| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights 17:09 - Nov 14 with 11213 views | R_from_afar |
From The Times....
RFA
A majority of the Championship’s 24 clubs have written to the EFL threatening to form a breakaway league if the board signs a £590 million television deal with Sky Sports for the 2019-2024 seasons.
The Times has seen documents sent by 15 clubs to Debbie Jevans, the EFL interim chairwoman, last week in which they warn of “drastic action” if their demands to reject the proposed Sky deal and return to the market are not met.
The letter makes clear that they are threatening to leave the EFL by referencing an anonymous survey of 16 clubs conducted last Tuesday in which all those present were asked whether they would be willing to “leave the EFL and form a new League, eg PL2”.
Andrea Radrizzani, the Leeds United owner, called for the creation of a Premier League 2 last month and he is understood to be the driving force behind the clubs’ rebellion alongside Mel Morris, the Derby County owner.
In a letter sent by the EFL to all the Championship clubs last Friday updating them on the situation, the extent of the threat to the existing league structure is made clear. “While the letter received from a number of clubs only referred to ‘more drastic action’ if an agreement [with Sky] was reached, it was made clear during Tuesday’s meeting that the threat of a breakaway had been discussed,” the EFL wrote.
Earlier in the week the EFL had received the letter from 15 Championship clubs containing the threat of a breakaway. The letter spelt out the clubs’ opposition to “entering into a binding multi-year agreement with Sky” and their proposal to create “a new task force comprising certain Championship club owners and/or senior executives” to pursue a new commercial strategy.
In addition to the leading duo, the 15 signatories are believed to include Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Norwich City, Reading, Preston North End, Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough, Swansea City and Birmingham City, with smaller clubs such as Rotherham United and Millwall siding with the EFL. Brentford are understood to be the only club of the 16 who attended the meeting not to support the threat to leave the EFL.
The Championship rebels believe that the deal on offer from Sky, which at £119 million per year is an increase on the existing contract of £88 million a season, undervalues their television rights and they want the EFL to reopen the tender process.
Such is the strength of feeling that 16 Championship clubs met in secret last Tuesday morning before a planned meeting with the EFL later that day.
The organisers of the first meeting insist that all 24 Championship clubs were invited, with some choosing not to attend, while others have claimed that they were lured to the meeting under false pretences.
“A significant number of Championship clubs who deliver the majority of the EFL TV audiences were sufficiently concerned about signing this agreement that they felt compelled to convene outside the formal meeting,” the clubs wrote to the EFL. “Furthermore, in this meeting – when surveyed anonymously – almost all attendees expressed the view that if the EFL were unwilling to give these clubs more involvement in the process of commercialising their rights, they would, in extremis, be forced to contemplate more drastic action.”
The survey contained nine multiple-choice questions, with question five asking: “If the only way to control our future direction as a league, achieve fair value for our media rights and league sponsorship deals required us to leave the EFL and form a new League, eg PL2, would you be in support?” The responses available were “a. No, we would not support a breakaway league under any circumstances” and “b. Yes, we would support a breakaway league if it was necessary/advantageous.”
Hammering home their intentions, question six asked: “If you answered no to supporting a breakaway league, but the majority of Championship clubs proceeded to create a breakaway league which adequately addressed the frustrations, concerns, media/sponsorship rights revenues and governances issues discussed, would you then change your stance?” Again the choice of answers was stark, being “a. No, we would still remain with the EFL” and “b. Yes, we would join the breakaway league if it offered better terms and conditions”.
The EFL held an emergency meeting on Monday with all the Championship clubs, which broke up without resolution. The EFL has secured an extension to its provisional agreement with Sky until next week, but the contract must be signed by 4pm on Monday, with the broadcaster understood to be concerned by the stand-off.
The EFL board has the authority to sign the contract without the support of the biggest Championship clubs, as those in League One and League Two are all in favour. While they are planning for both scenarios, they have made it clear that their preference remains to complete the deal with Sky, which was provisionally agreed in September 2017.
There is no other offer on the table from any other broadcaster. The contract is due to start next season.
