Posts Tagged ‘Soccer’

The NFL vs. EPL

Monday, January 27th, 2014

by Nwaji Jibunoh

Nwaji Blog

 

 

 

 

 

EPL vs NFL

 

A few years ago, I came across a CNN documentary that compared the National Football League and the English Premier League. Two football leagues but two totally different sports.  The critical issues they were comparing are the differences that teams in these top flight leagues have when it comes to financial troubles.

In light of the recent discussions surrounding Richard Sherman and the possibilities and potential of added sponsorships due to his newly discovered popularity and how best to manage and play this game in the media world, I decided to expatiate on this documentary and see how indeed players and clubs earn sustainable money in sports.

According to this documentary, NFL teams have several factors that save them from ever going into liquidation, and those two factors are a Salary Cap and a Salary Floor. This means that there is a minimum and maximum amount of money that any player can ever make in terms of wages on an annual basis, regardless of the talent of that athlete or what team that athlete plays for. For example, when you look at some of the annual salaries of NFL players (Richard Sherman for example), you might be somewhat surprised that as of 2012, it was $456,000.00. You would think it’s more considering the lifestyle that some of these individuals have and just overall perception of their earnings, but for a 3rd player coming out of the 5th round draft, that salary is quite consistent. Secondly, all the teams in the National Football League (NFL) receive equitable distribution of television revenue. This is partly because there is not a monopoly to every single game by one media conglomerate. Where you begin to see the difference in terms of franchise earnings is when it comes to game day and season ticket revenues, merchandising sales, and sponsorships. The structure of the NFL is so corporate that each player is graded like any employee you would find in the banking industry, and it cuts across all teams. These factors allow the league to properly regulate and structure their finances in such a way that they can never go into debt.

Now, on the other side of “The Pond” in the English Premier League, there is no salary cap or salary floor, meaning that any team depending on their financial buoyancy can pay as much or as little to any player as they please. According to Forbes Magazine, the top 5 earners in the English Premier League and their club salaries are:

1)     Robin Van Persie (Manchester United) – $19m

2)     Yaya Toure  (Manchester City)- $18.2

3)     Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) – $18.1m

4)     Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) – $17.4m

5)     Fernando Torres (Chelsea) – $17m

Ironically, in these same teams, you have players that earn $1M and less a year. Such disparities are quite ridiculous. So, what does this translate to? It basically means that players will naturally gravitate towards teams that can pay them the exorbitant amounts that they seek. This is why you have the same teams winning season in and season out, because they are the only teams with the cash flows backed by wealthy owners to pay these wages, hence attracting the best and the brightest from the world to the EPL and stripping off other leagues locally, continentally, and globally of adequately developing their own football teams.

Sky Sports, which is part of the media conglomerate BSB (British Sky Broadcasting, backed by 21st Century Fox), had exclusive live UK rights to the Premier League until the 2007/08 season when an EU Competition ruling forced the Premier League to share live TV matches among more than one broadcaster. That brought down their exclusivity dominance from 100 percent to 75%. They however, due to lack of proper regulation, do not equitably distribute the revenues generated from the advertisements during the games to all the teams in the Premiership. What they have been doing since the inception of their relationship with English football is allocating 60 percent of TV revenues to the likes of Manchester United (who have consistently raked in between 7-15% over the last 20 years), Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and recently Manchester City. The effect this has is that it has caused other minnow teams like Sunderland, Portsmouth, Hull, Blackburn, and Stoke to struggle significantly when it comes to these revenues, especially when players leave for bigger teams, for bigger wages.

The lack of an organized somewhat “socialist” structure in the Premier League ensures that we continually see a monopoly amongst those who retain the title (After all since 1996, only 4 different teams; Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal have been crowned champions of England), whereas in the NFL in that same span of time, 10 different teams (New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, St. Louis Rams, Green Bay Packers, and the Pittsburgh Steelers) have won the Super Bowl.

One may argue that the capitalist nature of America allows players to receive endorsements that are absolutely astronomical from different corporations, so they are not necessarily motivated by one particular club. Perfect example, Michael Jordan in his prime (The 1995-96 season) was one of the lowest paid first team salary earners in the NBA, but grossed $60 million annually in endorsements from Coca Cola, Nike, Hanes, Ball Park Hot Dogs, McDonald’s, Wheaties, Chevy Blazer, and Gatorade. Such endorsements can easily make any professional athlete forget their wages and simply focus on their love for the game. This can never be the case in the UK, because the salary wages to endorsement ratio is the complete opposite of the Michael Jordan example.

