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Posts from the ‘Football Finance’ Category

Jun 18

The Game of the Ball

Reproduced with kind permission of my Friend, Ming Zhao,  Premier League Correspondent | Project Coordinator at Super Sports (新英体育):

“As the ban on massive gathering will remain in place for the foreseeable future, the exploitation of football as a TV show has accelerated. Below is my observation of experiencing three of the biggest European leagues in front of my digital screen during the Covid era.

Bundesliga

The “early start” of German topflight attracted worldwide attention and offered fans the first taste of mainstream football since the lockdown.

Bundesliga games behind closed doors

Despite the quality of the game itself, the visual impact of those massive empty stands in the background inevitably damages the perceived connection between the passionate and loyal German ultra groups and the Bundesliga experience. To make it worse, the echoes of those shouting instructions from the dugout reminds me of attending a FA Youth Cup tie in Oldham on a rainy Tuesday night.

You can argue with the example of the initiative of cardboard cutout fans by Borussia Mönchengladbach, but the inconsistent efforts by individual clubs help little to increase the overall product consuming experience of the league as a whole.

La Liga

Similar to its German counterpart, La Liga re-started the season with el Gran Derbi between Sevilla and Real Betis being strategically selected as the campaign opener. Anticipation was high from TV audience due to an eye-catching collaboration between La Liga and EA Sports. In a bid to boost the viewing experience, artificial crowd was first used in live broadcast to take up the empty seats and create familiar ambient sounds.

Virtual fans fail in La Liga

It proved the operators of the system, along with millions of audience, needed some time to get used to the innovation, as several awkward imagery alignments could be spotted during the first half. But I have to admit my experience of the second half of Sevilla derby and subsequent La Liga games was way smoother.

Wu Lei scores for Espanyol

Two days later, when Chinese international Wu Lei sealed the precious 3 points for relegation-threatened Espanyol, I almost forgot there was nobody but his teammates celebrating with him on the spot.

The Premier League

As the most lucrative football programme on TV, English Premier League uses the crowd noise produced by EA to augment the audio effects.

Man City plays against Arsenal

During the heavyweight clash between Man City and Arsenal (some might not agree) on the opening day, a pre-recorded soundtrack from FIFA20 was added to the authentic buzz at the stadium to simulate a normal matchday ambient at Etihad. What’s more interesting is, each time City scored a goal, cheers “from the stands” could be clearly heard from my TV sound bar. The credit goes to a dedicated audio engineer that played, again, the pre-recorded fan reaction into the audio mix.

However, in my opinion, the visual effect still needs improvement, as the mere cover-up of rows of empty seats with huge ad banners could hardly please anyone but commercial partners.

I was so obsessed with EA’s FIFA series when I was a school kid (starting from FIFA96). And EA never failed to impress me with the incremental simulation of the real sport with its annual release. As the TV show nature is explicitly emphasised by the whole football industry during the pandemic, we may have entered the era of going the other way around.”

 

Apr 6

Furloughed brow

It’s become a topical issue, so thought I’d add my pennies worth. I refer to the ‘should they-shouldn’t they’ debate, surrounding whether professional football should furlough employees, thus taking advantage of the up to £2,500 incentives per person.

I have just listened to former club-owner, Simon Jordan, on TalkSport, slatting the sport for taking the the Government handout, arguing such a stance was almost unethical or immoral given their traditionally cash rich industry. I personally look at it from a business perspective and say that running a business is running a business, so decisions are taken around what has most beneficial commercial returns for any enterprise including survival. That is not to say that it would be unappreciated if these same EPL clubs might make donations or CSR payments to help fight this covid 19 pandemic. I say EPL, in that apparently some clubs, lower down the pyramid, now find themselves in so-called intensive care with matches and cashflow having dried-up.

This debating stance is separate from discussions around whether footballers should take paycuts. I’m with Gary Lineker on this. Footballers are an easy target due to the profile and popularity of the sector. There are other industrial sectors and leaders that perhaps should be targeted before this game, in order of priority. Pay reduction is a matter for individual clubs and players. Of course, those that can afford to lead by example will be recognised by their actions at this time of crisis. I understand Manchester United have agreed to 30% reductions under squad stewardship of Captain, Harry Maguire.

A political hot potato and people will have differing viewpoints. These are financial debating points, yet I seek to end with repetition of actions that apply to everyone. #staysafe #stayathome #protectourNHS 💙💙💙

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Adrian Stores is CEO of ACROBAT FCSM, a sub-contract commercial resource available to sports clubs nationwide and globally; and FA Registered Intermediary at Ballon Sports Agency.