The disgruntled Championship clubs have yet to contact the Premier League, who would have to endorse the creation of a PL2 and sanction promotion and relegation. The Premier League is believed to be opposed to such a project. |  |
| "Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1." |
| |  |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 18:13 - Nov 14 with 7824 views | NorthLondonR |
Can't help but think this all stinks of EFL FFP avoidance. |  | | |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 18:36 - Nov 14 with 7766 views | Boston |
Can’t help but think football stinks. |  |
| |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 19:20 - Nov 14 with 7693 views | bosh67 |
It's all bollox. Everything is bollox. |  |
| |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 21:01 - Nov 14 with 7542 views | DavieQPR |
Prem doesn't want them so let them form their own little league. They could call it the We Still Think We Are A Big Club league. |  | | |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 22:39 - Nov 14 with 7454 views | DannyPaddox |
I'm not fully au fait with the minutiae but it reads like the main characters from Last of The Summer Wine are threatening to leave the village and form their own European Super League. [Post edited 14 Nov 2018 22:40]
|  | | |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 23:07 - Nov 14 with 7386 views | Toast_R |
Sounds like another ITV Digital fiasco on the cards. Sky - better the devil you know. |  | | |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 01:24 - Nov 15 with 7268 views | Hooparoo |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 21:01 - Nov 14 by DavieQPR |
Prem doesn't want them so let them form their own little league. They could call it the We Still Think We Are A Big Club league. |
😜 |  |
| |
Login to get fewer ads
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 07:28 - Nov 15 with 7122 views | Konk |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 21:01 - Nov 14 by DavieQPR |
Prem doesn't want them so let them form their own little league. They could call it the We Still Think We Are A Big Club league. |
The I only bought this club because I was assured we'd be promoted by now and I'd be coining it League. |  |
| Fulham FC: It's the taking part that counts |
| |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 08:53 - Nov 15 with 7044 views | paulparker |
Who the fcuk do Derby and Leeds think they are ? They haven’t had a sniff of premier league football in years and have hardly threatened promotion to the the top flight on a consistent basis
Their fans think they are a big club but the rest of the country couldn’t give a rats and if they were in the top flight no one would give a Sh1t about them either |  |
| And Bowles is onside, Swinburne has come rushing out of his goal , what can Bowles do here , onto the left foot no, on to the right foot
That’s there that’s two, and that’s Bowles
Brian Moore
|
| |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 09:44 - Nov 15 with 6993 views | stevec |
TBH, the way we've been treated by the EFL I'm all for anything that might screw them.
Let's not forget the EFL have a £21 million pound fine hanging over US. Not the owners, they probably won't but could walk away from it, but us, the supporters of this club, a ball and chain defining this club for at least the next 10 years. They could have levied it all on the owners, they didn't. |  | | |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 09:55 - Nov 15 with 6983 views | Northernr |
Does feel like football's about to eat itself doesn't it?
Sky have treated this league like utter sht for years:
- ridiculous Thursday night, Sunday morning bolox designed to fit around their precious Premier League
- games moved at around at no notice at all shafting supporters
- absolutely zero thought given to moving things like Middlesbrough v QPR to a Friday night
- unashamed bias towards Leeds and Newcastle so their supporters get basically all their games moved and the viewers see the same two or three clubs over and over again
- This red button nonsense, killing attendances and undermining clubs own fledgling streaming platforms
- gimmicks like 'ten in ten' with no care about what it actually means having your games shifted to Mondays, Thursdays or Fridays in December.
- frequent complaints about all the above from the clubs and the FSF completely ignored.
So they shouldn't be surprised that clubs want a better, bigger deal. Given the added competition for sports rights there is a possibility they could get more elsewhere, or that Sky should be paying more to keep it.
Though I'm not sure it's right that it's the Leeds chairman leading it, given he's just launched a sports broadcaster in this country and already taken La Liga and Serie A rights off Sky, and would no doubt love to have the Football league as well. Was that the intention of the Leeds takeover all along? Buy the club the TV companies love the most and then lead a breakaway from that structure to the convenient benefit of broadcast platforms like the one he owns?
As we've said on here before, all this wonderful extra competition in sports rights doesn't benefit the viewer at all. It'll just mean I have to have five or six different subscriptions to watch the stuff I used to get under one. Forcing a sale of rights to BT hasn't helped me - my Sky sub has gone up, and I now have to pay £14 a month on top for BT.
