Recreation and Sports

We Take A Comprehensive At How Our Football Clubs Are Changing Towards Being Operated Like The Franchises Of The USA.

As the English football year has come to a finish it is now time to reflect on the position of the English game and where it can be improved. A lot of people have had their say on the way the game is operated and the way the ‘business of football’ is taking over from the where it ought to be; on the pitch.

Over the last decade there has been a big entry of investment into football clubs in England. A lot of this investment has been from overseas with good and bad consequences. The renowned ‘top 4’ as they were called (Tottenham have now broken into that place) are all now under foreign possession which leads us to suppose that the English game is getting further away from it’s roots and moving towards a more American structure of Franchises. What is meant by this, is that in the American sports structure the numerous sports teams across baseball, basketball, American football and ice hockey have a nonstop circulation of players, managers and owners. If you look at the line-up for one season it is wholly different for the next as there are vast amounts of money mixed up when trading players to these Franchises. Though this is not the scary element, many American Franchises have moved location in order to get more fans and revenue, our own illustration is Wimbledon FC who went from FA Cup winners and regular Division 1 entrants to moving their team to Milton Keynes. Will this become more common?

A lot of Franchises For Sale opportunities are available in America, whoever comes in makes significant changes and can even move the franchise to another area of the country if the terms are appropriate. I am not saying that this will happen in England but with the constant big money being spent at the top row of football, some or most of the smaller clubs in the lower leagues may have to look at the option of moving. Most of these teams are operated as a small businesses and cannot contend with the money that is now invested, many are operated like a Home Based Franchise, with the smallest outgoings and managing everything in-house.

We found this last year when an owner has not realised their responsibilities and promises the fans will revolt and try to move the owner on. An example is Newcastle United where the supporters were very unhappy with the performances on the pitch and consequently turned on the ownership. The owner did put the club up for sale but could not locate a buyer as the asking price was awfully exaggerated, they have made it back into the premiership and now the squads fortunes may change. We are now looking at every team in English football has a price, the same as all the Franchises For Sale choices in America. If the right person with enough money tendered the money for any club then it would be taken.

It now does not matter if the owner is foreign its just as long as they have the money. Is this right? The days have disappeared where you have a so called ‘Home Based Franchise’, where the club is operated as a family and everything is dealt with internally. The Franchises of America are operated in an open marketplace for everyone to see and that is the way we have gone. Is this helpful for the game in England or have we lost our family orientated game and moved to a more commercial, business game?