On The Front Foot Issue 10

ON THE FRONT FOOT JUNE 2020 ISSUE TEN

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F1 LOOKS TO RESTART THEIR ENGINES HAAS F1 TEAM MANAGER PETER CROLLA REVS UP FOR SEASON AHEAD

PREMIER LEAGUE LOOKS AT OPTIONS FOR EMPTY STADIUM GAMES

BEHIND THE SCENES AS A CLUB OWNER WITH LAFC’S TOM PENN

L E A D I N G T H E WAY I N E D U C AT I N G P R O F E S S I O N A L AT H L E T E S

#PSNatHome LIVE WEBINARS EVERY THURSDAY 2pm BST (9am EST)

Connecting professionals across the sports industry WEEK 4: Managing Partnerships During A Pandemic

Ali Russell Chief Marketing Officer Extreme-E

Matt Riches Head of Partnerships Lucozade Ribena Suntory

Rory Anderson CEO 12BET

WEEK 6: Effective Communication Between Athletes & Staff

Becky Bonner Director of Player Development & Basketball Operations Orlando Magic

Chris Adamson Head of Academy Education & Player Care Everton FC

COMING SOON

Mitch Heath Chief Operating Officer & CoFounder Teamworks

WEEK 5: Protecting the Image of Sport

Adrian Bevington Former FA Executive & Football Consultant

WEEK 7: Managing the Logistics of Team Travel

Shelley Matthews VP, Sales & Client Services Europe CTM

Pablo Comino Travel Manager Real Madrid

Opportunities for Player Development Creating New Revenue Streams Private Round-Table Discussions P A R T N E R S

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Julian Evans Head of Healthcare Knight Frank

Gianluca Gombar Team Manager A.S Roma

Stay c PSN onnecte d o follo n LinkedI with wing n by P Spor ts Ne remier twor k

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LI FE SK ILL S

N E X T G E N E R AT I O N

When it comes to supporting athletes while they are at home, there’s no better time to focus on personal development.

With this in mind, we have teamed up with industry leaders to host a series of webinars designed to engage athletes PART 1 & PART 2

KEY TOPICS COVERED: Increasing athletes understanding of the property industry Sales & Pitching Creative & Marketing Explore Dual Career Opportunities B RO U G H T TO YO U BY

F U T U R E

W E B I N A R S

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CONTENTS

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Welcome to June’s edition of PSN’s On The Front Foot magazine

Publisher Premier Sports Network Design ShandMedia To send feedback or articles for publication contact Premier Sports Network at: enquiries@ premiersportsnetwork.com To enquire about advertising contact jordan@premiersports.agency On The Front Foot is published by the Premier Sports Network copyright ©2020. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced without permission.

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Live sporting events are slowly returning as countries across the world continue to fight the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. In May, the German Bundesliga captured the attention of football fans from around the globe as it became the first major football league to return to action after nearly three months. Following the success of the Bundesliga’s return, the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga and Italian Serie A have all voted to resume their seasons in the coming weeks, after continuous negotiations regarding the safety of players and staff.

All eyes will be on European football this month as other sporting organisations become eager to launch their respective competitions.

This edition of On The Front Foot features the efforts that clubs, leagues and governing bodies are going to in preparation for life after Covid-19.

Social and digital platforms have played an important role in the absence of live sport and has been a massive area of growth for every business, helping to improve communication with their members and build stronger relationships.

As with other industries, sport still has a long way to go in the wake of the financial impact caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, but by being creative and continuing to work together, the industry will return stronger and more united than ever before.

Spencer Hidge, Director, Premier Sports Network

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Inside this issue...

PLUS

Formula 1 in times of lockdown

La Liga boost Chinese commercial strategy with Joint venture

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PAGE 10

Behind the scenes as a club owner PAGE 22

Covid-19 pandemic leaves academy players in limbo PAGE 34

Premier League looks at options for empty stadiums PAGE 20

Will women’s sport recover momentum after covid-19 PAGE 26

CVC and Italy’s Serie A in exclusive talks PAGE 42

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06 FORMULA 1

“I can see this being one of the biggest challenges we have faced in the modern era of the sport as we are aiming to complete almost a full season of racing in twothirds of the normal time.”

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FORMULA 1 IN TIMES OF LOCKDOWN The Formula 1 season was due to get underway in Australia’s Albert Park Circuit in March, but the race was called off two hours before the first practice session. As per the latest statements from the FIA (the sport’s governing body), the season has been postponed until July, with Formula 1 planning to start the championship with consecutive races at the Red Bull Ring in Austria on 5 and 12 July.

Several manufacturers have expressed concerns regarding the spread of Covid-19 and the safety of their staff and drivers at the racetracks. The FIA has tried to bring about certain changes in order to get the season up and running as soon as possible, including a shift in the annual summer break from August to March and April.

The FIA has also asked all contending teams to mutually decide a threeweek period beyond the usual dates of the championship, to make room for postponed races.

We caught up with Team Manager of Haas F1, Peter Crolla, to discuss preparing for the championship remotely, the impact of a condensed season, logistical challenges and how the pandemic might change the landscape of Formula 1.

Haas has a unique challenge of managing staff across three different countries – the UK, Italy and the USA – with each having a very different approach to dealing with the coronavirus. How is the team working to overcome these challenges and prepare for the restart of the season remotely and under different circumstances?

I think the important point for any business right now is to maintain frequent communication with their staff and ensure they are kept informed on matters concerning them. Nobody wants to hear what their employer is doing by reading about it in the press and with the lack of positive news stories, I think even the smallest thing is picked-up in industry-specific and general media. This can be anything from the furloughing of staff, to race calendars and budget caps, so we try to stay ahead of the curve and get any updates out to the relevant ISSUE TEN ★ JUNE 2020

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FORMULA 1

heads of departments in the first instance and they can then communicate the relevant information to their staff. Even though we operate across three sites, three time zones and two continents, I think we are quite good at achieving this. Each of the three locations has its own management structure, being led primarily by our team principal, Guenther Steiner. When we are away from the track, he tends to be based in either the USA or Italy, but I don’t feel this holds us back at all, he’s always contactable and happy to talk about any prevalent matters.

While each country is going through the pandemic at different stages and rates, and dealing with it differently, the core aim of the business remains constant, that is to go racing. F1 has also managed itself very well by bringing forward the mandatory summer shutdown to start just after we returned from the Australian GP and running until the end of May (this would normally span over two weeks in August). This has ensured that teams minimise their costs at a time where it is essential to do so in order to preserve the long-term sustainability of the business.

The shutdown has also ensured there are no development races during this time, so it is levelled the competition to that extent.

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What impact will completing a condensed season and having backto-back races have on the team and can this be seen as an opportunity to do a better job than some of the larger teams?

I think it is possible that the condensed season could level performance in some ways. It will make it harder for some of the teams to carry-out their

element of teams, with trackside staff experiencing big changes to their normal mode of operation. This will include pre-event testing, on-event testing, social distancing and PPE requirements during events, and the now publicised quarantine on UK teams returning home.

This in-turn, will put greater pressure on some teams if race team personnel have to isolate at home and aren’t available

“The commercial rights holder (F1) and the FIA have done a great job since the start of the crisis to ensure that teams are kept well-informed at every stage.

In-turn, the teams have all really pulled-together to help those organisations achieve a return to racing at the earliest, safest time.” development programmes as they would on a conventional schedule as there will not be the time to manufacture, test and validate ideas in the normal timescale. I am sure the breaks between multipleheader races are going to be short to it’ll certainly be interesting to see how teams’ approach this. The condensed season will also be a challenge on the human

to service the cars between races, but this will be dependent on how long these measures are in place for. Certainly, for the first part of the season where we’ll be operating behind closed doors and with reduced staff numbers, this will only increase the pressure and workload on trackside staff.

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With Formula 1 being such a global sport, there will be even more logistical challenges that you will have to overcome – How are you and the team preparing for this?

I can see this being one of the biggest challenges we have faced in the modern era of the sport as we are aiming to complete almost a full season of racing in two-thirds of the normal time. A regular F1 season takes its toll on every part of a team – the mechanics, engineers, and drivers, but also the cars and equipment so we’ll need to be on top of our game from start to finish to ensure every moving part of that team is ready for action, and in quick succession from one race to the next. With operations resuming after the mandated shutdown this coming week, we will be looking at the latest evolution of the calendar and reviewing operations both internally, with all the relevant departments, and also externally, with our contractors and service providers.

This will ensure everyone is aware of the challenges we face and highlight any areas where we need to make any ‘out-ofscope’ arrangements.

I am sure we will see some cost increases with the races being run in quick succession as we’ll have only 2-3 days to pack-up, move between venues

and then be set-up and ready to go again.

This requires more truck drivers for the European races, more freight charters for the flyaways, etc. We will also see an increase in the utilisation of charter flights for both freight and team members due to the lack of commercial options until we see airlines resuming their normal operations.

What additional support is there is place for the drivers and team staff and how has Formula 1 management helped its members during these difficult situations?

