transfer window, sweet truck, 5pm Sunday kick off, last minute fixture change, assistant referee, video replay, half and half culture, where the sun never rises.

[shailen]

I heard an interesting fact the other day about if United pay £80m for Maguire, that would be 15% of their revenue compared to when they bought Rio Ferdinand all those years ago which was 17%. 

 

The obvious answer is that clubs are earning more, and especially the bigger clubs have better sponsorship deals and TV rights money. The Neymar deal really inflated the market leading to £140m for Coutinho, which caused a knock on effect to increase prices for all other players as all clubs had to look more to the lower leagues.

 

I don't think money is ruining football when it comes to the football world, involving transfers and players contracts. The moment it spills over to us fans is where the line has to be drawn....increasing ticket prices, unaffordable sports TV packs...etc.

[Steven]

Quote

Will money ruin football in the future?

 

I am sure this question was asked when it moved from a largely Amateur game to one of Professional Leagues.

[when_you're_smiling]

As people above have mentioned, pretty sure it’s been uttered throughout football’s history.

 

Can certainly remember the furore when Chris Sutton was the first £5m British footballer in the mid 90s.

 

The big clubs with the bigger grounds persuading the rest to ditch the rule that the away side gets 25% of each gate income at the ‘start’ of the Premier League in 1992 arguably led to the elite club predictability we’ve had since the 1990s. But people are still lapping it up and will do for some time yet. 

[yorkie1999]

it won't ruin the game but the current system needs a major overhaul with wages and transfer caps. Footballs growing but only at the sharp end so the powers that be need to find a way of filtering money down the leagues though.

[davieG]

If it is/does then it's been helped along the way by many fans insatiable desire for success often at the expense of the club they support.

[dmayne7]

1 hour ago, shailen said:

I heard an interesting fact the other day about if United pay £80m for Maguire, that would be 15% of their revenue compared to when they bought Rio Ferdinand all those years ago which was 17%. 

 

The obvious answer is that clubs are earning more, and especially the bigger clubs have better sponsorship deals and TV rights money. The Neymar deal really inflated the market leading to £140m for Coutinho, which caused a knock on effect to increase prices for all other players as all clubs had to look more to the lower leagues.

 

I don't think money is ruining football when it comes to the football world, involving transfers and players contracts. The moment it spills over to us fans is where the line has to be drawn....increasing ticket prices, unaffordable sports TV packs...etc.

Not trying to be inflammatory but that's a naïve way of looking at it.

 

Sure, Premier League clubs are all better off but what about those in League 1 and 2? The money doesn't filter down there and they're the ones that are screwed. As a Leicester fan, having watched us in the Championship for so many years, my foot will always be firmly in the camp of protecting those clubs. After all, the football pyramid in this country is what sets it apart.

 

It's great we've got money and it's a massively exciting position to be in as a Leicester fan but I worry we're teetering on the edge. Far too many clubs outside the to flight are getting into financial difficulty (let's not forget that was us 15 years ago). Ultimately, the more the money benefits the bigger teams the more likely we are going to see sh*t like a European Super League and B teams replacing the lower league teams.

 

And look at the extortionate prices for merchandise etc. That's happening in the lower leagues for clubs that should never be able to justify charging that. Even the ticket prices for some of the clubs is comparable to watching us play.

[sheffield_fox]

1 hour ago, Daggers said:

Football was done when you stopped being able to pay at a turnstile on the day of the match, go stand on the terraces, and when toilets were put on coaches. It died when rattles and rosettes ceased being the limit - and when all matches stopped being played on Saturday at 3pm.

 

You can stick your fan park, pay-to-mascot, annual kit, membership scheme, season ticket swipe card, matchday package, convenient payment scheme, widescreen TV, parking permit, dedicated satellite channel, transfer window, sweet truck, 5pm Sunday kick off, last minute fixture change, assistant referee, video replay, half and half culture, where the sun never rises.

While I completely agree with the above, I don't think the game itself will be ruined in the near future. 

 

Obviously there is too much money in the Premier League but I doubt there are many teenagers thinking seriously about a football career, with the primary motivation of being sold for hundreds of millions from club to club.

 

As long as the players are in it to win trophies then the game should stay alive... 

[Stevosevic]

Simple economics lads. 

 

Big money in any big sport. Look at the contracts they hand out in US sports. 

[cambridgefox]

My uncle had a chance to play for Everton many years ago,but turned them down due to being better paid as a dentist.

[Nalis]

Hate to sound like a moaner or risk sounding hipster but the sad thing for me is that there is a direct correlation between sanitation of the match day experience and the increase of money in the game.

 

 

[L3n9a]

10 hours ago, Genesis1 said:

I've just got home and read that Athletico Madrid have signed somebody for 113m, I thought we'd seen the last of triple figures with Neymar and Mbappe.

