[Albion] Email Update from Paul Barber

[Herr Tubthumper]

Here’s a brief round up of fans returning, or not, around Europe.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...nd-where-they-are-barred-europe-major-leagues

 

[raymondo]

I certainly agree with the principal. But the BILLIONS the PL draws in from broadcasting rights from here and all over the world dictates that the stars of this massively successful "product" will receive an extremely large chunk of it.

Tom Cruise earned about $75m for Mission Impossible: Fallout. It was a worldwide box office smash. Now you may or may not think he was worth that kind of wedge from that particular movie, but thats what his worldwide pulling power brought in for Paramount Studios, hence his sizeable reward. You don't see anyone saying that he should share a chunk of that with the cast of Emmerdale and Mrs Brown's Boys, do you.

Very true (and funny!) but possibly we can have Mission Impossible without the existence of Mrs Brown's Boys (oh, please!) more easily than having a premier league without the existence of lower leagues and grass roots

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Wonder how long it'll be before Sky start turning the screw and start negotiating their payments downwards

 

[amexer]

No sympathy for PL clubs including Albion.. Barber made public because of no matchday income etc they were negotiating with players about wages. If nothing has happened I think it is a disgrace by players to expect same money when employers are losing £1m per game. Albion have spent £50/60m on players each season in PL. Understandably this wont happen this season so sure we can live on £1




Not long ago Barber made a statement that because no matchday income etc they were negotiating with players about wages. If players havent agreed to this knowing there employers no longer have £1m a game match income it is a disgrace. Albion have spent £50/60m each season in PL and understandably this wont happen this season.so here is our saving. We will just have to live on £100m tv income unless somebody tells me that is no longer there.
Where my sympathy lies is with lower league clubs where 90% of there income is gate money.




1

 

[Bold Seagull]

No sympathy for PL clubs including Albion.. Barber made public because of no matchday income etc they were negotiating with players about wages. If nothing has happened I think it is a disgrace by players to expect same money when employers are losing £1m per game. Albion have spent £50/60m on players each season in PL. Understandably this wont happen this season so sure we can live on £1




Not long ago Barber made a statement that because no matchday income etc they were negotiating with players about wages. If players havent agreed to this knowing there employers no longer have £1m a game match income it is a disgrace. Albion have spent £50/60m each season in PL and understandably this wont happen this season.so here is our saving. We will just have to live on £100m tv income unless somebody tells me that is no longer there.
Where my sympathy lies is with lower league clubs where 90% of there income is gate money.




1

How do you know what the players have or haven’t accepted?

How does a player, let’s say Maupay as an example accept a pay cut, then we sign a new striker on better terms? I think I would be a bit WTF??

What about all the TV pundits, Sky, BT, Amazon executives - they all taking a paycut too? Why is a player taking a cut to say a £1.5m salary when a Sky top bod isn’t? Why do we think it’s only players? Karen Brady at West Ham is supposedly on close to £1.5m - she recently got a bloody raise!

 

[studio150]

Achieving the word count for the dissertation at uni wouldn’t have been a problem for our Paul

Asked for a 5,000 word dissertation and submits 20,000 word dissertation would be a problem.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

This is the concern.

We may have no cash from Tony this summer to top up our income so have just our club income in the coffers.

Season ticket debits have stopped after 50% of the cost has been paid. Albion lose £1 million for every game that is played behind closed doors.

If the games are played behind closed doors on schedule there should be no TV money rebate this year but last year's refunds to sky, bt and overseas tv still has to be paid.


There should still be some money available but no £28million-for-Watkins type fees will be paid. Selling, for example, a player like Bernardo for a few million could really help.

This has to be a real concern shirley. While we're all rolling large chunks of our ST money forward, it figures that there must be progressively less fresh funds coming into that revenue stream. Worrying times for the club

 

[vagabond]

How do you know what the players have or haven’t accepted?

How does a player, let’s say Maupay as an example accept a pay cut, then we sign a new striker on better terms? I think I would be a bit WTF??

What about all the TV pundits, Sky, BT, Amazon executives - they all taking a paycut too? Why is a player taking a cut to say a £1.5m salary when a Sky top bod isn’t? Why do we think it’s only players? Karen Brady at West Ham is supposedly on close to £1.5m - she recently got a bloody raise!

Very good points.

It’s not as straight forward as “lols the player get paid too much anyway they should take a pay cut”.

Their pay is also very heavily taxed which no doubt helps the system.

And to further muddy the waters a lot of Premier League players, whilst undoubtedly are paid very handsomely, are typically supporting their larger extended families as well.

It’s a very complicated issue, and it needs a solution from all in the football industry.

 

[amexer]

How do you know what the players have or haven’t accepted?

How does a player, let’s say Maupay as an example accept a pay cut, then we sign a new striker on better terms? I think I would be a bit WTF??

What about all the TV pundits, Sky, BT, Amazon executives - they all taking a paycut too? Why is a player taking a cut to say a £1.5m salary when a Sky top bod isn’t? Why do we think it’s only players? Karen Brady at West Ham is supposedly on close to £1.5m - she recently got a bloody raise!