The question being asked is… “do you think the English Premier League needs to reconstitute the way they do business to avoid disasters that happened with the likes of certain clubs such as Leeds United, Newcastle United, and Portsmouth F.C, that had to file for bankruptcy?” Can the EPL learn from the NFL and avoid being at the whim of wealthy mercenary type owners who don’t understand football (I can’t bring myself to call it soccer, I just can’t) and who burden big teams with insurmountable debts? Can corporations in Europe begin to focus more on splurging out on more players in endorsement deals so that way the players can focus on their ability to market themselves to make that big money while having a team focus at the center of what they do when it comes to “the beautiful game”? After all, for a cup competition that boasts to be the biggest in the world, comprised of 25 leagues, with an average representation of 3 teams from each league, with a 22-man squad per team, bringing that total to 1,650 players, there are literally only 5 names that are recognized from a brand perspective when it comes to sponsorship and marketing on a global scale.

The fear with the soon to be passed “Financial Fair Play” policy which stipulates that all teams in Europe spend only what they earn will show that the English Premier League is the most expensive and lucrative sports league in the world, but at the same time, the most irresponsible when it comes to good corporate governance.

The National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), and the National Basketball Association (NBA) all learned the hard way in the late 80’s and early 90’s, where several teams went into administration simultaneously, that some entire seasons were suspended in order to rectify an impending problem. We have even seen recently some leagues having lock down seasons due to the inability to arrive at a consensus when it comes to equitable salaries.

Should the EPL wait for such to happen before they introduce Salary Caps, Salary Floors, and Equitable distribution of television revenue? Can’t teams focus on ticket, jersey, and merchandise revenues for significant incomes? At what point will leagues in Europe learn from the NFL to avoid their teams slipping into administration.

What better way can we educate young athletes on the intricacies of these payment structures before allowing super-agents to take advantage of them?

For those of us who love sports, spreading the word on these details with enough objectivity and accuracy is one of several ways.

 

Nwaji Jibunoh, International Correspondent for War Room Sports

Located in Lagos, Nigeria, Nwaji Jibunoh is War Room Sports’ International Soccer Contributor.  Nwaji also contributes commentary on U.S. sports from an international perspective.  He’s an Atlanta Falcons fan, Howard University alum, and former tight end for the North Atlanta High School Warriors.

Quick thoughts on the 2013 Champions League Final

Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013

by Veree Bampoe-Addo

 

Saturday will mark the first time two German Clubs are meeting in the Champions League Final.  Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund. These two clubs meeting in the CL final is in no way a fluke – let’s take a quick look at each of their paths:

Bayern for one finds itself in the title game for the third time in the past four seasons.  They came up short in 2010 vs. Inter Milan when Diego Milito managed to find the net twice in a fairly boring match.  Then just last year when it seemed they had the deal sealed vs. Chelsea with a Thomas Muller goal in the 83rd minute, Didier Drogba equalized 5 minutes later to force extra time and an eventual PK shoot out ending in a heartbreaker.  In this year’s tournament, Bayern defeated Arsenal, Juventus, and European League Super Power Barcelona in the knockout stages.  The aggregate of the two games with Barcelona was 7-0; it doesn’t get any more impressive than that.

Shifting gears to Dortmund – I’d be lying if I said I’ve seen more than a handful of their games, but if you’re able to top a group that includes 2012 Premier League Champ Manchester City and Spanish League Giant Real Madrid, chances are it’s your year.  Not only did they win their group that included RM, but when the two teams met in the Semi-Finals they advanced courtesy of a 4-3 aggregate (they smashed Madrid 4-1 in the first leg).

Now to my prediction:

Wembley Stadium will be rocking on Saturday night, let’s dub it the “German Takeover”.  Two Rival German clubs both with a rich history.  Bayern of course the more notable club of the two, considering the amount of success they’ve had in the German League (all-time leader with 23 titles) and are coming into this Champions League title game on a high as newly crowned German Champs, dethroning who else – Borussia Dortmund who had held the title for the previous two seasons.  I’m picking Bayern because they’re a lot more experienced and even though they’ve come up short in their last two tries; they’re accustomed to being in this spot.  From a talent standpoint, Bayern has the better roster top to bottom.  German National Team superstars Mario Gomez, Bastian Schweinstagger, Thomas Muller, and Phillip Lahm might be too much for Dortmund to handle.  These guys were part of the National Team that finished third in the last World Cup (2010).  Throw in French National star Franck Ribery and Dutch icon Arjen Robben and Dortmund may be overwhelmed.  We can’t overlook the fact that Dortmund has had Bayern’s number in recent years – Bayern hasn’t defeated Borussia Dortmund over the past 3 seasons (6 games total).  Hopefully all of this build up leads to a thriller of a CL Final like we saw last year.  Bayern Munich wins 3-1 to claim their first CL Title since 2001.

