Does "billionaire owner splashing €££€£$" devalue football?

[ZacNaloen]

By spending over the odds, they push all the other prices up. It's irresponsible and yes, it devalues the league.

The bubble has to burst at some point, right?

[Red]

Yeh there's too much money in football, and yeh it's spoiling the game.

It's nothing new, applies to other sports too, and can't see it ever changing.

[Barry the bird boggler]

FAS - Fans Against Sky
FABUIMC - Fans Against Billionaires (Unless It's My Club)

[cmonurz]

Yes, it has utterly ruined English football.

[Super_horns]

Where would Chelsea and Man City be without the millions thrown at them..mid-table at best?

So I tend to agree the money spent gives an artificial look to the league.

[Red]

What we need are salary caps but that'll never happen either.

[cmonurz]

I’ve gone on before about how much I like the US model of team salary caps, as well as the college draft, but it only works due to the franchise model of US sport. Shame, it would be interesting watching the likes of say City blowing their budget on 4 or 5 star players and fielding them with youth teamers, coming up against say Villa who instead built a team of cheaper players of more consistent ability.

I guess a ‘draft’ wouldn’t work so well, as the best young players out of football academies won’t have the same impact on a lesser side (who get the top picks) as a superstar like LeBron joining the NBA from college.

[who are ya?]

Now Liverpool are having their kits made by Warrior, maybe we can see a gr8 big American push for change

[Red]

I’ve gone on before about how much I like the US model of team salary caps, as well as the college draft, but it only works due to the franchise model of US sport.

Agree with you re the first point, why does it only work with a franchise model?

[Bandini]

I thought that the point was really that salary caps can't work where you have a sport which is played professionally to a similar standard in so many countries.

[Red]

Yeh that figures. Even FIFA legislation wouldn't work as someone would just set up a breakaway league.

[postwhisperer]

no I don't have a problem with it. it's not about how much money they are a spending for me. no one was complaining about the millionaires bankrolling teams in the 80s and 90s... but since those teams that bought their history with their money are now losing out they are upset and so are their plastic fanbases. they thought they would be supporting a team that would always be the best.

[PlasticRoyale]

no I don't have a problem with it. it's not about how much money they are a spending for me. no one was complaining about the millionaires bankrolling teams in the 80s and 90s... but since those teams that bought their history with their money are now losing out they are upset and so are their plastic fanbases. they thought they would be supporting a team that would always be the best.

Which teams bought their history in the 80s?

Liverpool did spend more than other teams in the 80's

[soggy biscuit]

everyone 'buys' success to a degree, the ones at the top of the tree just do it more obviously. Reading are higher in the league than Rochdale because we spend more than them, do we devalue football?

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

I’ve gone on before about how much I like the US model of team salary caps, as well as the college draft, but it only works due to the franchise model of US sport.

Agree with you re the first point, why does it only work with a franchise model?

You can't really have relegation with a salary cap, or the whole idea of "cream rising to the top" gets lost in a world where a big club has an equal chance of going down as Wigan.

You also need somewhere to draft players from. Who'd bother running an academy if they couldn't keep the players they produced?

You also need a closed league with no other competition, so a promising player can't just turn around and say "join Wigan? Bugger that. I want to play for Liverpool"


You could set a salary cap to be at a level that allows more - if not necessarily all - clubs to compete though. Would the top clubs, their fans (both here and worldwide) accept a drop in standard being a worthwhile trade-off though? I'd guess no, as they typically don't even believe there's anything wrong.

[manny96]

Got to say yes. Although American sports are ridiculously commercialised there's a refreshing sort of egalitarianism about the way they are financed. It's not just that the prize goes to the highest bidder. Not quite anyway.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Got to say yes. Although American sports are ridiculously commercialised there's a refreshing sort of egalitarianism about the way they are financed. It's not just that the prize goes to the highest bidder. Not quite anyway.

On the other hand, all but the biggest cities are locked out forever.

If they formed a franchised league here, Reading would not get a sniff, ever. It'd all but kill off other football.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Well it looks like my words may be put thoroughly in perspective.
I hope this club doesn't lose it's soul like the others.

a quick google brought up info about a previous attempt by the family to buy into Everton, and the quote was that they wanted to run it as a business rather than an ego trip.

[manny96]

Got to say yes. Although American sports are ridiculously commercialised there's a refreshing sort of egalitarianism about the way they are financed. It's not just that the prize goes to the highest bidder. Not quite anyway.

On the other hand, all but the biggest cities are locked out forever.

If they formed a franchised league here, Reading would not get a sniff, ever. It'd all but kill off other football.

Sure, I wouldn't advocate a franchise at all. Just slightly refreshing that in the NFL for example, there's a good chance the team that won last year won't win again this year and it's not so simple to just 'buy' silverware

[Red]

Well it looks like my words may be put thoroughly in perspective.
I hope this club doesn't lose it's soul like the others.

The club lost it's (sic) soul when we moved to the Mad Stad to my eyes.