sport and the law conference 2014 – keynote presentation

Paul Fletcher MBECEO University of Football Business

Why are you here today?

Raise Your Game

“You can get anything that you want in life – by helping other people get what they want.”

Every morning in Africa a Gazelle

wakes up. It knows it must run faster that day than the

fastest Lion or it will be killed.

The same morning a Lion

wakes up. It knows that it

must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve

to death.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle… when the sun comes up

The point of the story is this

you better be running!

The changing face of the football industry.

2009• £15million + additional games + positional

bonus + £15million parachute payment if relegated - c £60 million

2010• £16million + additional games + positional

bonus + £14million + £8million + £8million parachute payment if relegated - c £80 million

2014£120 million?

Bradford City – Valley Parade 1985

Hillsborough 1989

The changing face of the football industry.

New Stadiums

RIBA Building of the Year 1995McAlpine Stadium

BCI Building of the Year 1998The Reebok

Venue of the Year 2007

The New Stadium syndrome

League Positions End of 2007/2008 Season

Premiership Championship 1 Manchester Utd WBA

2 Chelsea Stoke (1998)3 Arsenal Hull 4 Liverpool Bristol City5 Everton Crystal Palace6 Aston Villa Watford7 Blackburn Wolves8 Portsmouth Ipswich9 Manchester City Sheffield United10 West Ham UnitedPlymouth11 Spurs Charlton12 Newcastle Cardiff13 Middlesbrough Burnley14 Wigan QPR15 Sunderland Preston16 Bolton Sheffield Wednesday17 Fulham Norwich18 Reading® Barnsley19 Birmingham Blackpool20 Derby® Southampton21 Coventry22 Leicester® 23 Scunthorpe®24 Colchester® (2008/9)

It generates more moneyCreates more excitement

Involves more people, in more countriesCuts across age; religion; gender; colour; creed;

social standing……… And it keeps more people fit

Than any other ball

Its a Football

Moneyba££

This is the most important ball in the World

• Turnover c £2billion

The Premiership

• Broadcast to over 220 countries• Watched by 600 + million people• 20 Teams – 500 players• Only 37% are British• Average wage: £30,000 pw/£1.5m pa

• Biggest sports business on the planet

• Financial fair play - 1st year of UEFA’s FFP regime - wait and see if any club falls-foul of the rules.

Legal Issue

• Fit & Proper person test –

• Safe Standing – standing is prohibited in England (not Scotland). Most grounds majority of spectators stand.

• Alcohol – prohibited in Scottish grounds; allowed in England except ‘in view of the pitch’.

Mahatma Ghandi and Nelson Mandela – FailIdi Amin and Robert Mugabe - Pass

Based on current test:

Rail Seating

£300,000 per week

XPro• 60% of Premiership Players (300) will go

bankrupt within 5 years of retirement.

PFA• Ridiculous! Only 10% / 20% - (100)

• 8 Premiership bankrupts still playing

• Paul Merson went broke having gambled an estimated £7m.

• 15 year football career

0 - 15 16 - 30 46 - 60 61 - 7531-45 75 – 90 ?

• 7 year average football career 2014

• One twelfth of life: One eighth of working life

<------Working Life---->

78% of NFL Players Go Bankrupt Within 5 Years of retirement.

1. Overspending (bling).

2. Career Duration (4.8 years)

3. Lack of finance knowledge

4. Family advisors

5. Too many children with too many partners

Between 1999 & 2002, 78 players lost a total of $42 million

Annual Salary for a Professional Premiership Player

17 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 51 53 55 57 59 61 63 65 67 69

$0.00

$200,000.00

$400,000.00

$600,000.00

$800,000.00

$1,000,000.00

$1,200,000.00

$1,400,000.00

$1,600,000.00

$1,800,000.00

Annual Salary for a Businessman

17 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 51 53 55 57 59 61 63 65 67 69

$0

$50,000

$100,000

$150,000

$200,000

$250,000

$300,000

$0

$200,000

$400,000

$600,000

$800,000

$1,000,000

$1,200,000

$1,400,000

$1,600,000

$1,800,000

Professional Player

Businessman

17 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 51 53 55 57 59 61 63 65 67 69

Annual Salary Comparison

A Puzzling Question?

What is a major factor that will ensure your future

success?

SkillSkill AttitudeAttitude

The Pyramid of SuccessK n o w l e d g eK n o w l e d g e

15%15%

85%85%

Attitude‘How do you respond when people ask ‘How are you?’

1.Not bad 4.Fair to middling

5. Bloody Awful

6. Mr Doom&Gloom

2.Surviving3.Fairly Avrge

New Attitude

‘Magnificent’

Good Luck!