The commercial rights holder (F1) and the FIA have done a great job since the start of the crisis to ensure that teams are kept well-informed at every stage. In-turn, the teams have all really pulled-together to help those organisations achieve a return to racing at the earliest, safest time. We have team members participating in various working groups (strategy, sporting, technical and power-unit) which have all seen an increased schedule during the crisis to ensure we work through short, medium, and long-term matters. Bringing-forward and extending the mandatory shutdown period was an absolute lifeline for the sport as it ensured we ran at an absolute minimum cost while we were not able to consider restarting the calendar. During this period,

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the sport and each team has gone to unprecedented lengths to preserve jobs and maintain the viability of sport. These measures have ranged from staff furloughs to agreeing on a raft of rule changes which would’ve been unimaginable only a few months ago, but the industry has done what it does best and we’ve responded to the fast-moving and changeable nature of the crisis to overcome the challenge.

How do you see formula 1 changing after this pandemic?

I think the biggest change we will see by far is the reduction in costs. The sport had identified this need before the pandemic and were working on various rule changes to control costs but we’ve now delayed the revised technical regulations and put some extraordinary measures in-place to see us through the 2020 and 2021 seasons. This will promote the longer-term sustainability of the industry. As a result of cost controls, we might also see some new teams entering the championship once the shift in business models is further shown to be successful. To a lesser extent, I think we’ll see a shift in some of our working practices as we’ve increased our remote working abilities with greater reliance on technology to communicate and work as groups, all whilst being spread across the globe.

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SPONSORSHIP

LA LIGA BOOSTS CHINESE COMMERCIAL STRATEGY WITH JOINT VENTURE Spain’s La Liga is stepping up efforts to challenge the English Premier League on the international stage with a joint venture in China with Mediapro and Super Sports Media aimed at accelerating promotion and activation capabilities in the country and surrounding areas.

Mediapro is a Spanish media company backed by Chinese private equity group Orient Hontai Capital Management, while Super Sports is a subsidiary of DDMC, one of China’s biggest sports and entertainment groups.

As part of the 15-year agreement, La Liga holds a 49 per cent stake in the venture, which will have exclusive rights to sell sponsorship deals for the league in China, with its two partners holding the majority stake.

The new company – The Spanish Football Commercial & Marketing Company (SFCM) – will be responsible for sourcing new business to build profile a fan base through sponsorship deals across the territories of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, working with La Liga’s China office.

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saturated domestic markets and footballobsessed fans in Asia are the prime target audience.

According to Deloitte, the clubs in Spain’s top division, including global forces such as Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, made $3 billion in revenues during the 2017/18 campaign. This figure pales in comparison to English Premier League, the world’s most watched and valuable domestic league, with a turnover of $5.4 billion in the same period.

However, La Liga sponsorship revenues from China have more than trebled over the past three seasons with deals having been made with a number of companies in the region, including Dongfeng, the automobile manufacturer and Chinese start-up LD Sports. Through the joint venture, the leagues goal is to accelerate growth to €30 million over the next five years.

Oscar Mayo, director of business, marketing and international development at Liga, explained that the overall goal is to partner with Chinese companies to build the league’s brand in the territory

and increase the value of lucrative broadcast rights over time.

Last year, DDMC, which already holds the exclusive rights to screen Spanish league matches in China, agreed to extend its existing contract and pay €100 million a season to broadcast La Liga until 2025.

Not surprisingly, the coronavirus pandemic complicated negotiations over the joint venture.

Javier Tebas, Chief Executive of La Lifa, has said that he expects Spain’s top clubs to lose at least €150 million due to the crisis. Those losses will rise to €300 million if this season’s matches are played in empty stadiums, with gate receipts being sacrificed to satisfy more valuable broadcasting contracts. However, should the season not be completed, the financial hit could reach €1 billion.

The establishment of a joint venture in China is similar to La Liga’s approach in North America, where it formed a partnership with Relevant Sports, a football production company backed by billionaire Stephen Ross, in 2018.

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SPONSORSHIP

EVERTON AGREES CLUBRECORD KIT DEAL WITH HUMMEL

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verton Football Club have agreed a threeyear kit deal with Danish sportswear brand Hummel, which will net the club almost double the income of its existing deal with Umbro.

The agreement reportedly worth as much as £10 million per season, which will earn the Merseyside club around £30 million across the three-season contract from 2020/21 to 2022/23.

The side believe it’s better to play a bigger role in a smaller brand’s portfolio than getting lost among the array of club designs often standardised across leagues and clubs.

Everton only renewed their deal with Umbro in March 2019, having first partnered with the Iconix Brand Group-owned company ahead of the 2014/15 season, but have now opted against a further extension. The Toffees are also ending their sponsorship agreement with Kenyan betting firm SportPesa two years early in the hope of finding something more lucrative.

Hummel have also added Northampton Town to their growing portfolio of football clubs, which already includes Middlesbrough, Charlton Athletic, Southend United, Coventry City and the Danish national team.

UNDER ARMOUR DELAYS ATHLETE PAYMENTS AS Q1 REVENUE TAKES HIT

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altimore-based sportswear brand Under Armour is renegotiating contracts with some of its athlete endorsers in an attempt to offset some of the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The US sportswear manufacturer reported a 23 per cent drop in sales for the first quarter of 2020 to $930 million and a net loss of $590 million, while warning that its secondquarter revenue could fall by as much as 50 to 60 per cent if its stores remain closed.

Under Armour has confirmed that during the company’s first-quarter earnings call, it reached agreements to defer payments to some of its athletes to help them cope with the loss of sales.

It is not known which athlete contracts had been renegotiated, but the brand holds partnerships with some of the biggest names in sport, such as Steph Curry, Anthony Joshua and Tom Brady.

Major sportswear brands have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, with German manufacturers Adidas and Puma seeing their first quarter net profits fall 97 per cent and 61 per cent respectively.

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Naming rights for MercedesBenz Superdome to become available from 2021 New Orleans Saints are seeking a new naming rights partner for their Superdome from 2021 as MercedesBenz declines to renew their partnership.

New Orleans Saints’ Superdome has become one of the most iconic names within the NFL, but the 74,000-capacity stadium will be seeking a new rights partner from 2021 onwards. MercedesBenz have held the Superdome’s naming rights since 2011, becoming the first and only naming rights partner since its opening in 1975.The ten-year rights deal with Mercedes-Benz was reportedly worth ‘between $50 million and $60 million’, according to Forbes.

While much of the sporting world remains closed during the ongoing pandemic, many brands are likely to be willing to commit to such an investment due to the unique opportunity it brings, as the Superdome has become a proven way to connect with an engaged and passionate audience.

The naming rights position will provide a company with the unique opportunity to align with two well respected brands for the price of one, with the Superdome receiving some of the highest fan sentiment scores, whilst bringing in more media attention than almost any other stadium in the US. According to

stats from Meltwater, NFL stadiums receive an average of 29,270 media mentions per season.

The Superdome receives an average of 40,064 mentions (27% higher). Fan sentiment for the Superdome is also well above average, with 78% being positive (51% higher than the NFL average).

Mercedes-Benz have opted not to renew their naming rights partnership with the Superdome, as they look to move their focus onto the Mercedes-Benz Arena, home to NFC South rival Atlanta Falcons and MLS outfit Atlanta United.

The naming right won’t be the only change to the Superdome in the coming years, as the building is scheduled to receive over US$450 million worth of renovations within the next five-year period.

While the Superdome is best known for hosting the New Orleans Saints, it has also served as the home for a number of college football bowl games and National Championships. It also served as the venue for Muhammad Ali’s heavyweight title in 1978, as well as the location for when Michael Jordan famously announced his presence to the basketball world as a freshman at North Carolina.

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SPONSORSHIP

“I was born and brought up only at a couple of miles from the stadium and I am really happy to have the opportunity to give back to the club that gave me my first professional start.”

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HARRY KANE DONATES LEYTON ORIENT SHIRT SPONSORSHIPS TO GOOD CAUSES

Harry Kane’s incredible gesture highlights the generosity of professional athletes, but does it also shine a light on the inequality in modern football?

England captain Harry Kane has taken the front-of-shirt sponsorship for his former club Leyton Orient, in a deal that will see Kane hold the sponsorship rights to all three of the League Two side’s kits.

Kane has donated the sponsorship to three causes, with the home shirt displaying a thank you message to “frontline heroes” for their work during the coronavirus pandemic, the away shirt featuring Haven House children’s hospice’s logo and the third kit donated to the mental health charity Mind. Leyton Orient have also announced they will give 10% of all shirt sales to Kane’s nominated charities.

Kane, who scored five goals in 18 games for Orient, said: “I was born and brought up only at a couple of miles from the stadium and I am really happy to have the opportunity to give back to the club that gave me my first professional start”.

Leyton Orient chief executive, Danny Macklin, said: “We wanted to say thank you for the exceptional hard work and dedication of the frontline heroes and also bring attention to the

other charities who have all suffering financial loss due to the pandemic”. Adding, “Thank you, Harry, for your amazing support and generosity – you are a true role model for the modern game.”