 

Veree Bampoe-Addo of The Sports Forum, for War Room Sports

FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY: THE BEAUTIFUL GAME AND CRIME (Part 1)

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013

by Nwaji Jibunoh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the 1978 World Cup Finals in Argentina, there was an absent figure that was highly regarded at the time as one of the greatest soccer players after Pele.  His name was Johan Cryuff; the man who invented and executed total football and showcased his skills on the grandest stage throughout the 70’s.  Cryuff had played for his country; The Netherlands in the previous tournament in 1974 and reached the final game losing to Germany.

Everyone was expecting this prolific player to return 4 years later and catapult La Orange (that’s the nickname for the Dutch national team) into super stardom.  At the last minute, their talisman pulled out of the tournament to the shock and awe of the world.  There were all sorts of speculation as to why he dropped out, but it wasn’t until 2008 when he finally spoke out indicating that he and his family had been the victims of an attempted kidnap plot.  He stated that experience and the demands from the assailants with regard to his profession had such a profound effect on him that he decided to exit the world stage of soccer to the disappoint of millions of fans, the expense of several marketing magnates, and a dent in the reputation of the beautiful game.

Criminal elements have always found their way into sports.  Johan Cryuff is one of the first examples of such a high profile case where an organized crime syndicate ultimately affected a decision made by a professional athlete creating the beginning of football scandals influenced by Organized Crime.

Yesterday, Europol in a very bizarre and interesting press conference stated that there are currently almost 700 games whose outcomes where determined as a result of Match Fixing.  Now, match fixing is not new to the World of Soccer.  After all, all you have to do is go back to Olympique Marseille in the French League in 1994 and AC Milan and Juventus from the Italian top flight in 2006 to see evidence of the influence of criminal elements in soccer and their very long reach.  But, this particular situation currently being investigated by Europol showcases a new depth to how bad this scandal has become.  We are talking about 680 games, 15 countries, 425 referees in a span of less than 3 years.  Absolute MADNESS!!!!

In as much as the details are not public right now as the investigations are ongoing, it does spur the question of the integrity of the sport.  For majority of individuals who aspire to be professionals in this sport, it will always be more than just a game.  It is first and foremost a way out of one’s current socioeconomic situation.  In developing countries, this is more apparent than anything else.  So for every young lad from a South American or African ghetto looking to one day make it big in world football, there are countless Europeans already enrolling in youth development programs honing their craft at a very early age.  So even before one can conceptualize it, the disparity already exists.  Some make it through the cracks, others won’t.  What this now creates is a recipe for match fixing.  How so?  Check it; the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, and Didier Drogba earn on average 200,000  Pounds Sterling per week ($320,000 USD).  These guys play for the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Drogba who left Chelsea in May 2012.  All these clubs are well funded with billionaire owners.  Now, these clubs will as a result of their schedules play the likes of Accrington Stanley, Real Zaragoza, Reading FC, and Debrecen.  These are clubs that you will probably never hear of on ESPN.  The average salary from these clubs that I have just mentioned is in the ball park of 1000-3000 Pounds Sterling per week ($1600 – $4800).  Any mafiaso, crime agent, etc can easily go to any member of the aforementioned teams as a result of such ridiculous earning disparities and say “I will give $20,000 in cash if you miss a few shots and another $40,000 if you allow Messi to breeze right by you”.  No matter your level of competitive spirit, honesty, and integrity, your morals will be questioned especially when you have responsibilities and even worse when you know the man they are asking you to NOT defend makes 40 times what you’re making.

The lack of having an effective salary cap and salary floor structure in FIFA regulated leagues along with a regimented punitive system to prevent overt betting is partly the cause of this problem, and as Europol begins to release the names of the clubs, players, games, referees, and countries involved in this fiasco, I am sure somebody may want to hire Olivia Pope to fix this Scandal.

 

Nwaji Jibunoh, International Correspondent for War Room Sports

Located in Lagos, Nigeria, Nwaji Jibunoh is War Room Sports’ International Soccer Contributor.  Nwaji also contributes commentary on U.S. sports from an international perspective.  He’s an Atlanta Falcons fan, Howard University alum, and former tight end for the North Atlanta High School Warriors.