Soccer’s money blues: it’s time for a re-think

The English Premier League is one of the country's greatest exports, and has over the last few years arguably become the most important league in the world. The premier one, no less? And we all know, with our business hats on, that red sells. Not just in newspaper mastheads, and adverts, but in the EPL too. The romance of great clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. Will anyone really want to watch over the next few seasons as the blues of West London and Manchester begin to dominate? Can any neutral really get excited about a Chelsea vs Man City showdown at the end of the season?

Unfortunately for the EPL’s red contingent, the signs on the financial side aren’t promising. Manchester Utd, it was rumoured, might end up having to sell off prize asset Wayne Rooney in view of their staggering levels of debt. Liverpool have found themselves in a position where they allegedly do not have the cash to fire their manager. Arsenal, meanwhile, seem to have become a selling club, or at least one not prepared to go out and spend big money on big-name players. But come to think of it, there are some blues on the blue side of the EPL too. Just look at Portsmouth. And, who knows, the bubble might burst one day for a bigger club from that part of the colour spectrum. So what is to be done about football’s money woes, red or blue...?

Rather than prop up the banks, is the situation so dire that we have to resort to propping up the nation’s football clubs? A Utd or a Liverpool even? Conspiracy theorists would have us believe that there may already be an element of ‘propping up’ in Spain with the indirect public support that cynics suspect is afforded to the likes of Real Madrid. Spain even changed its tax system a while back to allow foreign "experts" to pay significantly less tax, an apparent incentive to foreign Galacticos sizing up a spell in La Liga, and helping to keep Spanish football prominent on back pages across the world. If this author controlled the Sports Ministry in Britain, it would certainly be just a wee bit tempting to divert the public purse away from the London Olympics and on to the sport that the population really cares about. But this is never going to happen.

No, let’s dismiss this flippant talk about Spanish Tortilla. Shouldn’t we instead be eating our EPL Steak with American Fries? It is perhaps a simplified view from the European side of the pond, but it is often said (observations from US viewers welcome) that US sports have found ways of taking an egalitarian approach that ensures a more level playing-field: the system of draft picks in American Football being a notable example. In the NFL, the theory goes, any team – however rubbish they are over a certain period of time – can still aspire to Super Bowl glory at some point in an adult fan’s lifetime. In Major League Baseball, teams give a proportion of their income to a revenue-sharing scheme, in order to help support the smaller franchises, and to try to keep the whole league competitive. And this in a country where Capitalism is King. In the EPL, some form of Sugar Daddy appears to be required to break into the Big Four elite.

So should we ask Messrs Abramovich and Mansour to pour the millions (billions?) they have invested in their clubs into one big pot? And then give it out to Burnley, Bolton, et al? It wouldn't be unheard of – this is how the TV money is given out after all. The trouble is, if the TV money is such as it is and many of the big clubs are still struggling to rub together a few quid, then in the end there will not be much dosh to dish out. What else could be done? – new financial rules to prevent excessive debt? – restrictions on the number of foreign players that teams can field, in an attempt to keep more money within the English game? – money-saving ground-share schemes?

It is hard to escape the conclusion that over-inflated players’ wages are the big strain on football clubs, with even middling sides seeing fit to accumulate mammoth wage bills in an effort to compete. This is the key issue that needs to be addressed. And here it is only proper to raise the spectre of the wage cap. Yes, we are talking about that old friend the Maximum Wage. This has long been an unpopular concept in many quarters but it could well rise up the agenda as it becomes ever clearer that the exorbitant salaries enjoyed by many (often mediocre) players are crippling the game. Arsenal, it may be noted, imposed internal wage restraint for many years: The Gunners have had much success since giving up that policy, but it was a sad day for football when it became an anachronism.

Unless football finds a way of dealing with its money problems, the inevitable outcome will be the continued success of the Oligarchs and the Sheikhs, where success itself is everything, and flair, finesse and history mean nothing. And the EPL will be all the poorer for it.

By Speedball2 with worldinmotion.