FootBiz newsletter #68: YouTube as a potential rights bidder, the new San Siro and PSG moving out of Paris?

It’s a Thursday during an international break, which means there’s (almost always) a Premier League owners meeting.

And today is no different, though unusually we also have La Liga football tonight (a bit weird when we woke up to World Cup qualifiers finishing on the other side of the world only yesterday).

Anyway, who said the football calendar is overly and unnecessarily packed?

We aren’t expecting a ton of news out of the Premier League meeting - no 130 charges, anyway - but two things that could be confirmed are the dates of next season’s transfer windows (which likely won’t change, despite some clubs proposing an earlier close) and the return of Coca-Cola as a top-tier sponsor of the league.

The Atlanta-based soft drinks giant allowed its partnership with the PL to expire in 2022 but is understood to have agreed a ‘sector partnership’ to become the league’s official soft drinks provider from the summer.

Coca-Cola owns a number of brands, including energy drink Powerade, that it could choose to promote through the deal which was first reported by Sky.

Beyond strategies to rot the teeth of future generations, Premier League owners will further discuss the squad-cost control rules that they intend to bring in. The introduction of SCR has been delayed until the 2026/27 season at the earliest, but is still considered by many to be a fairer (and simpler to enforce) alternative to the unpopular profitability and sustainability rules.

Table of Contents

• Club World Cup bounty revealed

• More media talk: Why I’m monitoring YouTube

• World Cup 2026 qualifiers

• Ashworth could return to FA

• La Liga is back… tonight?

• New San Siro stadium plans

• Camp Nou delays for Barcelona

• M&A Murmurs

• PSG joining the New Stadium Club?

• Chelsea fans ask for Boehly action

Club World Cup bounty revealed

Carlo Ancelotti’s one-man protest against Real Madrid’s participation in the Club World Cup last June lasted less than 24 hours, and nine months later it is clear why.

FIFA yesterday confirmed an extraordinary prize fund of $1billion for this summer’s 32-team tournament in the United States, with the winners set to take home up to $125million (£97m).

Indeed, for winning just seven matches — half of whom would come against modest opponents — Manchester City could receive more than half the £176m they banked for triumphing in a 38-game Premier League last season.

Gianni Infantino often makes big claims for football, but for once his description of the “biggest-ever prize money for a tournament” was not hyperbolic. The FIFA president has put other people’s money — in this case that of Saudi Arabia’s SURJ Sports investments, who are underwriting DAZN’s $1billion global broadcast rights deal by buying 10 per cent of the company — where his mouth is.

On a pro rata basis the money on offer is more significant even than that in the expanded Champions League, which will give this season’s winners a maximum of £135m if they win 15 matches. The prize money available for winning domestic cup competitions is almost inconsequential by comparison, with Manchester United picking up just £4m for lifting the FA Cup last season. 

FIFA have broadly followed UEFA’s Champions League model as regards distribution, with almost half of the total prize pot — $475m — to be allocated based on each club’s progress in the competition. Winning all seven games – three group fixtures, round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final and final – will be worth $87.62m. 

In addition each club will receive a participation fee based on their sporting and commercial credentials, which is way of ensuring the European clubs being paid more. The 12 European clubs will get between $12.8m and $38.2m, while the six South American clubs will earn a flat fee of $15.2m. Auckland City, the only Oceania club, will receive $3.58m, with the rest of the clubs from North and Central America, Africa and Asia, receiving $9.55m for qualifying. 

While the new competition is a major boon for those taking part there are concerns that the huge prize money on offer could distort domestic leagues, particularly in small and medium-sized markets. FIFA have committed to making a $250m solidarity payment to clubs across the world to offset that danger, but have yet to detail how the money will be distributed.

The competitive balance of domestic leagues has never been a concern for Real Madrid, who were quick to ensure Ancelotti retracted his critical comments last summer.

Ancelotti had complained to Italian newspaper Il Giornale, “a Real Madrid match is worth 20 million euros [£16.7m], but FIFA wants to give us that amount for the entire cup.” If Real win every game this summer they will be paid £14m-per-match in prize money alone.