Contact: adrian.stores@acrobatfcsm.com

Mar 18

You could be missing this funding?

It’s our job to keep abreast of funding regimes – especially in those sectors that dominate our business, namely: sports, leisure and services. For a good few years, I have been preaching about Research and Development Tax Credit (R&D Tax). I confess in the early stages, I thought how can this be relevant, my clients don’t wear lab coats and show off large foreheads – but oh so wrong. Forget sterotyping or misconeptions, I have clients that have received significant financial gain in sports just by knowing the criteria for eligibility and approaching communication with the authorities in that informed, professional way. I make no apology for sharing the contents of one such Adviser that I work with for the benefits of my clients, @Sedulo (Manchester, Leeds, London and soon Liverpool).

“Essentially the Medical and Performance department is the one area of a sports club where much of the Research & Development naturally occurs. Sports Research & Development can include health and nutritional plans, dedicated exercises to aid in rest and recovery of athletes, warm-up designs, post-activation potentiation strategies and recovery techniques for example.

The Professional Sports sector is one of the many industries that does not take full advantage of the generous Research and Development Tax Relief that could be available. Qualifying Research and Development activities may be being carried out by professional sports clubs without them realising that a claim can be made. Therefore, due to the lack of advertising and information provided by the HMRC, this is still considered quite a niche sector and hasn’t yet been picked up in the Innovation and Research & Development storm.

Think:

1) Nutrition

2) Exercise

3) Recovery and Rehab

4) Equipment

5) Audiovisuals

6) CRM/Sales – Retail

7) Security

8) RFID/NFC – Sensors

9) Biofeedback

10) Uniforms

11) Pitch

12) Paint

13) Maintenance Systems

14) Civil Works

Plus:

Areas of Possible R&D?

i) Most physiological, biomechanical, motor control and strength and conditioning factors, that are able to predict human movement and sports performance. Also, there is an emphasis on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applied to water sports and to special populations.

ii) The physical fitness levels of different populations and their relationships with health benefits and wellness. Corresponding projects in strength and conditioning, aiming at the development of reasonable and reproducible exercise prescriptions.

iii) “Marginal Gains Initiatives”

iv) Non-invasive recovery and rehab – holistic treatments, massage techniques, etc

v) Mental Health treatments/ hypnotherapy

vi) Some qualifying activities include rehabilitation development methods where public information is limited, head injury research and performance analysis tools.”

More information, you know where to find me: adrian.stores@acrobatfcsm.com

Aug 28

Dead and Bury-ed: I think not

Heart breaking that the hub of a community, Bury FC, can be tossed aside when owners rather than other stakeholders are alleged culprits and responsible for the downfall. Sad day for football. But they will return – better and stronger. #footballfinance

Not the same as my beloved Stockport County, whose fall from the EFL, was its being undermined by financial malaise. But the increasingly common insolvent nature of businesses and unviable commercial ventures illustrate the very reasons why more and more football league clubs are in intensive care.

Sound management practices and financial astuteness are not ubiquitious in professional football clubs. I would even say that there is an epidemic of financial frailties, not only in EFL, and mirrored in non-league, but in other sports from what I have seen recently including rugby league and some NGBs. Of course, there is no need to tar everyone with the same brush. There are some great operations at home in the UK and overseas. Tranmere Rovers’ Mark Palios talks some real sense on the need for EFL and financial practices to reform. Daniel Geey in his thorough book “Done Deal” highlights ailments in ownership and trading models. He also dissects ownership statuses of EPL clubs – and personally that may create another financial disaster as international stakeholders, whatever an enterprise, have a track record of retreat, in the face of adversity or economic downturn.

I hope Bolton Wanderers doesn’t go the same way. North West brands and household names up here!

My Company, assisted Bury FC 15 years earlier. I state hope for the future as the Club has limped from administration to administration whilst pro. A phoenix club whilst painful allows a rethink.

Financial plight is not a new phenomenon to the Shakers, who have had a shakey existence. Working with its supporters’ trust, Forever Bury, we delivered additional income from community initiatives like Dream TV (Sky TV) playing in Town, beer festivals, inter-faith projects, duck races etc (still can’t believe the Wife’s duck named Galatasaray came first across the line across the River Irwell in ‘footy ducks’!) This appointment for ACROBAT FCSM came on the back of our award winning consultancy and role in saving Oldham Athletic in 2004.

The future looks nervous in football – and change is required. At least our businesses are likely to remain in demand as clubs and NGBs seek supplementary or substitute revenue to remain sustainable.

Adrian Stores is CEO at ACROBAT FCSM and Ballon Sports Agency.

#strategicmarketing #commercialization #sponsorship #funding #partnering

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