Liverpool threaten breakaway from Premier League's TV rights deal

[LFC64]

I'd rather the relative integrity of the PL is kept intact.

 

I can see the argument stands up for negotiating our own overseas rights just as it does in Spain but you have to look at what we'd all be left with afterwards.

I can also see why we are the ones out of the eligible clubs to be proposing it at the moment. Man City don't have the global appeal yet but have a bottmless pit at their disposal anyway, ditto Chelsea. Man U would benefit like us but they're not knocking the door down because they already have the commercial infrastructure and have had since the PL was formed. You could say the way the mancs have embraced commercialism since 1992 has put them at an unfair advantage to other clubs.

This is a way we can exploit our potential, something we haven't been able to do with our stadium putting us at a distinct disadvantage.

 

This said I would still rather we were part of a strong PL and be looking forward to a decent competitive game each week.

[Abs]

A very shrewd point which underscores our vulnerability.

 

The rest of the league, if they said "play ball, or leave" ,could leave the top four/five with no-one to play domestically.

 

Man U/ Chelsea/Arsenal (maybe man city) have nothing to gain by helping us into a Euro league.

 

We are playing with a considerably weaker hand than some believe.

 

Man U, Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham creating their own league and play each other 6 times. 3 home and 3 away. Honestly with the people running our clubs, it wouldnt surprise me if they wouldnt mind something like this as long as they can get away with it.

 

Its vital we fans stand up for the smaller clubs, fans of bigger clubs have responsibility towards the smaller clubs and we cant let bunch of rich business men ruin our game so they can get even richer

[Gym Beglin]

Why bother employing marketing people, why bother extending the brand across the world when we just basically do the hard work for someone else to share the spoils?

Fuck em all, especially the likes of Spurs who have done remarkably well out of tv rights despite having fuck all appeal across the world.

[usernameunknown]

 

Its vital we fans stand up for the smaller clubs, fans of bigger clubs have responsibility towards the smaller clubs and we cant let bunch of rich business men ruin our game so they can get even richer

 

Oh yes, those lovely little clubs that raise the prices as soon as Liverpool or Man Utd are in town. They dont give a fuck about our fans why do we have to give a fuck about them?

[Abs]

Why bother employing marketing people, why bother extending the brand across the world when we just basically do the hard work for someone else to share the spoils?

Fuck em all, especially the likes of Spurs who have done remarkably well out of tv rights despite having fuck all appeal across the world.

 

I hate Spurs, but to say they dont have appeal across the world is unfair. They are appreciated for being a very good football team, and Spurs being Spurs makes them even more appealing as they are unpredictable.

 

I know Liverpool have massive amounts of fans across the world, but do you really think it would be fun for those fans to watch massive gap between the teams and Liverpool beating teams 6-0 every weekend. Without competitiveness, the league will lose its value

[Trumo]

Its vital we fans stand up for the smaller clubs, fans of bigger clubs have responsibility towards the smaller clubs and we cant let bunch of rich business men ruin our game so they can get even richer

 

You have a point. We DO have a responsibility towards the likes of Arsenal.

[PestiRed]

A very shrewd point which underscores our vulnerability.

 

The rest of the league, if they said "play ball, or leave" ,could leave the top four/five with no-one to play domestically.

 

Man U/ Chelsea/Arsenal (maybe man city) have nothing to gain by helping us into a Euro league.

 

We are playing with a considerably weaker hand than some believe.

 

The rest of the league wouldn't really have the choice as ultimately UEFA & FIFA are likely to sanction only one league per country. Their decision will be guided by where the top players play - imagine a CL or WC without the best players? How would Sepp et al line their pockets?

 

Ultimately the rest of the league are dependent on the big boys - no matter how much they like to pretend thet they're not

[Abs]

The rest of the league wouldn't really have the choice as ultimately UEFA & FIFA are likely to sanction only one league per country. Their decision will be guided by where the top players play - imagine a CL or WC without the best players? How would Sepp et al line their pockets?

 

Ultimately the rest of the league are dependent on the big boys - no matter how much they like to pretend thet they're not

 

That would mean an out an out war between the smaller and bigger clubs. The decider would be the federation of the country. If you have a strong federation who wants to protect the national interest, they can say we will only pick players who play for home league in the national team.

[Strontium]

The main reason so many Americans turned to football was because it's difficult to make huge amounts of money over there due to all the rules, some of which are listed above in this thread, amazing really to think their sports are fairer than ours when the rest of their society is all money, money money.

 

 

It's astonishing really given American hostility to socialism that their leagues are run in such a way designed to enhance the worst performers and promote competition.

 

Fuck, if anything, the top teams in the Prem should be getting less TV money than the also rans. That'd make things interesting.