This is an incredible gesture from Kane, yet it is difficult to shake the feeling that this arrangement exposes some of the fundamental flaws of modern football in England. How have we come to find ourselves relying on the generosity of a Premier League superstar to keep a fourth-tier club from disappearing under the current tidal wave of economic uncertainty?

The England captain is doing what he can to help a small club that is a central part of the community in which he grew up. Simultaneously, he is paying homage to the heroic work of health and care professionals and two charities that, despite all the difficulties, have continued to do amazing things during the most profound period of social upheaval that most of us have experienced during our lifetimes.

But it does ask the question of whether the gap between the Premier League’s elite and lower-league clubs is becoming unsustainable? The Englishman’s generosity is heart-warming, but it holds up a mirror to a system that is deeply unequal.

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SPONSORSHIP

UFC’s Bilibili launch an industry first

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has become the first international sporting organisation to open an official account on Chinese video-sharing platform Bilibili.

Described as the ‘next generation YouTube in China’, Bilibili’s target audience is largely made up of the Generation Z demographic, an audience that UFC is shifting its focus to. The platform specialises in a range of animation, comics and games, allowing users to upload and view content, as well as engaging in conversations through comments.

Since the account’s launch in January, the mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation has accrued 70,000 followers and reached over 4 million views across all uploads.

Their most-popular video to date features Chinese fighter Zhang Weili, in a win over Joanna Jedrzejczyk taking place in in March, recaching over 500,000 views.

Bilibili becomes the sixth Chinese social media platform that the UFC has joined, with the American organisation also present on Weibo, Toutiao, Qutoutiao, Douyin, and WeChat, with more than 7.7 ISSUE TEN ★ JUNE 2020

“We pay close attention to social media trends in China, and a key focus has been on creating locally relevant content and tailoring for the specific needs of each.” million followers across all six platforms.

Bilibili also boasts a strong list of investors, including Sony, Alibaba and Tencent.

Kevin Chang, the UFC’s senior vice president for the Asia Pacific region, said: “We pay close attention to social media trends in China, and a key focus has been on creating locally relevant content and tailoring for the specific needs of each.

“It’s not a one size fits all, so what we post on Weibo, may not be the same

as what we post on Douyin, or what we stream on PPTV, or what we broadcast on TV. The Bilibili launch reflects our continued dedication to China, as we’re always willing to adapt to new platforms in order to bring new formats of entertaining content to our fans.”

China has become an increasingly important market for the UFC in recent years. Last year the organisation opened a US$13 million, 93,000 square-foot Performance Institute in Shanghai which also serves as its regional headquarters in Asia.

The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Houston Rockets partnered with Bilibili in October 2018 but the UFC is the first major sports series to launch on the platform. With the success that UFC has seen in a short time period, it is likely that a number of other sporting organisations will follow suit and look to launch their own content on Bilibili, targeting the Asian market.

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F1, BUNDELSIGA AND NHL PART OF VIAPLAYS 2021 BALTIC EXPANSION OFFER Scandinavia’s Nordic Entertainment (NENT) Group is rolling out its Viaplay streaming service in the Baltic region next year, with the initial offer including Formula One, Germany’s Bundesliga and the National Hockey League (NHL).

The over-the-top (OTT) service, which has more than 2.5 million subscribers across Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, will launch in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania during the first quarter of 2021.

“Expanding Viaplay to the Baltic countries is a natural next step,” said NENT chief executive Anders Jensen. “These markets are close to home, relatively under-penetrated, growing fast, and we will have a truly unique content offering that addresses all three markets together.

“We have built Viaplay into the number one Nordic streaming service and have recently expanded successfully to Iceland. We see huge potential in the Baltics for our unique combination of highquality Viaplay originals, award-winning films and series, premium kids’ content and world-class live sports.”

Adding: “Our highly agile operating model and cutting-edge technology are built to scale effectively and efficiently,” Jensen continued. “We have already secured key content rights for the markets at very competitive prices, and look forward to bringing our great value for money storytelling experiences to viewers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania early next year.”

According to NENT, less than 20 per cent of the 2.8 million households in the three countries currently pay for a direct-toconsumer (DTC) streaming service, compared to more than 50 per cent in the Nordic region.

The platform will not be short of competition however, after TV3 Group, owned by Providence Equity Partners, last year launched a new streaming offer in the Baltic states called Go3. That service has a live sport offering that includes elite European soccer from the Uefa Champions League, the English top-flight Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, and Italy’s Serie A, as well as the National Basketball Association (NBA) and EuroLeague basketball.

Providence Equity acquired the group of TV3 networks in 2017, as part of a deal which saw NENT’s former owner, Modern Times Group, offload its pay-TV and free-to-air (FTA) operations as part of the largest trade in the Baltics at the time.

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TECHNOLOGY

REAL SOCIEDAD TRIALLING NEW NFC SHIRT TECH TO BOOST SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES Real Sociedad plan an innovative trial of near-field-communications (NFC) technology on fan’s jerseys, when La Liga returns, as part of an upgrade to the club’s digital operations.

The innovation is designed to open up new sponsorship opportunities by connecting fans with partner brands, via their user data stored on the club’s digital databases.

Up until La Liga was forced to suspend its current season on 12th March due to the coronavirus outbreak, around 760 people have accessorised their Real Sociedad shirts upon purchase, with the club planning to reboot the initiative when matches resume.

Speaking on the NFC technology, Real Sociedad’s head of digital transformation and innocation, Juan Iraola, state that the it is part of the club’s strategy to change its kit sponsorship model, enabling fans and partner brands to connect via new activations.

“The objective is to change, a little bit, the sponsorship model connected with the kit.

Right now, we have to attract big brands to pay big money for TV audiences.

“Besides this, we try to connect brands, whether international or local, to promote their product. We have right now a huge inventory of digital assets full of fans and empty of sponsors. What an incredible paradox because, right now, the stadium is full of sponsors and empty of fans.”

La Liga is preparing for a potential restart, however, it will most likely not be until next season before fans are allowed back into the stadium and Sociedad are able to use this new technology.

Nonetheless, the new project marks the efforts clubs continue to make in order to change and evolve matchday experiences. The trials also highlight how clubs are now relying on data and technology to develop brand partnerships whilst also delivering a modern marketing model.

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ESPORTS:

A new alternative to traditional sports?

With the current absence of live sport due to the ongoing pandemic, has esports been given the opportunity for accelerated growth? We take a look at how sporting organisations are using esports to engage their audience.

Formula 1 Following a number of race cancellations, Formula 1 have turned their focus onto esports as a way of engaging their viewers, hosting a weekly Virtual Grand Prix series. The Virtual Grand Prix series has featured a number of F1 drivers, both past and present, various athletes from sports such as golf, football and cricket, and even celebrity appearances in the driver’s seat.

“The Virtual Grand Prix series has proven to be a fantastic live spectacle with over 20m viewers to date, providing fans with some racing entertainment during these challenging times,” said F1 Esports chief Julian Tan. Premier League With the Premier League’s suspension in March, the ePremier League Invitational looked to fill the void of live football, with each of the twenty Premier League clubs represented by a current player or celebrity figure. Broadcast across Sky Sports, BBC Sport and the Premier League’s various digital platforms, the competition gathered a worldwide following, resulting in a second instalment to the series.

Not only did the ePremier League Invitational provide entertainment for fans

starved of live footballing action, but it also gave fans the opportunity to engage with the players on a personal level, something that is not possible through standard Premier League broadcastings.

new endeavour is a creative way to showcase our LPGA and Symetra Tour players in an innovative online format, thanks to WGT and its incredibly realistic video game technology.”

LPGA Golf The Ladies Professional Golf Association has partnered with TopGolf to produce its own esports competition, the LPGA eTour Live. The competition has been broadcast across the LPGA’s, World

NBA ESPN have announced that they will broadcast live NBA 2K League matches across their network throughout May and June, as a way of keeping NBA fans engaged through the absence of live

“The Virtual Grand Prix series has proven to be a fantastic live spectacle with over 20m viewers to date...”

Golf Tour’s and TopGolf’s digital channels, and features a number of top professionals in women’s golf.

“We are excited for this partnership with WGT and Topgolf to present an entertaining and alternative golf experience for all fans alike during a time when many are starved for competition,” says Brian Carroll, senior vice president, global media distribution, LPGA. “This

sport. ESPN have also started airing more esports as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced traditional sports leagues to go on hiatus. The sports channel hosted an “ESPN Esports Day” with 12 hours of esports coverage back in April, proving a success with viewers. The NBA believes that putting a focus on esports now will help to grow the sport once the season is able to restart.

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TECHNOLOGY

PREMIER LEAGUE LOOKS AT OPTIONS FOR EMPTY STADIUM GAMES The English Premier League is exploring the use of audio effects and computergenerated fans for when the league returns, in an attempt to improve the experience for viewers when watching behind closed doors games.

Last month Premier League teams were allowed to return to noncontact training in small groups, before moving not clear contact training as it steps up ‘Project Restart’

The league was encouraged by Germany’s Bundesliga return to action without any major hitches. However, CEO Richard Masters says they are looking at ways to improve the television experience of watching games in empty stadiums when the league does return, suggesting that the league will take a different approach.