Likewise, you can't blame clubs for being angry with the EFL and it's fcking useless chairman given all the nonsense he's inflicted on us: the League Cup farce, the Cheackatrade farce, the FFP farce, the fit and proper owner test farce. |  | | |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 10:47 - Nov 15 with 6907 views | Konk |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 09:55 - Nov 15 by Northernr |
Does feel like football's about to eat itself doesn't it?
Sky have treated this league like utter sht for years:
- ridiculous Thursday night, Sunday morning bolox designed to fit around their precious Premier League
- games moved at around at no notice at all shafting supporters
- absolutely zero thought given to moving things like Middlesbrough v QPR to a Friday night
- unashamed bias towards Leeds and Newcastle so their supporters get basically all their games moved and the viewers see the same two or three clubs over and over again
- This red button nonsense, killing attendances and undermining clubs own fledgling streaming platforms
- gimmicks like 'ten in ten' with no care about what it actually means having your games shifted to Mondays, Thursdays or Fridays in December.
- frequent complaints about all the above from the clubs and the FSF completely ignored.
So they shouldn't be surprised that clubs want a better, bigger deal. Given the added competition for sports rights there is a possibility they could get more elsewhere, or that Sky should be paying more to keep it.
Though I'm not sure it's right that it's the Leeds chairman leading it, given he's just launched a sports broadcaster in this country and already taken La Liga and Serie A rights off Sky, and would no doubt love to have the Football league as well. Was that the intention of the Leeds takeover all along? Buy the club the TV companies love the most and then lead a breakaway from that structure to the convenient benefit of broadcast platforms like the one he owns?
As we've said on here before, all this wonderful extra competition in sports rights doesn't benefit the viewer at all. It'll just mean I have to have five or six different subscriptions to watch the stuff I used to get under one. Forcing a sale of rights to BT hasn't helped me - my Sky sub has gone up, and I now have to pay £14 a month on top for BT.
Likewise, you can't blame clubs for being angry with the EFL and it's fcking useless chairman given all the nonsense he's inflicted on us: the League Cup farce, the Cheackatrade farce, the FFP farce, the fit and proper owner test farce. |
Television has fuc ked football, so I refuse to fund those deals. If you’re not happy with wan ky scheduling of fixtures, then why not boycott SKY/BT or BBC football? Anyone who subscribes is surely part of the problem? | |
| Fulham FC: It's the taking part that counts |
| |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 10:53 - Nov 15 with 6898 views | Northernr |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 10:47 - Nov 15 by Konk |
Television has fuc ked football, so I refuse to fund those deals. If you’re not happy with wan ky scheduling of fixtures, then why not boycott SKY/BT or BBC football? Anyone who subscribes is surely part of the problem? |
Difficult to write about it if you're not watching it. | | | |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 11:18 - Nov 15 with 6854 views | Konk |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 10:53 - Nov 15 by Northernr |
Difficult to write about it if you're not watching it. |
Fair point! Okay, but taking my eldest brother as an example - him and his kids are Tottenham season ticket holders and he moans about SKY and BT messing with fixtures all day long, yet has had subscriptions since the beginning. I don’t understand why people who hate the course of modern football are prepared to fund the TV deals, which are the root cause of most of what’s wa bk about football. | |
| Fulham FC: It's the taking part that counts |
| |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 11:33 - Nov 15 with 6828 views | TheChef |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 09:55 - Nov 15 by Northernr |
Does feel like football's about to eat itself doesn't it?
Sky have treated this league like utter sht for years:
- ridiculous Thursday night, Sunday morning bolox designed to fit around their precious Premier League
- games moved at around at no notice at all shafting supporters
- absolutely zero thought given to moving things like Middlesbrough v QPR to a Friday night
- unashamed bias towards Leeds and Newcastle so their supporters get basically all their games moved and the viewers see the same two or three clubs over and over again
- This red button nonsense, killing attendances and undermining clubs own fledgling streaming platforms
- gimmicks like 'ten in ten' with no care about what it actually means having your games shifted to Mondays, Thursdays or Fridays in December.
- frequent complaints about all the above from the clubs and the FSF completely ignored.
So they shouldn't be surprised that clubs want a better, bigger deal. Given the added competition for sports rights there is a possibility they could get more elsewhere, or that Sky should be paying more to keep it.