[PestiRed]

A strong FA? Nearly fell off my chair laughing

 

They'll do what Platini tells them to do

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Nobody is saying 'fuck the other clubs', who already get their share of uk rights money. We're talking about foreign rights. Maybe Thai supporters are really switching on for 'Ipswich, Derby' and the rest. Maybe. Or, what with them not even being in the premier league an' all, maybe not.

[PestiRed]

It's astonishing really given American hostility to socialism that their leagues are run in such a way designed to enhance the worst performers and promote competition.

 

Fuck, if anything, the top teams in the Prem should be getting less TV money than the also rans. That'd make things interesting.

 

It's not really socialism though. It's a closed system of a group of linked businesses ensuring that every penny remains in that group. Think robbers barons in 19th C USA or Russian oligarchs in 1990's

[Abs]

A strong FA? Nearly fell off my chair laughing

 

They'll do what Platini tells them to do

 

No, they will do what the people with money tells them....so if it became an out an out war, the bigger clubs will buy the FA and just control everything

[TheHitman]

The rest of the league wouldn't really have the choice as ultimately UEFA & FIFA are likely to sanction only one league per country. Their decision will be guided by where the top players play - imagine a CL or WC without the best players? How would Sepp et al line their pockets?

 

Ultimately the rest of the league are dependent on the big boys - no matter how much they like to pretend thet they're not

 

I'm not so sure, if the majority of teams resigned from the premier league and persuaded those in the championship and below not to join the p/l. Then it would be the p/l that is defunct with only four or five members.

 

The problem the majority of clubs such as Everton and Villa etc have are they are mortgaged to the hilt and are reliant on tv money. However if an organisation like Sky decided to throw their weight behind the rest then who knows.

 

Remember this could end up being a huge huge challenge to Sky, although it is only international rights they initially want to discuss, it's like going back to a girls house for coffee, we all know what is wanted. In an era of streaming etc the clubs would no longer need the middle man Sky or Espn etc. Their ultimate aim is to sell their rights globally direct from the club, is my hunch.

 

In my view, I really do not see what a mid-table team with no chance of success or entering the promised land of c/l has to lose.

[Timão]

Did you even read his post properly?

 

I despair more at your "lets be plucky little Liverpool" rather than trying to win.

 

I would not expect you to understand, nor to make a useful contribution to the debate.

 

As you were.

[acks]

When this story first broke, my initial reaction was "fuck the rest", but truthfully that was said out of anger and despondency as to how football was going and has been going for a long time now. It's annoying when you've built a club from the ground up organically and some no mark team gets bought by rich crass individuals with access to government coffers. If this were to happen I wouldn't be suprised, the surprise is we were the first ones to say it so plainly. Maybe Ayres was just testing the waters, but if that's the case then I'd rather he tested them by suggesting the Bundesliga model as one we should perhaps implement where 51% of the clubs are owned by club members leaving 49% for corporate investment. That way clubs would be controlled by people who love their team and sport rather than capricious vultures ripping the last vestiges of flesh from the carcass that is football. If we want radical changes, we should try to change it for the better.

[usernameunknown]

I would not expect you to understand, nor to make a useful contribution to the debate.

 

As you were.

 

The answer of someone who cant admit he was badly wrong. No surprise from Christian Purslow's chief arse lick, you are good at being ridiculously wrong I'll give you that.

 

As you were.

[Whelan]

So you're not a fan of La Liga?

 

Of course I am! Or rather like everybody else, I am fan of Barcelona and Real Madrid, with a passing interest in Valencia, Atheletic and Bilbao.

 

This focus upon Europe is disingenuous, we are not in Europe and we are not disadvanted as our i.e. the premier leagues, recent record in Europe shows and Man City and Chelsea to the best of my knowledge of part and parcel of the premier league.

 

As Faustus has more eloquently argued, this is nothing short of rampant individualism, in other words selfishness.

[piscinin]

Thatcher would be so proud.

[moof]

Yeah, fuck the small clubs.

 

Fuck the likes of Nottingham Forest, Ipswich Town, Derby County and Wimbledon- small clubs who achieved varying levels of success in the days when the gate receipts were shared and it was possible to compete in the upper echeleons through shrewd management; the nack of being able to spot a gem of a player and having that ability to exact every last little drop of ability from the players you had in front of you.

 

The incredibly sad thing now is that clubs of that ilk will never, ever be able to achieve what they had in the past through the same means. The formation of the Premier League put the knife to the throat of this very notion and individual TV rights would drain the blood.

 

Everton, the Mancs, Spurs, Arsenal and ourselves had the temerity in the late 80s to ask "why should we share a piece of the pie with some bumnuts from the fourth tier?" I'll fucking tell you why- because it's a sport. It's not a fucking business. It's a form of escapism; a relief from that shit job you despise or that nagging wife you've shacked up with. It's peoples' emotions you're toying with. Cut through the tribal bullshit and posturing and you'll find that we're not so different as football fans. We all want the same things. We all want a stable, well run club, we all want success and, most of all, we all want to take pride in our team. Unfortunately, the goalposts were not just moved when the Premier League came into being, they were fucking swindled and moved onto another playing field. It closed the door on the dreams of fans who clung to that hope of emulating the achievement of smaller clubs not too disimilar from themselves.

