TV SCHEDULE IS PUNISHING

The television schedule is extremely punishing on the clubs, while they also enjoy more power in football nowadays according to the manager of Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson. The 70-year-old has always been critical of the way television has dominated English football in recent years. Most of the traditional fixtures have been changed in order to accommodate TV company requirements. Ferguson has said that it almost cost them the title on numerous occasions, while his was also recalled that United almost exclusively lost the title in 2010 as a result of it.

Ferguson has said that United had to play European and Premier league matches in the space of a few days, which took a lot out of the players when it came to their energy levels. He has said that United are always at a disadvantage when it comes to the TV schedule because people demand watching the club on a regular basis. As a result, the television companies decide to alter the fixture list of United in such a way that they are on television more often than not. United are currently top of the table with a seven-point advantage, which means that the second half of the season will be focused on United as they look to win the 20th Premier league title.

“The year we lost the title to Chelsea we played in midweek in Europe and then played a lunchtime game against Chelsea on the Saturday, and they battered us. The biggest disadvantage [in the title race] will be television because the demand for United will never weaken. If they get us playing on Saturday lunchtime after European games it will be ridiculous. We have tried to stop it but TV control these things – they absolutely control it,” said the United manager, who has always been critical of TV power.

TV REVENUE FALLS

The TV revenue for one of the biggest clubs in the world has fallen in the first quarter of 2012. Manchester United are one of the biggest clubs in the world in terms of revenue and history. They compete with the likes of the Spanish club Real Madrid for top spot in the annual rich league. However, they will find it tough to compete with the Spanish club this time around due to the fall in earnings. The core earnings of the club as has dropped by 15% for the first quarter mainly due to the drop in the TV revenue.

Manchester United had a disappointing 2011-12 season, as they finished without any major trophy for the first time 2005. They also exited major European and domestic cup competitions at an early stage, which meant that their TV earnings have suffered quite substantially last season. The club also got a pretty disappointing result for the first quarter of this year, as they were able to play just one Champions League game during this period. They also received less money from TV based on the pooling system. The club’s total earnings for the first quarter look extremely decent due to the substantial increase in commercial revenue through various sponsorship deals.

“Manchester United had a record first quarter driven by our commercial operation, which continues to experience extremely strong global revenue growth in new media & mobile, retail merchandising & sponsorship,” said the executive vice-chairman of the club after announcing the first quarter results for the year 2012. The club was recently listed in the New York Stock Exchange, but has since fared poorly due to the concerns about the rising debts. Manchester United recently signed a major deal with the US car manufacturer Chevrolet worth more than £ 350 million for seven years.

MILNER RULED OUT

It has been reported in the last few days that the Manchester city midfielder James Milner could be set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after he has what appears to be a fractured toe. The medical staff at the club have expressed their concern that the midfielder will be unavailable for a lengthy period of time. The exact nature of the injury is yet to be revealed, but there are fears among the city staff that the player could be suffering from a metatarsal injury as well. James Milner has been one of the regular first-team players under the manager Roberto Mancini.

It was initially thought that James Milner would be part of the starting line-up against Real Madrid in the Champions League, but he failed to make it into the starting lineup in the last moment. He was not available for the match against Arsenal during the weekend as well. So far, he has played just two matches for the club. The matches against Liverpool and QPR have been some of the best for Manchester city this season, and it is now coincidence that James Milner was part of the starting line-up. Due to the absence of Samir Nasri as well, it is thought that the manager Roberto Mancini will face a selection headache for the next few matches.

“The medical staff at City are concerned that it’s either a fracture or metatarsal damage which could keep him out for a couple of months if he doesn’t get the all clear,” said one of the staff of the City medical team. Manchester city have had an indifferent start to the Premier league season. Even though they have managed to stay in touch with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United at the top of the table, they have conceded a lot of goals.

NO TV DISRUPTION

The officials from the majority of the Spanish clubs have confirmed that the 2012-13 La Liga season will not face any disruption this season and will be starting as planned. An emergency meeting has been held between the professional soccer league and the disgruntled clubs in order to discuss the TV rights problem. However, this is not expected to delay the start of the new Spanish league season as it happened in the previous season. The Spanish league has been often affected by strikes just before the start, and it appeared to be the case once again this time around as well.

However, a majority of the clubs have now confirmed that the league will start as planned. The disgruntled clubs, which amount 13 in number, has said that they are not happy with the way that the broadcasters Mediapro and Canal+ have handled the issue. Both these broadcasters have a lot of debts with the 13 clubs in the Spanish la Liga, which has started affecting the revenues and net income of the clubs. As a result, they want their future sorted out as soon as possible, but has said that the start of the new season will not be affected as a result of this protest.

“There will have to be a solution but it won’t be ready tomorrow. It was an extremely important step forward that the secretary of state is perfectly aware of the issues to be addressed. We fully agree that the way football is organised in Germany would be an ideal formula to apply in Spain, both in the equitable distribution of (cash from) audiovisual rights and treating the fans with maximum respect,” said the president of Real Betis, Miguel Guillen in a recent interview ahead of the start of the new season.