More media talk: Why I’m monitoring YouTube

The intro to Tuesday’s newsletter got a lot of conversation going in my inbox, with people interested in the ongoing transition from traditional broadcasters to streamers.

Obviously this has been happening for a while and is not necessarily new, but there has been a shift in speed and momentum over the past 12-18 months.

Talking to clients, I often compare the broadcast shift to what happened in newspapers around a decade ago. As newspaper executives (steeped in newspaper history, clueless about digital) decided on a strategy of managed decline, hoping digital revenues would rise and overtake print income at a point where too many jobs weren’t lost, they completely ignored the possibility of a change in the macro environment. In this case, it was that big tech companies would take their piece of digital revenues and instead of one line (print revenues) going down 📉 and meeting digital revenues 📈 in the middle, the digital revenue line stayed flat and the overall company simply shrank, people lost jobs and huge, influential businesses became lifeless husks begging for clicks.

Learning little, broadcasters have hoped for the same. The hope is that loss-making streaming businesses will eventually make enough to compensate for the bleeding everywhere else in the company, and particularly so for those large broadcasters who are also telecom companies (a great business model 15 years ago, less so now).

Having all the baggage of a failing business hanging onto the back of your streaming service is hardly ideal. It is why Netflix, fully focused on the task at hand (content creation; market and household penetration) has been able to, first of all, lose loads of money, before then succeeding and becoming the dominant streamer on the planet. Clunkier, older companies could not have taken the risks Netflix did.

But don’t ignore YouTube.

The second most-visited website in the world (after Google) has now transcended platforms and is the most-viewed platform on mobile as well as via smart TVs.

According to Nielsen’s ‘Gauge’ metric which tracks television streaming consumption by service, YouTube boasted over 40% more streaming viewership than Netflix in the month of February.

Yes, it’s free-to-view (though they do have pay-TV service YouTube TV in the US) but sports leagues are increasingly thinking about the balance between reach and putting up restrictive paywalls (think Apple-MLS) that strangle growth. Owned by Alphabet, YouTube also has deep enough pockets.

But do they have the will to enter the fray?

While YouTube has not yet got into the rights game, YouTube TV bought one of the most notable NFL packages, Sunday Ticket, and reports this week notably claim that YouTube is one of the bidders for the rights to broadcast the NFL Draft.

If YouTube truly decides to get into the rights game, and particularly the world’s largest sport, then it could change a lot of things. Its ad-based reach model is different from many top-tier sports broadcasters who are subscription-based but they have global scale in a way no other company on the planet does, as well as a subscription offering in YouTube TV that you have to assume will be scaled internationally at some stage.

“YouTube has won the streaming wars,” said analyst Michael Nathanson on The Varsity podcast last week.

“YouTube is something like 24% of all consumption last year on connected TVs.

“So I think it starts with YouTube is what I’d say…Netflix is second, and probably Amazon, Disney third and fourth.

“We can’t ignore YouTube here. I know they’re not considered a sports rights bidder, but they really have potential to be very disruptive here.”

World Cup 2026 qualifiers

We have our first qualifiers for World Cup 2026 locked in.

Obviously the joint hosts Mexico, Canada and the United States were already confirmed but joining them will be Japan, making their eighth consecutive appearance.

It took four days for another team to join them but New Zealand will make a second World Cup appearance after beating New Caledonia in the final round of the Oceania qualification process, Iran became the second Asian nation to book their ticket and then Argentina battered Brazil at River Plate’s El Monumental stadium to rack up an unassailable lead atop the CONMEBOL standings.

We do wonder whether Iran might get drawn into a World Cup group that plays in Canada or Mexico to avoid any visa issues that could arise from an unpredictable US administration with a penchant for cheap media wins. Adam Crafton at The Athletic has been on top of the World Cup visas issue.

Ashworth could return to FA

Dan Ashworth is in discussions over making a surprise return to the FA seven years after leaving the governing body, as revealed by the Daily Telegraph’s Sam Wallace on Tuesday. 

Ashworth was sacked by Manchester United after just five months as sporting director last year, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe calling his hire “a mistake”, but he has been targeted by the FA for a new role presiding over what has been dubbed St George’s Park 2.0, a major overhaul of the England national side’s training base near Burton-upon-Trent.