I dont know. However Barber made a public statement he was negotiating with players and made another one a month later saying was still negotiating so would assume he would make another one when and if this was done. Sorry but I think when your employer no longer has has £1m income per game you should do decent thing and help out. I know many well paid peaple in the 70/100k pa range that have agreed substantial reductions until there employers income streams return to pre covid levels

 

[Eddiespearritt]

This topic does make me laugh. I'll find it one day - the piece from the Premier League a year or two ago, and backed up by Barber, crowing about how insignificant the matchday income is these days compared to the riches of broadcast income. The underlying suggestion was, we don't actually need you fans/customers at all - you're a bit of a nuisance with your flasks and bottle tops, so we'll be happy just taking the broadcasters shilling.

Well that vision of the future is here - and the reality is - whether they believe it or not, clubs now have to keep saying "football is nothing without the fans". Well who knew ?
Spectator sports without spectators attending are pretty dull. Piped atmosphere and cardboard cutouts don't always really work.

This should be the time to properly evaluate the future - and look at creative ways to balance the football pyramid for the long term. It'll never happen of course and we'll get plenty more bleating about the dreadful plight of £100,000 a week footballers, as the smaller clubs quietly go to the wall.

 

[DJ NOBO]

More thinking to be done by the higher paid players maybe?

If there’s an expectation for sth’s to keep paying contributions for games they are not going to, and if clubs are struggling , then players should absolutely take a temporary wage cut

 

[Braggfan]

I think its been pointed out on here before that players wages are the biggest factor in finances of football clubs. The club make an enormous amount of money through being part of the Premier League, and most of this is spent on wages. All premier league clubs are the same. Everton who have been in the top flight every year since the 50’s, rake in premier league money every season, and just a couple of years ago we saying they were £20 million in debt. Where does all that money go? Player wages.

The question shouldn’t be when can we get fans back in the stadium, but can we reduce or find alternate payment methods to players. I’m sure the argument will surface, why should the players be the ones held responsible. Simple answer, because they put the biggest financial burden on clubs.

Why is it socially more acceptable to ask fans to risk their safety to help clubs financially, than ask players to take a wage cut?

 

[Easy 10]

Back-of-a-fag packet time again. There should be a wage cap as a %, directly linked to each clubs turnover, across the board. No club should be able to spend any more than, I'd say, 65% of its overall annual turnover on players salaries. That should be the target. Over time this would help stop clubs from racking up huge losses, and enable more money to be distributed within the game, instead of directly into players and agents pockets. This wouldn't have to happen overnight, it could be phased in over several seasons to give clubs time to adjust their budgets on when they pay to each member of their 23-man squad.

Clubs would probably find a way around it, paying extra for bonuses and image rights or whatever, but it'd be a start.

 

[Weststander]

It’s amazing to think they are getting a rebate when they now have access to televising nearly double the amount of games.

Sky claimed, probably justifiably, that they lost huge advertising revenues with no football over the Lockdown months.

That earned during the condensed Restart, could never make up for a far longer period.

Overall though, a relative result for the PL, who would’ve had to have repaid Sky/BT £700m if the season had been null and voided. Instead, £170m.

 

[Pondicherry]

How do you know what the players have or haven’t accepted?

How does a player, let’s say Maupay as an example accept a pay cut, then we sign a new striker on better terms? I think I would be a bit WTF??

What about all the TV pundits, Sky, BT, Amazon executives - they all taking a paycut too? Why is a player taking a cut to say a £1.5m salary when a Sky top bod isn’t? Why do we think it’s only players? Karen Brady at West Ham is supposedly on close to £1.5m - she recently got a bloody raise!

The point is though that Paul Barber (and football collectively as a whole) is saying that finances are tight or impossible. However, there is plenty of money in football. It's the way it is distributed that causes problems. This is a problem that the 'football family' needs to address and they have made little or no effort to do this as far as I can see.
Most fans will have financial issues at the moment and don't have the luxury of redistributing their income so those issues go away.
I am not saying that redistributing football income is easy (or that it will happen) but Mr Barber needs to be looking closer to home before writing to fans saying the club is hard up.

 

[BBassic]

All the while clubs are going bankrupt for sums that Gareth Bale "earns" in two weeks I'll not be listening to how tough it is for Premier League football clubs. Ours, or others.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

The general tone seems to have changed noticeably. Less talk of 'customers', far more talk of 'fans'. Winter is coming...

 

[amexee]

Christ. Imagine getting stuck at the bar next to him. Bigging himself up, whinging about the govt and then toeing the line in a weaselly manner. All in 20 minutes. ffs

 

[raymondo]

Back-of-a-fag packet time again. There should be a wage cap as a %, directly linked to each clubs turnover, across the board. No club should be able to spend any more than, I'd say, 65% of its overall annual turnover on players salaries. That should be the target. Over time this would help stop clubs from racking up huge losses, and enable more money to be distributed within the game, instead of directly into players and agents pockets. This wouldn't have to happen overnight, it could be phased in over several seasons to give clubs time to adjust their budgets on when they pay to each member of their 23-man squad.

Clubs would probably find a way around it, paying extra for bonuses and image rights or whatever, but it'd be a start.

Yes, please

 

[raymondo]

I dont know. However Barber made a public statement he was negotiating with players and made another one a month later saying was still negotiating so would assume he would make another one when and if this was done. Sorry but I think when your employer no longer has has £1m income per game you should do decent thing and help out. I know many well paid peaple in the 70/100k pa range that have agreed substantial reductions until there employers income streams return to pre covid levels

I believe the players made voluntary contributions to a charity to help locally in Sussex...? Maybe someone knows the details...