As expected, the absence of fans has been highly noticeable on Bumdesliga broadcasts with players’ shouting being the only noise to be heard other than that of the commentator.

Those with knowledge of the discussions have indicated that all options are currently on the table, including adding crowd noise and the use of computer generated (CGI) fans to replace the images of empty seats around the stadium. At the time of writing, no decision has been taken on whether ISSUE TEN ★ JUNE 2020

“The idea is to protect the integrity and experience of the game, by turning the attention away from the empty stadium, and instead replacing it with appealing surroundings to make the game more interesting, and as close to reality as possible” to use such technology, with concerns that any changes do not make the game appear too far from reality.

Master explained that the big issue is that if there aren’t any fans in the stadium what does the viewing fan at home experience and how different is it to the normal production of the Premier League.

A number of companies offer technology, including augmented reality products, which could add crowd

noise and the impression of a crowd to broadcasts.

“The idea is to protect the integrity and experience of the game, by turning the attention away from the empty stadium, and instead replacing it with appealing surroundings to make the game more interesting, and as close to reality as possible,” said Gudjon Gudjonsson, CEO of one such company, OZ Sports.

“These are times to explore and experiment, to make sports even more appealing and to bring it closer to the latest developments in esports,” he added.

Oz Sports declined to discuss whether they were in talks with the Premier League. “OZ Sports can confirm it is in discussions with multiple sports bodies, not limited to football,” the company said.

Oz Sports declined to discuss whether they were in talks with the Premier League. “OZ Sports can confirm it is in discussions with multiple sports bodies, not limited to football,” the company said.

While the league and broadcasters evaluate all the options, the focus for now is whether it is safe for the league to return.

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Danish Superliga side AGF Aarhus to play with Fans on Zoom ‘Virtual Grandstand’ AGF Aarhus of the Danish Superliga will do their best to make their players feel at home in an empty stadium when play resumes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The club have announced that it is setting up 22 sections around their Ceres Park stadium from which supporters will be able to watch by using the video conferencing service Zoom.

With fans unable to attend large sporting events for the foreseeable future, clubs are attempting to do whatever they can to keep supporters connected and generate some kind of home-field advantage.

Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach allowed supporters to purchase cardboard cutouts of themselves that would be placed throughout Borussia-Park. The money generated from the sales will be donated to local charities.

Not all of the ideas have been a success, though. FC Seoul from South Korea’s K League 1 apologised for using what appeared to be sex dolls as fans instead of mannequins for a match against Gwangju FC. The Superliga is scheduled to return May 28. Aarhus is third in the league with 40 points through 23 matches.

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GOVERNANCE

Behind the scenes as a club owner Major League Soccer awarded a new expansion team to Los Angeles in October 2014, filling the vacancy in the market created by the dissolution of Chivas USA just three days earlier. In its first two seasons, LAFC has earned the most points and scored the most goals in the league, while its 35 wins were the most in the Western Conference and its 13 losses were the fewest in the league.

In the three-plus years leading up to the team’s on-field debut in 2018, the club delivered on just about everything it set out to do; A beautiful stadium, passionate supporter culture and recognizable star in Mexican International Carlos Vela, who has since begun re-writing the league record books and leads a team with an exciting mix of diverse young talent.

But what sets LAFC apart, is its large ownership group who collectively ISSUE TEN ★ JUNE 2020

comprise what may be the most accomplished ownership group in sports. From its conception, LAFC has always boasted a bounty of celebrity owners and supporters. From former basketball legend Magic Johnson to actor Will Ferrell, the boxes at Banc of California Stadium are often filled with a circle of well-known stars.

Tom Penn, President and Co-Owner of LAFC and former General Manager of Philadelphia 76ers, discusses what it means to be an owner

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of a sports club and the challenges of building a new team.

What motivated you to be part of the LAFC ownership group?

My involvement with LAFC ownership began before there was a group. It started with an idea from a Vietnamese entrepreneur and two investors from Malaysia. From there we partnered with a diverse group of Los Angeles based investors and assembled an unparalleled group in professional sports. I have been honored to work with each of our partners. We represent best of the best across so many industries: technology, sports, entertainment, real estate, private equity, etc. We have a wonderful esprit de corps and a true spirit of partnership within the group.

What are the biggest challenges you have had to overcome in building a reputable and globally successful club while competing head on with LA Galaxy, one of the biggest names in the MLS? At the time that we announced LAFC in October 2014, the Los Angeles Galaxy were months away from winning their 5th (out of 20) MLS Championship, and Chivas USA (another LA based MLS team) had just announced its closure.

LA is the busiest sports market in the world, with two pro teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, plus major college football teams with UCLA and USC. We distinguished ourselves in this crowded market by building a true Club, rather than a franchise. We appealed to our early supporters and challenged them to co-create everything with us. Our supporters had a loud voice in selecting our name, colors, crest, and all foundational aspects of our culture. And then we were able to acquire the most precious land in Greater Los Angeles for our stadium.

We constructed a masterpiece of a building in the heart of the city. That differentiated us from the Galaxy and all other teams in the market. Â How do the challenges of running an MLS club differ to that of an NBA team?

Soccer is truly a global sport. Basketball is an American sport that has appeal globally. Our players come from all over the world which makes talent scouting and procurement an unusual challenge.

John Thorrington, our General Manager, has done a masterful job of identifying young talented players on the rise. In ISSUE TEN ★ JUNE 2020

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GOVERNANCE

“Somewhere along the way, each owner has contributed something unique and positive to the project. From the beginning the ownership represented Los Angeles, and they have delivered on the promise to Los Angeles.”

the NBA we do not have a transfer market for players; NBA teams acquire their players via an entry draft, trades, or free agency. In global football, the ability to buy right and sell player contracts for profit offers different challenges and opportunities.

LAFC has a large ownership group comprising of business executives, athletes, celebrities, and private equity managers, what advantages does this bring?

Within our ownership group, I have the greatest contact list in pro sports.

From the beginning, we asked each of our partners to be participants rather than passengers. We asked all owners to commit more than their financial capital; we asked for their experiential capital and their reputational capital.

Somewhere along the way, each owner has contributed something unique and positive to the project. From the beginning the ownership represented Los Angeles, and they have delivered on the promise to Los Angeles.

What are the most important lessons you have learnt as an owner of a club?

I have learned that we are privileged to be a small part of a big Club.

LAFC is a true partnership with our supporters, employees, players, and fans. Our group serve as stewards of the Club for our community. Sports means so much to a city. LAFC from the beginning has been committed to unite the world’s city through the world’s game. We bring joy to people.

And we serve as a force for good in ISSUE TEN ★ JUNE 2020

our community. I am honored to play a small role in our Club.

Can you tell us a little more about LAFC’s coronavirus relief efforts and any other initiatives the club has been doing to remain involved in the community?

I am so proud of how our Club has responded to the crisis. Our supporters (the 3252) stepped up early and often with donations and events in support of our community. Our employees have donated countless hours organizing and volunteering at various LAFC hosted events. Our LAFC Foundation has established the Black and Gold Fund for COVID-19 Relief. We are hosting several blood drives at our stadium in partnership with the Red Cross. We have hosted weekly food drives at the stadium with the Salvation Army and with other

charitable partners. And we have stayed engaged with our audience in clever, creative, and meaningful ways.

We will come back stronger and more together as a Club.

How have the league been supporting its members during these difficult times?

The league office has been engaged and supportive every step of the way. Major League Soccer is a cohesive group.

Our unique single entity structure (where team owners own equal shares of the entire league) creates a very fertile foundation for collaboration and partnership. The league has formed committees of owners and executives to address each aspect of club and league operations during the crisis. We truly can’t wait to re-start the season and bring the beautiful game back to life in North America.

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F1 TO HAVE SLIDING DEVELOPMENT SCALE, $145M BUDGET CAP FROM 2021 From 2021 Formula One will introduce a new sliding scale for aerodynamic development and a $145 million budget cap for all 10 teams, which will be steadily reduced over the next five years. It is hoped that both measures will help close Formula One’s competitive order, while also protecting teams financially postcoronavirus.

The sliding scale will ensure the lower a team finishes in the championship, the more wind tunnel and CFD development time it will be permitted the following year. The concept is modelled loosely on a draft-style system in U.S. sports.

Teams already face restrictions over the amount of aerodynamic work they can complete at their factories, but from 2021 the restrictions will be biased against the previous year’s championship position on a sliding scale.

The budget cap has already been agreed to in principal, but the initial figure of $175 million has been negotiated down to $145

million. That will then be scaled down to $140 million for 2022 and then $135 million between 2023 and 2025.

The budget cap will lead to a trimming down of F1 teams. McLaren has already confirmed it will have to cut jobs in response, while Ferrari is considering entering IndyCar in order to find jobs for those it will inevitably lose from its own F1 team.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown says F1 has to think of the bigger picture.

“Formula One wins today,” Brown said.

“This is a crucially important moment for our sport. F1 has been financially unsustainable for some time, and inaction would have risked the future of F1 and its participants, who are to be commended for resolving this issue collectively and determinedly.