Ashworth played a major role in England’s international resurgence under Gareth Southgate having worked alongside the former manager at the FA from 2012 to 2018. The 54-year-old was first employed by the FA as head of elite development, but ended up in charge of the entire football operation at St George's Park, including senior and junior teams across the men's and women's game, sports science, and coach education. The proposed new role would see Ashworth oversee both the men's and women's senior and junior teams, as well as coach development.

Ashworth has been considered for a number of roles since his surprise departure from United, including the Arsenal sporting director's job, but a return to the FA may suit him following his difficult spell at United and the fracturing of relationships at his previous club, Newcastle.

FA technical director John McDermott would remain in his role, with Ashworth given a broader remit.

La Liga is back… tonight?

La Liga resumes tonight — yes, tonight — with a match that could go a long way to deciding the title race.

Barcelona play Osasuna tonight just 44 hours after some of their star players were involved in World Cup qualifying action on the other side of the world.

Raphinha, who might have been Barca’s best player this season, was part of the Brazil team that got dogwalked by Argentina in Buenos Aires.

That World Cup qualifier kicked off at 1am Spanish time on Wednesday morning, finishing around 3am, while Barca then kick off at 9pm on Thursday (tonight).

Unsurprisingly, Raphinha won’t be involved and neither will Uruguay’s Ronald Araujo, who was playing away in Bolivia. Four more Barca players were also in international action on Tuesday night.

Both clubs protested at having to play this rescheduled game today but La Liga were unmoved. More details here.

Osasuna were originally due to play against Athletic Club on Friday (tomorrow) but that game has been pushed to Sunday, while Barca will also play on Sunday against Catalan neighbours Girona.

New San Siro stadium plans

Inter and AC Milan have this week submitted a 253-page document with their plans to build a new arena on the car parks adjacent to the iconic San Siro stadium that currently houses both clubs.

The Serie A giants are working together on their latest stadium scheme, which they hope will be the one that finally breaks through the levels of municipal bureaucracy in Lombardia.

While the renderings are pretty basic at this point, the idea is that work on a new stadium will begin in 2027 and be completed by 2030. The capacity is slated to be 71,500 with greatly expanded hospitality and corporate facilities. The clubs will need to invest north of €1 billion into the project.

The mayor of Milan said of the plans: “The law states that once we receive the offer, we must still issue a public tender, but it is clear that the premise will be an area dedicated to football. The law also allows for the possibility of a private negotiation.

“The tender will last about 30-45 days, and the goal is to sell the stadium and the surrounding areas to the teams before the summer holidays.

"Then the clubs will start building a new stadium next to the [old stadium]. It will take a few years, and once it is ready, they will redevelop the old stadium, which, in my opinion, is set to remain as we know it until 2030.”

The old San Siro stadium will be partially demolished, preserving some of its architecturally significant and iconic facade.

Camp Nou delays for Barcelona

Barcelona are not expected to be in their renovated Camp Nou stadium until 2026 following further delays to their extensive renovation project.

The club said goodbye to their world-famous home in May 2023 but even then the timeline for return was uncertain. President Joan Laporta said the club expected to be back by December 2024, but it quickly became clear that wasn’t likely.

Laporta has told friends he wants the renovated stadium to be a host for Champions League finals even before it is a venue for World Cup games in 2030, and then a regular host of the world’s biggest events beyond that.

If Barca can’t move in until halfway through next season, that ambition becomes difficult. Next summer’s final will be in Budapest, and the 2027 final will either be in Baku or (more likely) Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano stadium.

With UEFA unlikely to give Spain back-to-back Champions League finals and New York also pushing to host Europe’s biggest football match, Barcelona’s delays could compound into several more years without hosting a major final.

M&A Murmurs

There is virtually nobody who has looked at buying a club in Spain who hasn’t kicked the tyres on Malaga at some stage.

Spain’s sixth-biggest city, and one of the biggest tourist infrastructures in Europe, Malaga briefly touched the sky a decade ago but have been in relegation hell virtually ever since.

