Blank Frank, The Reform Club (21/02/2011 at 15:26)
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You have to understand the business model that the football industry is working to. Billions of dollars are being made selling football to the billions of newly affluent young viewers in the far east. English football is the hippest activity in town at the moment. These new young viewers had no sense of the history of the English league and its clubs and traditions. All they are interested in is instant gratification and supporting winning teams. The have grown up on the old big four. You won't find anyone supporting anyone other than these teams, you won't find a shirt, calendar or any other merchandise anywhere out there. You don't see any other games televised in bars and clubs. They have no interest in Villa's eight FA cup wins or Everton's four championships or who Leeds are, the heritage and traditions of these clubs are unknown. All they are for is to provide the veneer of sporting competition to give the competitions some integrity. In reality they have no chance of winning anything, everyone knows that.
NOW Here's THE POINT. If one or two of the old big four stop winning, first matches and then trophies you have p!ssed 25 or 50% of your audience off! No business can afford to do that, its commercial suicide. The big four brands have established their brand values and to now bring in two unknowns (to the far east punters) like us and Spurs means that the industry management has to start all over again re-esatblishing new brand positionings. So the footballing establishment Uefa, FA, EPL, BBC, Fleet St, Sky, G14 and everyone else with their snouts in the trough are besides themselves with the thought of MCFC and Spurs (but they are London darlings) gatecrashing the party. The potential losses, could be disasterous, football is the worlds No1 commercial sport, spearheaded by the English Premiership primarily and the Champions league, with La Liga a poor third, and serie A and Budesliga nowhere. Football fights in the commercial world with basketball, cricket and to a lesser degree rugby and gridiron for the billions of TV and media advertising dollars. Football has had a very profitable staus quo for a decade or more now. For the big four , champions league=more money=better players=champions league.For Sky, Same four teams=brand acceptance=bigger revenues=same four teams.
The industry will do anything to maintain the status quo, ie Platini changing the rules, is a good example. Why was rich owners not a problem when Abramavitch got involved? Why, because his money cemented that fourth team in the big four that is all important. Notice if Chelsea win the CL this year, and finish 5th, there is no place for the fourth placed team, another example. I could go on expaining how important it is for the industry to ensure the old big four continue to dominate but I have run out of words. By the way I am posting this from Kenya where they are EPL fanaticstThe Truth
Hope Blank Frank doesn't mind me using his post in the MEN but I think he's pretty much BANG ON!