“A uniform budget cap, in concert with more even distribution of revenue among the teams, will ensure greater competition and more people wanting to watch live and on TV, driving more sustained revenues to underpin the long-term financial health of the teams and the sport. Ultimately the fans win, and if the fans win, the whole sport wins too.”

“F1 has been financially unsustainable for some time, and inaction would have risked the future of F1 and its participants, who are to be commended for resolving this issue collectively and determinedly.”

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GOVERNANCE

WILL WOMEN’S SPORT RECOVER MOMENTUM AFTER COVID-19?

To call 2019 ground-breaking for women’s sport almost sums up the impact that the year had on what is normally considered an afterthought.

2019 included history being made, with Bryony Frost becoming the first female jockey in history to win a Grade One race at Cheltenham.

As 2020 dawned on us, the world was optimistic for what would come next for women’s sport. Little did the world know, a threat like no other was looming, begging the question once it reached its peak – Will women’s sport regain momentum after Covid-19?

For women’s sport, there has always been one key issue – a lack of funding.

The summer of 2019 led to sponsorship from many big corporations, such as Barclays sponsoring the WSL, committing £500,000 to the winners. These deals led many to believe that these worries will soon be alleviated.

Changes were not just being made by sponsors, but by sports organisations themselves too. In golf, the Ladies European Tour and the Ladies Professional Golf Association agreed to carry out a joint venture which would see a record-breaking prize fund of €18million.

The LET schedule has been on hold since the Investec South African Women’s Open in mid-March. The original schedule included 24 European events, but now the question is how many more events can be held this year.

LET Chief Executive Alexandra Armas told SportsPro in May that the unexpected postponement of the Tour has been ‘heart-breaking’ for athletes.

However, Armas stressed the significance of the partnership with the LPGA, noting that the LET would have ‘struggled to get through’ the pandemic without them.

As Armas notes, ‘Thanks to the timely venture with the LPGA we will see this ISSUE TEN ★ JUNE 2020

year through, and we will have a schedule next year, and we will continue to grow’.

As aforementioned, female sport has historically always been grossly underfunded in comparison to their male counterparts. Not just in golf, but across the board, women’s sport does not have the same financial resources or infrastructure to fall back on, giving many reason to believe that it may not withstand the CoVID-19 pandemic.

Kieran Maguire, a university lecturer and cohost of the Price of Football Podcast, highlights that the majority of

“There is potential to cut things where they feel that there is perhaps not a medium or long-term future, and women’s football could come under that umbrella.”

WSL teams are losing money, despite the success of the Women’s World Cup. “They’re not huge amounts, but when we come out of the pandemic, I think some chief executives, some club owners, will be looking to repair the finances as best they can. There is potential to cut things where they feel that there is perhaps not a medium or long-term future, and women’s football could come under that umbrella.”.

Women’s sport already looks as though it will be cancelled in a bid for as much revenue as possible for sports organisations, usually gathered through TV Rights for lucrative men’s tournaments. The 2021 UEFA Women’s European Championship was forced to give up its place in the calendar to allow the men’s Euro 2020 to take place. Once this pandemic is over, it seems to be becoming more and more clearer that women’s sport will not get a summer in the spotlight until 2022.

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Beyond the goal line: the ‘new normal’ for sports

Early in May, we heard from senior executives across the major team sports give evidence to the DCMS Select Committee on the impact of COVID-19 on their sports.

By Tom Wilson, Partner, haysmacintyre

EFL Chairman Rick Parry said that by September its member clubs could face a £200m cash hole.

ECB CEO Tom Harrison also said English cricket could have a £380m revenue decrease if there is no cricket this summer.

There is no doubt that there is a short-term existential crisis for our professional sports clubs, however both leaders also alluded to a need to readjust the business models of their games to make a more sustainable future. The crisis has exposed some significant flaws in the business models of some parts of our national games, particularly in regards in being able to manage and deal with financial risk.

It goes without saying that in the short-term, sports organisations should closely monitor and model the situation; including scenario planning so that quick decisions can be made to get through the crisis.

Modelling the impact of different timescales for income restarting, restarting the season or not and the future cashflow impact of using cash flow mitigation measures should be considered. Deferral of VAT and tax payments, deferral of players wages and use of CBILS loan schemes are potentially current lifelines, however this could just be kicking the can down the road and teams will need to prepare for this.

The medium-term impact on income streams across the sports sector is likely to be felt for some time to come. What will be the impact on the broadcasting market and commercial income streams? Will next season be a ’normal‘ season in the sense of being able to admit a usual crowd number, and if not, for how long? What will budgets be for playing staff in particular? All these questions need to be planned for in dealing with the next stage of the crisis and we have been assisting our clients challenge some of their assumptions and remodelling scenarios to help assist balance the short and medium term.

How will the current scenario change the longterm sustainability of clubs? There may be some drastic thinking necessary, but I think the answer to the question will depend on where you sit in the sporting ecosystem. Will the Premier League change dramatically? What about smaller sports leagues?

These questions are deeply connected to the broadcast market over the next few months. Sky and

BT are unlikely to bite the hand that feeds them, but the international market may be more fickle and clubs may have to adapt to less immediate income from international markets.

In the football league, Rick Parry alluded to support for greater salary cap and cost control measures, as well as potentially tackling the issue of how the money at the top end of the game is distributed further down the leagues. There will be some for and against these measures but there are potential benefits to new controls from a sustainability point of view. Cost control mechanisms may give clubs greater ability to control wages and manage reserves and cash flow. With the cancellation of The Hundred and the huge potential impact to the County season, sustainability is likely to be a significant issue in cricket and there may be a need to look at the current model from a wider perspective as well.

Moving towards a business model that plans for the long term with setting adequate reserve policies to adapt to risk and implementing cost control measures may be something sports clubs will have to achieve. In fact, it may be, to a certain extent, forced on them if the leagues can move the dial with most of their members. There are lots of eventualities that could play out in practice over the next few months and executives will have their work cut out for them adapting to the changing landscape for the foreseeable future.

If you would like to get in touch about any of the points raised or about anything sports accountancy related, please email me at twilson@haysmacintyre.com.

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GOVERNANCE

NBA AND DISNEY IN TALKS TO RESTART SEASON IN LATE JULY Just when the world needed the spirit of live entertainment the most, the NBA was forced to suspend its season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Initially, it seemed grim for the season to return this year, but NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Disney have been working on a solution.

In May, the NBA revealed that the league and the Players Association are in talks with Disney about using the company’s ESPSN Wide World of Sports Complex- a facility located on the Disney World complex near Orlando, Florida- to host the remaining games of the 2019/20 season.

According to the NBA’s chief communications officer, Mike Bass, the league plans to use the property as “a single site for an NBA campus for games, practices and housing.”

If all the wrinkles are ironed out, the NBA could return as early as late July. Although this is exciting for fans, the NBA maintains that its top concern is the welfare of their players.

“Our priority continues to be the health and safety of all involved,” the statement reads. “We are working with public health experts and government officials on a comprehensive

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set of guidelines to ensure that appropriate medical protocols and protections are in place.”

Florida has been a refuge for sports league and sports entertainment companies that are willing to weather the pandemic to put on a show. Since social distancing was ordered, the WWE has broadcasted fan-free televised events from its performance centre in Orlando, while UFC 249 was held at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

Additionally, Disney has a vested interest in making sure the NBA returns. ESPN- a Disney-owned tentpole- holds broadcasting rights to NBA games alongside WarnerMedia.

The NBA Finals are also broadcasted on Disney’s ABC. The halt in live sports has impacted ESPN’s programming and Disney’s overall ability to generate viewership while stalling the company’s advertising dollars.

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Accessing government loan schemes: tips for sports organisations

WORDS: MARTIN BLAKE

“From a sports organisation’s perspective, it remains important to understand what options are available and what you are signing up to.”

As the merits and morality of re-starting professional sport, whether in bio-secure stadia or not, are fiercely debated, one thing is certain - the finances of clubs, governing bodies and other organisations across all sports, no matter what size, are being significantly impacted by the current crisis.

Many sports organisations will need financial support to manage their liquidity in order to see them through this difficult time. Various government schemes have been put in place to reduce costs in the short-term (eg. by deferring taxes due or reducing staff costs), but this note focuses on how sports organisations can increase their capital reserves via one of the government’s loan schemes for businesses.

There are now several government loan schemes in place which have evolved and grown over the last few weeks, all of which are administered by a panel of accredited lenders. The Covid Corporate Financing Facility is aimed at businesses with an investment grade credit rating. Other organisations can apply for loans of up to £50m through one of the business interruption loan schemes (CLBILS and CBILS). The popular Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) introduced on 4 May 2020

provides quick and easy access to loans of up to £50k to small businesses struggling to otherwise obtain finance.