 

It's rampant capitalism in it's most vulgar form. The rich get richer, the poor stay fucked. You can dream on if you think it's going to change.

 

Football changed for the worse in this country when the Premier League came into being and individual TV rights would just mean that it gets a whole lot uglier.

 

That's very melodramatic. Who's saying "fuck the small clubs"?

 

Besides, I can think of plenty of examples of small clubs doing well recently. Stokes rise in the PL and appearance in the cup final, Everton punching above their weight in the league, Portsmouth and Cardiff in the FA cup final, even Liverpool winning the CL.

 

The reality is no-one knows what it would be like if the TV deals were to change, but we owe it to ourselves to at least explore other avenues, do we not?

 

 

 

A very shrewd point which underscores our vulnerability.

 

The rest of the league, if they said "play ball, or leave" ,could leave the top four/five with no-one to play domestically.

 

Man U/ Chelsea/Arsenal (maybe man city) have nothing to gain by helping us into a Euro league.

 

We are playing with a considerably weaker hand than some believe.

 

Who would watch a PL without Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea, Spurs etc??

 

 

Thatcher would be so proud.

 

Sensationalist statement number 2426342

[Jairzinho]

Of course I am! Or rather like everybody else, I am fan of Barcelona and Real Madrid, with a passing interest in Valencia, Atheletic and Bilbao.

This focus upon Europe is disingenuous, we are not in Europe and we are not disadvanted as our i.e. the premier leagues, recent record in Europe shows and Man City and Chelsea to the best of my knowledge of part and parcel of the premier league.

 

As Faustus has more eloquently argued, this is nothing short of rampant individualism, in other words selfishness.

 

I like the entire league. The lack of equality regarding money is obviously a huge problem, but for quality of football its miles ahead of any other.

 

The bottom half of La Liga has far less money than the bottom half of the Premier League, yet you rarely see managers using it as an excuse to play the type of football you'd not stop to watch in the park.

[Mathewbet1]

Although I kind of understand what ayre is saying to some degree...............The premiership is a product and The boltons and norwich city's of this world form part of that product. Without them we would have no one to play. Ian ayre did not think this one through as it requires 14 of the other clubs to vote it through. In the meantime its a PR disaster for the club i.e evil money grabbing liverpool.

[PestiRed]

I'd be quite surprised if Ayre hasn't had a few conversations with Gill & the other top CEOs about this issue. Maybe it was his turn to take the rap

[Whelan]

I like the entire league. The lack of equality regarding money is obviously a huge problem, but for quality of football its miles ahead of any other.

 

The bottom half of La Liga has far less money than the bottom half of the Premier League, yet you rarely see managers using it as an excuse to play the type of football you'd not stop to watch in the park.

 

I would argue you are the exception rather than the rule.

 

This is a problem though as the bit about quality is applicable to almost every European league not just the bottom have in Spain, I think that is an entirely different argument.

 

But Ayres specifically pointed to the Champions league and the top european teams, the argument put forward is that Barcelona and Real sell their individual rights and have a huge financial advantage over premier league as a consequence, ergo there is not much interest in the league as a whole but the two clubs at the top.

 

It is worth pointing out that we have been left out on our own with this and all the flack is coming our way, Chelsea and United have distanced themselves, although Chelsea and City would be at a disadvantage to us and Arsenal in this so they will never back it.

 

I don't want to watch a European league, I want to watch Liverpool in the premiership.

[moof]

How the fuck is anything 'rightfully ours'?

 

The last couple of years we have 'competed' with Stoke and the likes for the glory of Europa League football. We have won nothing for 5 years and last season saw our lowest crowds for over a decade in some games.

 

Nothing is 'rightfully ours', we have to earn it and that's it.

 

I just cannot believe some of the arrogance on this thread from LIVERPOOL fans who would no doubt tell us that Shanks is a legend etc yet completely ignore everything he stood for.

 

The irony of a FC St Pauli flag next to your name obviously also passes you by, St Pauli being THE most leftwing club in German football who say 'no' to more money than any other German club because they do not want to comercialise the club too much.

 

I despair at times. Football really is fucked.

 

St Pauli are an exceptional case, and are mot connected to my thoughts about LFC.

 

People still moan about our lack of opportunism in the 90's when football was booming, yet when we try to rectify that we're killing football??

 

Nothing is rightfully ours we have to earn it??

 

I'm sorry but if we are the ones making the money, does that not make it rightfully ours??