 

Figures just keep rising and I wonder if anybody else worries that eventually lower league clubs can't afford quality and only a select few will have the money to get a good side.

 

It's silly I know but perhaps I'm behind on the understanding of this. Perhaps in another 5 years time 80-100m will be the norm for a average player.

 

We spent less than 10m on Matt Mills when we were a top side and he was considered a top player and that seemed a lot then, now a decent championship center back would be double/triple that.

As long as the money is there, it will be spent. Football is a competitive competition that every teams strives to do the best in.

 

So no, it's not ruining Football. Absolutely loved the last 5 seasons of watching Leicester & some of the incredibly talented players we have had/have, especially after the dark hole where we had come from & money/ good management is what did that.

[shailen]

1 hour ago, dmayne7 said:

Not trying to be inflammatory but that's a naïve way of looking at it.

 

Sure, Premier League clubs are all better off but what about those in League 1 and 2? The money doesn't filter down there and they're the ones that are screwed. As a Leicester fan, having watched us in the Championship for so many years, my foot will always be firmly in the camp of protecting those clubs. After all, the football pyramid in this country is what sets it apart.

 

It's great we've got money and it's a massively exciting position to be in as a Leicester fan but I worry we're teetering on the edge. Far too many clubs outside the to flight are getting into financial difficulty (let's not forget that was us 15 years ago). Ultimately, the more the money benefits the bigger teams the more likely we are going to see sh*t like a European Super League and B teams replacing the lower league teams.

 

And look at the extortionate prices for merchandise etc. That's happening in the lower leagues for clubs that should never be able to justify charging that. Even the ticket prices for some of the clubs is comparable to watching us play.

Fair point, and I do think the spread between the PL and league 1 and 2 is getting bigger. That is where the improvement needs to come. Although in recent seasons, we have had players moving from the championship to the PL for big fees. Take James maddison for example which was £20 odd million. The effects are filtering down albeit the spread is getting bigger and bigger.

 

Like I said in my OP, its when the effects of money impact the fans does it become an issue. Tickets are far too expensive at all levels and if it costs the same to watch championship football as it does for PL football, there is a problem right there.

 

The European super league would be disastrous for football. CL football is great because it's a one off opportunity for clubs to prove they are the best in Europe. If its guaranteed year on year, then the popularity of it will fade as fans will not effectively pay for the price of a holiday every other weekend.

[grobyfox1990]

41 minutes ago, Stevosevic said:

Simple economics lads. 

 

Big money in any big sport. Look at the contracts they hand out in US sports. 

Agree, the accounts explain themselves so the spending is 'justified' in a way. But as usual it's short term thinking. This boom will not last forever, where will the clubs be and what will they have left in 5-10 years time when the bubble has burst and the sponsors, broadcasters, agents, players, hangers-on and owners have ran off to high heaven with their many billions

[dmayne7]

13 minutes ago, shailen said:

Fair point, and I do think the spread between the PL and league 1 and 2 is getting bigger. That is where the improvement needs to come. Although in recent seasons, we have had players moving from the championship to the PL for big fees. Take James maddison for example which was £20 odd million. The effects are filtering down albeit the spread is getting bigger and bigger.

 

Like I said in my OP, its when the effects of money impact the fans does it become an issue. Tickets are far too expensive at all levels and if it costs the same to watch championship football as it does for PL football, there is a problem right there.

 

The European super league would be disastrous for football. CL football is great because it's a one off opportunity for clubs to prove they are the best in Europe. If its guaranteed year on year, then the popularity of it will fade as fans will not effectively pay for the price of a holiday every other weekend.

Yeah, I think that's part of the issue. Big fees for a few select players give the impression the money is there at lower levels when it isn't.

 

And your original point on the relative spend on Maguire v Ferdinand was interesting. How it should be ideally. But for that to properly effective, that's where the disparity of wealth should be corrected. It's a balancing act though. I wouldn't want to see a salary cap or transfer cap a la rugby. Tigers are the biggest club in the country and have suffered massively because of that. Man United are the biggest club in this country and if the demand is still there, they should be allowed to maintain that position. It's about giving others clubs a chance to improve on themselves and close that gap without risking financial jeopardy. Plenty of potential clubs that could become a big player without outside investment if the distribution of wealth is corrected (I'd have included us in the category)

[Dan]

Money has gotten out of control in football and did do a long long time ago.

 

The end of the nine figure fees? I think you're kidding yourself. I think Neymar's will take a while to be topped admittedly, but the overseas TV money playing a growing part of it is only going to send it even further.

 

This Joao Felix deal is admittedly ridiculous to be honest. There's an over-desperation to find the next wonderkid in my eyes.