The big problem with buying Malaga — or trying to — is that despite running the club into the ground (having previously pumped in a load of money and taken them to the Champions League semi-finals) the Qatari owners have absolutely no intention of selling the club.

That said, they don’t even really run the club anymore.

Since 2019, Malaga has been under judicial administration, which has made selling very difficult even if they wanted to.

The club was placed under judicial administration following investigations into its ownership and management, including allegations of malfeasance, misappropriation of funds and money laundering involving Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani and his sons.

But if there is one group that could break this deadlock and convince Al-Thani — a member of the Qatari royal family — to give up on his Spanish football dream then it is Qatar Sports Investments. Already the majority owners of Paris Saint-Germain and minority owners of Braga, QSI are reportedly interested in buying the Costa del Sol club for €100m.

While that number is fairly eye-watering for a second division club, they would be buying a club of immense potential with a stadium that is being renovated next year ahead of hosting 2030 World Cup fixtures.

They would also be bailing out a disastrous Qatari owner while allowing them to save face.

La Liga is ever more active in trying to find buyers for its problem clubs, and you would expect the authorities would welcome a clean transaction that brings new ownership in at La Rosaleda.

One to watch. A spokesman for QSI said only that “QSI is exploring a range of investment opportunities across Europe and America.”

Former Wycombe owner Rob Couhig still has aspirations to buy Reading after the London Commercial Court rejected an injunction tabled by the club’s owner, Dai Yongge, to remove securities the American has in place against the Select Car Leasing Stadium and the club’s training ground last week.

Couhig’s charge over Reading’s property assets stem from his £25m takeover bid last summer, which was accepted by Dai and led to him loaning the club around £5m… only for the Chinese businessman to withdraw at the 11th hour.

Dai is currently in an exclusivity period with private equity veteran Robert Platek, but the sale has been complicated by Couhig, who is demanding either a pay-off to walk away or the revival of his own planned purchase. The American lawyer told The Guardian that he still wants to buy Reading and would “get on a plane today” if it would help to resolve the situation.

PSG joining the New Stadium Club?

It feels as if we are talking about multiple superclubs building a new stadium every week, and now it’s Paris Saint-Germain, whose attempts to buy/redevelop/renovate the Parc des Princes from the city of Paris were unsuccessful and who now intend to move elsewhere and build from scratch.

Local newspaper reports state that PSG are looking at the Massy area, south of Paris and near Orly airport, with a plan to build something akin to a PSG theme park complete with leisure, recreational, commercial and residential facilities. And a 90,000-seater stadium, of course.

Other reports caveat the news by saying no final decision has been made, but the probability of PSG leaving the Parc des Princes has been high for a while and it appears they’re nearing a solution for where they will be headed - even if it isn’t fully locked in yet.

Chelsea fans ask for Boehly action

Chelsea fans have written to the Premier League asking them to take action against the club’s chairman, Todd Boehly, over his ownership stake in a platform that resells match tickets for thousands of pounds more than their face value.

Chelsea co-owner Boehly is a director of Vivid Seats, an American website that allows users based outside of the UK to buy and sell tickets to concerts and sporting events, often at inflated prices. Vivid Seats is listed by the Premier League as an “unauthorised ticket website”, and the league has urged fans to “exercise extreme caution” when dealing with the site. It is a criminal offence for an unauthorised person in the UK to sell a ticket for a designated football match, but it is not a crime in other countries.

In an open letter to Premier League chief executive Richard Masters, the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust have demanded they take action.

“As a director of Chelsea FC and part-owner, Mr Boehly’s connection with Vivid Seats is totally inappropriate and significantly undermines the efforts of Chelsea FC, the Premier League, and the Metropolitan Police to combat ticket touting,” the letter says.

“Mr Boehly has been contacted directly by the CST and has been offered multiple opportunities to both publicly and privately address supporters’ concerns. Neither Mr Boehly nor his representatives have, however, acted on these requests, and thousands of tickets remain for sale on the Vivid Seats website.

“The CST firmly believes that it is now time for the Premier League to act and investigate. We would . . . anticipate that the Premier League would take this opportunity to act swiftly and ensure that a major shareowner of a Premier League club ceases facilitating the sale of tickets for significantly above face value.”

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