Though I'm not sure it's right that it's the Leeds chairman leading it, given he's just launched a sports broadcaster in this country and already taken La Liga and Serie A rights off Sky, and would no doubt love to have the Football league as well. Was that the intention of the Leeds takeover all along? Buy the club the TV companies love the most and then lead a breakaway from that structure to the convenient benefit of broadcast platforms like the one he owns?
As we've said on here before, all this wonderful extra competition in sports rights doesn't benefit the viewer at all. It'll just mean I have to have five or six different subscriptions to watch the stuff I used to get under one. Forcing a sale of rights to BT hasn't helped me - my Sky sub has gone up, and I now have to pay £14 a month on top for BT.
Likewise, you can't blame clubs for being angry with the EFL and it's fcking useless chairman given all the nonsense he's inflicted on us: the League Cup farce, the Cheackatrade farce, the FFP farce, the fit and proper owner test farce. |
"The Times has seen documents sent by 15 clubs to Debbie Jevans, the EFL interim chairwoman, last week in which they warn of “drastic action” if their demands to reject the proposed Sky deal and return to the market are not met. "
Interim chairwoman??
Ah - https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11491832/ian-lenagan-steps-down-as
Did anyone come across that?
We're still stuck with the aforementioned fvcking useless CEO it seems... |  |
| |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 11:47 - Nov 15 with 6807 views | LowerloftLad |
Led by derby and Leeds two clubs whose combined total of years outside of the top flight must be closing in on three decades |  |
| |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 11:50 - Nov 15 with 6801 views | smegma |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 08:53 - Nov 15 by paulparker |
Who the fcuk do Derby and Leeds think they are ? They haven’t had a sniff of premier league football in years and have hardly threatened promotion to the the top flight on a consistent basis
Their fans think they are a big club but the rest of the country couldn’t give a rats and if they were in the top flight no one would give a Sh1t about them either |
Leeds take 20,000 to every away game so are a massive club. | | | |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 11:57 - Nov 15 with 6779 views | smegma |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 10:47 - Nov 15 by Konk |
Television has fuc ked football, so I refuse to fund those deals. If you’re not happy with wan ky scheduling of fixtures, then why not boycott SKY/BT or BBC football? Anyone who subscribes is surely part of the problem? |
I've never ever had Sky Sports or BT Sports. I did have Sky TV for about 5 years as my Chinese wife could watch Chinese channels. She now watches them on YouTube instead. I will watch live football sometimes when it's on terrestrial tv but I can live without it. But if I'm at work I will always watch live football/highlights shows. I got to have something to do. | | | |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 11:59 - Nov 15 with 6767 views | Mick_S |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 11:50 - Nov 15 by smegma |
Leeds take 20,000 to every away game so are a massive club. |
F'kin massive club. Massive. |  |
| Did I ever mention that I was in Minder? |
| |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 13:05 - Nov 15 with 6653 views | DannyPaddox |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 11:59 - Nov 15 by Mick_S |
F'kin massive club. Massive. |
Champions of Europe!*
*As verified by Old Mother Skipton [Post edited 15 Nov 2018 13:08]
| | | |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 15:20 - Nov 15 with 6452 views | hopphoops |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 10:53 - Nov 15 by Northernr |
Difficult to write about it if you're not watching it. |
Clive watches it all so we don't have to :)
Two other things:
1: I really fcking dislike Leeds.
2:
 |  |
| |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 15:28 - Nov 15 with 6439 views | Mick_S |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 15:20 - Nov 15 by hopphoops |
Clive watches it all so we don't have to :)
Two other things:
1: I really fcking dislike Leeds.
2:
|
Is that Curly Watts in front of Mr Fookin' W anker? | |
| Did I ever mention that I was in Minder? |
| |
| Ch'ship clubs led by Leeds, Derby threaten EFL breakaway in row over TV rights on 15:39 - Nov 15 with 6412 views | DannyPaddox |
Leeds motivation is clear to see though. A big team languishing in the Championship. Pearls before swine, they even have a U.E.F.A. co-efficiency ranking currently the equivalent of 2 tubs of lard and a soggy Yorkshire pudding made from Angela Ripon's fanny batter. [Post edited 15 Nov 2018 15:41]
| | | |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