From a sports organisation’s perspective, it remains important to understand what options are available and what you are signing up to. These are all loans with third party lenders and should be treated as such, regardless of government backing. Consider the impact on any existing debt facilities and lenders, be specific in what you are requesting and provide a well-presented business case to demonstrate the viability and affordability of the loan (crucial in a successful application for all but BBLS). Carefully review the terms being offered (seeking advice where necessary) as it may be that, if available, a loan on normal commercial terms provides greater flexibility than one from within a government loan scheme and, as always, consider which lender will best support you going forwards - a strong relationship with your debt provider will be more important than ever over the coming months and years.

Farrer & Co advise on all types of finance and financing structures for sports organisations. If you would like more information, please contact Martin Blake at martin.blake@farrer.co.uk.

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GOVERNANCE

National Football League Owners met virtually on 19 May for their spring conference due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. One of the focuses of the meeting was significant changes to the Rooney Rule, with the aim of boosting consideration of minorities for executive and coaching positions

NFL PASSES EXPANSION OF ROONEY RULE The league will now require each club to interview at least two external minority candidates for head coaching positions, twice the prior amount. Alongside this, at least one minority candidate will be interviewed for coordinator coaching jobs, senior football operations and general manager positions. Further requirements will also be applied to other senior level positions such as club president, including female interview requirements.

However, owners have scheduled a separate, highly debated proposal that would reward clubs who make minority hires in key positions with elevated draft slots. Usually, proposed measures that are scheduled imply that they do not have enough votes to pass, but the idea alone has received plenty of dubiousness amongst eminent minority figures around the league.

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“These steps will assure coaching and football personnel are afforded a fair and equitable opportunity to advance throughout our football operations” as ‘bona fide’ positions is viewed as potentially the most powerful way to improve diversity and candidate development across the league.

According to Art Rooney, Pittsburgh Steelers owner and Chairman of the NFL’s workplace diversity committee ‘These steps will assure coaching and football personnel are afforded a fair and equitable opportunity to advance throughout our football operations’.

The Rooney Rule was originally created in 2003 to slow team hiring processes,

broaden the pool of candidates for each available job and generally improve overall opportunities in the league for minorities. But NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stated before Super Bowl LIV ‘Clearly we are not where we want to be on this level. It is clear we need to change. We have begun discussing those changes, what steps we can take next to determine better outcomes.’.

In recent years, the rule’s fruitfulness, despite its good intentions, has disappeared noticeably, with just three of the last 20 head coaching openings around the league being filled by minorities. Minority interviews have also been widely seen as a temporary obstacle towards intended hires. In the current league, minorities are in four head coach roles and two managerial roles across the 32-team league.

Changes to the Rooney Rule itself does not require formal vote owners, but the meeting will revolve around two related proposals. The first will relax anti-tampering rules, allowing assistant coaches to be interviewed for

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“Clearly we are not where we want to be on this level. It is clear we need to change. We have begun discussing those changes, what steps we can take next to determine better outcomes”

coordinator jobs with other teams at any time, also preventing current teams from blocking those interviews. The second would provide teams elevated draft pick positions for hiring minority candidates as head coaches or lead football executives.

During this Covid-19 pandemic, NFL teams can now have limited re-opening of their training facilities as long as state and local governments allow. The first phase of the league’s plan is still careful, barring coaches and all players except those who are undergoing injury rehabilitation. Facility access, for now, is chiefly for business staffers and those who need to be there to perform their jobs, such as technology staff.

In addition to this, a wide variety of protective health measures have been put in place, including temperature checks, strict requirements on which employees are allowed to be at facilities, and limits on the number of people that can be in individual rooms. Currently, there is not a set timetable for the NFL to move into ensuing phases, with facilities

being closed since March and players conducting offseason workouts virtually.

The NFL’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Allen Sills, was also present to brief owners on Covid-19 preparation, noting that the league is working with the NFL Players Association on a variety of protocols, including resumption of full training at team facilities and the intended 2020 season due to begin in Autumn.

Sills mentions that ‘We fully well expect that we will have positive cases that arise. Because we think that this disease will remain endemic in society, it shouldn’t be a surprise that new positive cases arise. Our challenge is to identify them as quickly as possible and prevent any spread to other participants. We’re working very diligently on that, and we’ll have some detailed plans at a later time.’.

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PLAYER CARE

LANCASHIRE ANNOUNCES RECORD-BREAKING PRE COVID-19 FINANCIAL RESULTS Lancashire Cricket Club has announced its best-ever financial report up to the year ending 31st December 2019. The clubs earnings of £7.6 million (before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is the highest ever of any First Class County, and it has also reported record turnover of £34 million and net profit of £5 million - new high watermarks in the club’s history.

The club reports that the figures were underpinned by international match revenues of £17.5 million, which includes hosting the ICC Cricket World Cup and the Specsavers Ashes Test series, as well as the growth of its conference and events business at the Emirates Old Trafford ground.

“2019 was a landmark year for the club when years of investment in talent and the infrastructure of Emirates Old Trafford was rewarded and truly reflected in our financial results. I’m delighted that all key business streams performed ahead of expectations,” said Daniel Gidney, CEO, Lancashire Cricket.

“To generate in excess of £30 million of non-broadcast revenues is truly remarkable and, to put it in perspective, better than some Premier League Clubs.

These results are a record for published accounts, excluding minority interests and legacies, for any First-Class County and make this a proud day for the Red Rose.

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“Clearly, these are now tough times as the Club navigates its way through the current COVID-19 pandemic, but these results at least help relieve that financial burden. Our priority now is to work with our stakeholders to find a way for cricket to return as quickly as it is safe to do so.

This will help us protect future revenues as

which of course have been hugely challenging for everyone involved with the Club, but also over a number of years too.

Finance Director and Club Secretary, Lee Morgan, added: “The Club, through its re-financing with Metro Bank, its record 2019 revenues and raised level of core underlying trading, has created the best

“Clearly, these are now tough times as the Club navigates its way through the current COVID-19 pandemic, but these results at least help relieve that financial burden. Our priority now is to work with our stakeholders to find a way for cricket to return as quickly as it is safe to do so” much as possible and allow us to continue to invest in our infrastructure for the benefit of our Members and supporters.

“I would also like to personally thank all of Lancashire Cricket’s stakeholders for their continued and overwhelming support, not only in the last few months,

platform possible to manage and survive the uncertainties created globally by COVID-19.

“The Club has the venue in Emirates Old Trafford, talented people and recent track record of trading to demonstrate that, as well as being a much-loved local

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“The significant development at Emirates Old Trafford includes plans for a new 4,850-seater stand, which replaces the Red Rose Suite, and is set to feature a pitch-view suite, enhanced Member facilities, a heritage centre, ticket office and retail shop...”

sporting institution, it is also a strong viable business with a platform that will enable us to return to our growth trajectory once we have navigated through the current crisis that is impacting our society, sport, leisure and events within that, so deeply.”

In January, Lancashire Cricket announced that Trafford Council had approved the next phase of the redevelopment at Emirates Old Trafford.

The significant development at Emirates Old Trafford includes plans for a new 4,850-seater stand, which replaces the Red Rose Suite, and is set to feature a pitch-view suite, enhanced Member facilities, a heritage centre, ticket office and retail shop which will face directly on to Brian Statham Way. The stand will take the capacity of Emirates Old Trafford to 26,700, making it the largest ground outside of London.

Also included in the plans is an extension of the award-winning

Hilton Garden Inn hotel, which opened its doors two years ago at Emirates Old Trafford, due to its ongoing success.

The redevelopment plans coincide with the transformation of the suburb, including the Town Hall and surrounding areas into a new ‘Civic Quarter,’ which covers a 120-acre site taking in the Town Hall, Lancashire Cricket Club, the former Kellogg’s site including the University Academy 92 (UA92) campus, stretching up to the A56/ Chester Road and White City retail park.

The Council proposals for the new area include building a new leisure centre; an improved public realm, opportunities for new homes and offices, and improved pedestrian and cycle routes. They also include the possible development of a new public piazza and ‘processional route’ linking Lancashire Cricket Club with Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium.

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PLAYER CARE

COVID-19 PANDEMIC LEAVES ACADEMY PLAYERS IN LIMBO Many young footballers have been unable to find a new club and now fear they may fall out of the game altogether.

Since the end of March – as is traditional in the academy system – hundreds of academy players have been released, although this time the majority have been unable to find new clubs because of the ongoing lockdown.

“There are an awful lot who have been left in limbo,” says an agent who does not want to be identified. “Many of the players at the big clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham who have been released would have been going on trial at Southampton or Norwich and places like that over the past few weeks, but there haven’t been any trials. They are really going to have to fight to stay in shape and won’t be in an ideal condition whenever everything starts again.”

It is understood Manchester City have retained all of their players under the age of 16 because of the situation, having informed four in January they would not be retained. Three of which have found new clubs and will continue to receive additional support until they are able to move. The Football Association has estimated about 10% of academy players end up being offered contracts, and the agent believes the Covid-19 crisis has forced many clubs into tough decisions.

“What might happen is a lot of players who wouldn’t make it in the end will be gone from the game sooner,” he says. “It’s going to be very hard for them to find a new entry point with so many clubs in the lower leagues struggling financially.”

The situation for those lucky enough to still be signed on is only slightly better.

