Who controls football: Part 2. How the clubs are seeking the wrestle back control

 

 

• Enjoy Sunday’s final: it might be the last of its kind for a while
• Who controls football: Leagues, media, government, rich clubs. Part 1

In part one of this series we looked at the way the media is gaining control of football – with the particular example of France where the media has simply reduced the amount of money it is willing to pay clubs for screening the games, and as a result a number of clubs are in very serious financial difficulty.

Yet the latest domestic EPL media rights deal is worth a total of £6.7 billion over a 4 year cycle, beginning with the 2025/26 season.

And there is no doubt that because of the amount of money that TV gives to football in many cases TV calls the shots, this model of TV taking control, could be matched elsewhere.   If the international TV companies get together and carve up the market between themselves, that would be illegal in the EU and many non-EU countries.   But because it is an international activity, it would be hard for the courts in any one country to take action.

But if two international broadcasters based in say the Middle East where competition law is modest, got together and discussed their offers to the Premier League they could agree to push the price down.  Of course they would put themselves at risk of a third party coming in with a bid, but they could (outside of regulated countries) discuss the matter privately and still manipulate the price. 

There are great risks in such procedures of course, but as Manchester City have shown, if you have enough money there is every inducement to take risks.

But leaving aside the TV companies for the moment, we also have in England PGMO.  As we have noted so many times, whereas referees in Germany come to the TV cameras after a game and discuss issues that arose, PGMO which runs English refereeing in the Premier League is an utterly secret organisation.  I can’t even give a link to its website, since it doesn’t have one.

But more than that, PGMO have somehow convinced the media that they are not an issue to be discussed.  Thus when serious academic research was undertaken at LSE, which showed how referees are influenced by the crowd, the media did not pick up on this.  Instead it left in place the implication that the crowd directly affected the players, not the officials.

Quite how and why PGMO have such power over the media I don’t know, but so strong is that power that anyone attempting to argue that something is wrong with refereeing in the Premier League is accused of simply looking to find excuses/  Ther League’s own published data is a travesty of a webpage – it is a list not a set of data – but fortunately Whoscored has not been dissuaded from running its analyses of referee performances, comparing the home/away breakdown, and fouls, tackles and cards etc plus home and away bias.   It is not complete, but it is very helpful.

But most notably the media never mention this data.  “It’s Robert Jones in charge so the odds are strongly in favour of a home win” is a perfectly legitimate sentence.   As is “It’s Jarred Gillett running the show so an away win looks a strong possibility.”   But neither statements are ever seen.

I would love to know why the media won’t tackle this.  Is it because PGMO say “don’t”.  Or is it a belief that readers are not interested?  Or perhaps a fear that if it became believed widely that referees have an impact on the game, fans would stop coming to game?   Or could it be that the gambling companies have begged the media not to run this data for fear of losing money?

Of course many a media decision has been taken on the basis that “the fans are not interested” so that becomes a self-perpetuating prophecy, but one would have thought that with such a degree of rivalry between the media outlets, someone would be interested.

But beyond the referees there is still one more force at large that is influencing football: The City Group.  If anyone doubted their power before, a look at Girona FC in the Spanish league would surely convince most interested parties that money wins.

In 2018/19 Girona were relegated from La Liga, In 2019/20 they came fifth in the second division, as they did again in 2020/21.  In 2021/22 they slipped to sixth but were promoted in the play offs.  In 2022/23 they came tenth in the top league.  Last season they came third, after leading the league for a lot of the season.

Their crowds  rose from 4984 average in 2021/22 to a capacity 12,520 in 2023/24.  Not enough to finance a club breaking into the top four.  But they are, as you may know, part of the City Group.

And thus as if one needed proof, Girona offer it.  When the City Group come along and buy a club, the club’s fortunes go up, even if the size of its ground means that its income doesn’t rise to the heights of its rivals.

Which means that although we may well see the media, referees, and transfers as all having a big impact on future, the simple factor of money still seems to be the biggest influencer.  We see it with PSG, with Real Madrid, with Manchester City – and Girona.  

However there is one thing left to consider..   Barcelona also has or had a vast amount of money and yet a series of ludicrous decisions has left them teetering on the brink.   So in the last part of this little series on Who Controls Football, we will have a look at how even those who own everything can still make mistakes.

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