Whereas players at Premier League academies have continued to interact with their coaches over the past nine weeks, financial concerns have forced many clubs in Leagues One and Two to furlough the majority of their staff. Many ISSUE TEN ★ JUNE 2020

Many of the players at the big clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham who have been released would have been going on trial at Southampton or Norwich and places like that over the past few weeks, but there haven’t been any trials. players within the lower-leagues have received little support and with budgets being tightened, their futures are left in uncertainty.

Zubayr Boadi is just one of the many players affected. Boadi thought his big chance had finally arrived. Having spent

two years on the fringes of the academy system, the 16-year-old defensive midfielder from south London was invited for a week’s trial at Derby in March in the hope of earning his first professional contract.

“It was a great experience for me,” says Boadi, who attended trials at the French clubs Le Havre and Amiens in February.

Despite all three having indicated a desire to sign a player previously briefly on the books at Chelsea, Tottenham and Fulham, the coronavirus pandemic has meant his fledgling career has been put on hold.

The strict compensation laws introduced in 2011 by the Elite Player Performance Plan could also hamper a young player’s chances of finding a club when released, with the Premier League and Football League yet to announce whether those rules may be relaxed.

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AN EXCITING ERA FOR THE TRANSFER MARKET As long as the football season remains on hold, the summer transfer window remains closed, but how will the window work once it does open and how are clubs, agents and players preparing for it?

For every club, this is unusual territory. Most clubs would have a list of transfer targets and a budget that is set – but this summer, it isn’t as simple. This period is especially difficult for those clubs lingering around the promotion and relegation places, as there is still no clear understanding of how this issue will be resolved if the leagues are unable to resume.

Victor Orta, director of football at Leeds United, has opened up about the uncertainty facing his club. With Leeds United currently a point clear at the top of the Championship with nine fixtures left to play, they are yet to discover whether they will be recruiting with a Championship or Premier League budget for the 2020/21 season.

Contracts are another key issue that clubs will need to navigate, with over 1,400 players out of contact on June 30 from the Championship, League One and League Two alone. However, Orta expects clubs to ‘be ethical over the availability of players’ and believes next season will see a significant rise in the number of academy players used.

UEFA are currently holding discussions focused around player contracts, with the option of extending contracts by ‘six or

seven weeks’. A number of sports lawyers have also suggested that if the season hasn’t ended, then neither has the contract.

Arturo Fernandes, head of Portugal’s Agents Association, also backs up Orta’s belief that clubs will look to put their faith in academy players, instead of entering into an uncertain transfer market. “I remember the period between 2008 and 2010” said Fernandes. “I remember the fantastic Espanyol of Mauricio Pochettino with young players like Jose Callejon. I remember the fantastic team of Sporting Lisbon with Paulo Bento and players like Joao Moutinho and Miguel Veloso – why? Because they were in a big crisis with money, so gave the opportunity to young players from the academy.”

Many European clubs will look to recruit from within their own nations, mostly because it makes things easier for the players, their families, and even for the agents to be able to travel around easily.

“It’s frustrating but we all need to be patient because there’s something out there that’s bigger and more important than football, whether we like it or not, added Fernandes”.

Despite the academy season being terminated in recent weeks, could this be a blessing in disguise for many young talents across world football?

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PLAYER CARE

COVID-19: Preparing for what comes next With the majority of sports cancelled, airline fleets across the world grounded and many sporting bodies struggling with a huge drop in revenue, to describe the current global situation as challenging, would be nothing short of an understatement. With most sports travel programmes at a standstill due to the COVID-19 crisis, there are lots of things that we can start to think about and plan ahead to mitigate some of the issues we may face when the world starts to heal, and everybody gets playing and moving again.

The onslaught of the coronavirus crisis left lots of sporting bodies in difficult positions, trying to navigate their way through the impact of travel upheaval. For many without TMC partners, this meant needing to fathom their way through it alone and unguided, often resulting in extra expense and unnecessary levels of stress.

We’ve highlighted some key areas to think about when planning for the next three to six months and how CTM Sport can help you through that; taking the time to re-evaluate and implement changes now will help benefit your organisation and provide you with an easier, more stream-lined process on the other side.

1. Auditing practice Looking back at what worked and what didn’t with regard to your club’s travel, both in the run up to lockdown and since, will provide you with a wealth of ISSUE TEN ★ JUNE 2020

information and allow you to mitigate against anything like this in the future.

Many sporting bodies who self-book travel found their processes left them unable to adequately locate or track travellers, mandate travel or indeed suitably ground people so they stopped travelling altogether. Others, experienced visa and repatriation issues and almost all have found the knock-on cost implications to be a major headache.

This retrospective analysis should look at the biggest picture possible for your organisation.

2. Policy Based on that audit analysis, it’s vital to update your company policies. This is likely to be an ongoing measure over the coming months while a new normal is established but understanding what has worked and what hasn’t will be critical. Without TMC partners in place, it may well be that you’re lacking any sound and structured travel policies,

which has left your organisation exposed at this time. Working with CTM Sport, the introduction of these policy conditions can be built into your travel programme and reflected across all bookings.

3. Supplier programmes Reviewing the suppliers you work with will be a very sensible move over the coming months. There will undoubtedly be lots of changes and we anticipate some sporting bodies will want to re-evaluate their preferred supplier relationships. Maybe your auditing has revealed you don’t really have a supplier programme in place that is sewn together and provides your club with the best value and most costeffective supplier agreements. Lacking leverage with suppliers at a time when there is so much noise and challenge will be tough.

Negotiating these agreements and relationships for you is just one of the ways STM delivers unbeatable value.

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“Whatever the size of your organisation, information sharing over the coming months is going to be paramount. It’s also going to be a huge hurdle. Things will continue to change at such a pace, it will make understanding the travel landscape extremely taxing.”

4. Cost of change Inevitably the cost of change is something that will impact on your organisation in the immediate term, but dependent on the scale of that, potentially moving forward too. With the sports calendar so up in the air, and no real guide for planning against, managing rebookings and refunds can take a lot more time and resource than it should.

Scenario planning can help to manage expectations and put you in a better position to move forward post COVID-19.

5. Information sharing Whatever the size of your organisation, information sharing over the coming months is going to be paramount. It’s also going to be a huge hurdle. Things will continue to change at such a pace, it will make understanding the travel landscape extremely taxing. Establish processes now for reporting, updating and strategising your next steps. CTM Sport are assisting customers on an

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ongoing basis to help them report suitably throughout the coronavirus crisis and are in constant contact providing updates on all aspects of global travel as well as specific information relevant to their individual travel priorities.

WE’RE HERE TO HELP On the other side of this, what will it all look like? While nobody can really answer how long it is going to take to get back to any degree of normality, we do know that there will be great times again. Our clubs and teams will play again, and sport will be great again. In the meantime, it’s vital to take the time to step back and re-evaluate in order to move your club’s travel forward more easily when that time comes.

It’s also time to ask yourself how to mitigate against anything like this happening again. Is there a better way?

Can it all happen much more efficiently and be managed more effectively? CTM can help take some of that pressure off.

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PLAYER CARE

Rugby league players could be thrown into action cold on return In football, teams are expected to pick up where they left off at the business end of the season and the clubs that suffer the most will point to sporting integrity being compromised. Rugby league faces similar issues, albeit at the start of the campaign with Super League only seven rounds old before coming to a halt.

Whereas the arguments in football are generally centred on the fairness of promotion and relegation, rugby league is trying to stay alive amid the financial wreckage that has been caused.

The furlough scheme has been the game’s saviour and understandably clubs will be reluctant to cut the cord before it is scaled back at the end of July.

Super League plans a return in August and in an ideal world teams would return to training in July or sooner, but you cannot carry out any work for your employer under the furlough scheme.

In that respect, Toronto Wolfpack have an advantage given they are not tied to furlough but the rest of the Super League clubs face a difficult decision as they weigh up when to resume training, with Catalans Dragons on an equivalent scheme in France.

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“Although Rugby League players have united in a bid to get their voices heard on key issues in the game, the likelihood is they will just get on with if the game returns in August as planned” Some clubs simply can’t afford to leave the scheme too early and while players have already had to make sacrifices in the form of pay cuts, there is every chance they will be asked to play the first game back after only a handful of training sessions.

While they have been following individual programmes at home and

should be in good shape by August, they will be nowhere near match-fit after the best part of five months without contact.

The issue of player welfare will come to the forefront of conversations again with injuries inevitable after such a long lay-off and limited time to prepare.

The governing bodies could help by tinkering with the rules, for instance allowing larger matchday squads and more interchanges, though it is likely to be a case of muddling through the early stages of the restart until there is a greater sense of normality Although Rugby League players have united in a bid to get their voices heard on key issues in the game, the likelihood is they will just get on with if the game returns in August as planned.

The powers that be may yet to find the perfect solution, but it seems inevitable that rugby league players will be among the biggest losers when the sport emerges from the wreckage.

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INTERNATIONAL TENNIS FEDERATION CREATES NEW RELIEF FUND FOR LOWERRANKED PLAYERS

“The ITF is in the process of finalising a range of additional measures to support stakeholders impacted by COVID-19, including a relief fund to help tour players ranked 501-700 not covered under other relief programmes...”

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is working to create a new relief fund for lower-ranked players who have been financially hit due to the stoppage of sport.

The new fund will support players ranked between 501-700 who are not benefitted under other programmes.

In a statement the ITF said that they were working to create a new relief fund for the lowerranked players who have been financially hit due to the stoppage of tennis because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The ITF is in the process of finalising a range of additional measures to support stakeholders impacted by COVID-19, including a relief fund to help tour players ranked 501-700 not covered under other relief programmes,” the ITF said in an official statement.

David Haggerty, ITF President, said, “We are doing everything within our power to ensure that the talented players climbing the ITF pathway receive the support they need and continue their development during these uncertain times.”

In May, all the international governing bodies of tennis, ITF, STP, WTA and the organisers of the four Grand Slams has committed themselves

to create another fund ‘Player Relief Program’ and raise $6m to provide assistance to players affected by the shutdown.

“The governing bodies of world tennis have come together to raise in excess of US $6 million to create a Player Relief Program aimed at supporting players who are particularly affected by the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” a joint statement by ATP, WTA, ITF and organisers of the four Grand Slams read.

However, the new program is likely to target a total of 800 lower-ranked players who need financial assistance at a time tennis, like all sports across the globe, have come to a halt because of Covid-19. While big sponsorship deals mean top players such as Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Serena Williams are among the world’s highest earners, the vast majority of professional tennis players rely on prize money won during gruelling and expensive tour of tournaments worldwide.

All forms of professional tennis have been suspended until at least July 13 due Covid-19 across the globe. All scheduled ATP and WTA tours have either been postponed or cancelled.

This year’s Wimbledon Championship became the first cancellation since the second World War. ISSUE TEN ★ JUNE 2020

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INVESTMENT

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HONG KONG GROUP IN ‘MULTI-MILLION POUND’ ACQUISITION OF OSPREYS Hong Kong-based investment group Y11 Sports & Media has completed a deal to take a 75.1-per-cent stake in Welsh rugby union club Ospreys.

Ospreys chairman, Rob Davies, who along with the other existing shareholders collectively retain a 24.9-per-cent stake in the club, will continue in his role.

“For some time now we’ve been planning a radical shift of gear and, from that, over 12-months of hard work and strategic planning has led to this new partnership with Y11,” said Davies.

Y11 chief executive James DaviesYandle, along with his business partner the financier Donald Tang, have joined the board of Ospreys as directors, and a new holding company, Ospreys International Group, has been set up.

No financial details of the transaction have been revealed, but the club described it as a ‘multi-year, multi-millionpound deal’.

Davies-Yandle said in a statement on the club’s website: “Rugby’s potential has been overlooked for too long as other sports have been nimbler at seizing commercial opportunities to

power success on the pitch with revenues off it. But the environment is changing quickly and rugby is on the verge of going through the same type of evolution as other sports before it.”

Ospreys compete in the Pro14 league and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team has been searching for new investment since a planned merger with another Welsh team, Scarlets, fell through last year.

Davies-Yandle is from Wales and has a sporting background. He represented Wales in hockey at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and his father is a former rugby player for the Swansea club.

His statement continued: “Of all the clubs we’ve seen, [Ospreys’] potential to fully emerge and take the next step is far beyond that of its peers.

“We want to help it make that journey by investing in a

root-and-branch transformation of the Ospreys, to ensure it leads the next wave of the game.

“Alongside the Ospreys’ management, we have agreed a programme of development and investment that will touch every aspect of the organisation’s operations and activities.

“Initially, we will take our time together to methodically build operational strength, capacity and resilience, before rapidly accelerating programmes across the board.

“Crucially, we are not going to allow ourselves to be held back by the current operating environment and we are not going to be afraid to break the mould.

“Ultimately, our reach and our sights are set far beyond our existing borders and our business model and expertise are too.

“It’s an exciting time for the Ospreys: its team, its supporters, the organisation as well as for the game of rugby.”

“For some time now we’ve been planning a radical shift of gear and, from that, over 12-months of hard work and strategic planning has led to this new partnership with Y11” ISSUE TEN ★ JUNE 2020

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INVESTMENT

CVC AND ITALY’S SERIE A IN EXCLUSIVE TALKS OVER €2.2BN DEAL Buyout group CVC Capital Partners has launched exclusive negotiations with Italy’s Serie A over a €2.2bn deal designed to reshape the finances of one of Europe’s top competitions.

As discussions become more serious, CVC are proposing to acquire 20 per cent of a new company that will manage Lega Calcio Serie A’s broadcasting rights from 2021, the international trademark for the league and its commercial development. The agreement will also include the construction and maintenance of stadiums across Italy through a new infrastructure fund, partly financed by CVC.

While CVC had been given six weeks to exclusively negotiate a deal, the draft terms were subject to further discussions.

If agreed, the deal would expand CVC’s growing portfolio of sporting interests while radically transforming the finances of Italy’s top football league, which has fallen behind rivals such as the English Premier League and Spanish La Liga in terms of revenue and global audiences.

Financing costs and administrative barriers have limited Italian football clubs’ ability to build stadiums and maintain existing ones. AS Roma’s plans to build a €300m stadium outside the capital city have been thwarted over the past four years by a number of issues, including corruption investigation.

Likewise, AC Milan and Inter Milan have struggled to gain approval for the renovation of their 95-year-old stadium in the City.

At a time when Covid-19 has plunged Italy into another recession, the deal ISSUE TEN ★ JUNE 2020

would be a revolution for the if the league decides to institutionalise the building and management of stadiums.

The buyout firm has a long history in sports dealmaking, including Formula One, MotoGP and England’s Premiership Rugby.

CVC have recently agreed a deal to buy a minority 28 per cent shareholding in Pro14, an annual club tournament between rugby sides in Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales and South Africa. Pro14 bosses have been in long-term discussions with CVC after the firm bought a stake in Premiership Rugby in December 2018, a deal worth more than £200 million for a 27 per cent stake. The deal will bring major investment of around £120m, that will benefit the Irish, Welsh, and Italian Rugby Unions that form Celtic Rugby DAC, which runs the league. The

investment will be distributed as an equal share across all four partners with each union receiving £30 million each. However, CVC’s proposed £300m investment in the Six Nations has stalled.

The private equity group has previously shown an interest in acquiring assets in football, holding talks with FIFA and Spain’s Real Madrid last year over funding new global football competitions- projects which have since been abandoned.

CVC’s exclusivity period to agree a deal with Serie A will expire at the end of June, shortly after matches are scheduled to resume after the suspension caused by the Covid-19 crisis.

KPMG estimates that Serie A stands to lose between €550m and €650m in broadcasting, sponsorship, and ticketing if the season were to end with not further matches played.

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CITY FOOTBALL GROUP ADDS BELGIAN SIDE AS NINTH CLUB City Football Group has agreed the acquisition of Belgian second division Football Club, Lommel SK to expand its portfolio.

The investment further grows CFG’s global presence and focus on developing clubs, academies and players. As part of CFG’s network of clubs, Lommel SK will contribute to and benefit from the sharing on knowledge and experience.

Lommel SK, currently in the Belgian second division, plays its home games at the city-owned 8,000 capacity Soevereinstadion in Lommel, the province of Limburg. Renowned for a strong Academy and focus on youth development, the history of the Club dates back almost a century.

Ferran Soriano, Chief Executive of City Football Group, said: “We are excited to welcome Lommel SK to City Football Group and to work together with the fans and the city to develop the Club. Belgium is one of Europe’s best football countries as demonstrated by the success of the national team and the development of world-class players, some of whom we

“This investment is part of our long-term strategy to be present in key football countries, play beautiful football and develop talent” know very well, like Kevin De Bruyne and Vincent Kompany.

“This investment is part of our longterm strategy to be present in key football countries, play beautiful football and develop talent. We were attracted to

Lommel’s culture, training facilities and commitment to youth development and we look forward to learning from their approach and helping the Club to evolve in the months and years ahead.”

Last month, l’equipe reported that City Football Group were in ‘advanced negotiations’ with for investment into French Ligue 2 side AS Nancy suggesting that the significant increase in TV rights for French football is a likely factor in City Football Group’s interest in the country’s football clubs, with AS Nancy not the only side to have been approached by investors.

City Football Group want to increase their standing and influence in European football to help them with the balance of power in the continent’s football, following Manchester City’s recent UEFA ban.

The deal was set for completion in March, but talks were put on hold after the lockdown. With Ligue 2 now cancelled, it is unknown when the deal is likely to be completed but CFG may still be close to adding a tenth club to its portfolio.

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INVESTMENT

Property investing in the Middle East: Why Dubai?

Dubai gleams as a progressive beacon of political stability and prosperity in the Middle East, showcasing these fundamentals to the world to become the ideal destination for foreign investment and real estate buyers.

WORDS: ALEX MCLEAN

The Emirate is now seen as a critical global gateway to the rest of the world, due to its geographic position, where it is uniquely located to act as a hub for accessing Asia, the Middle East and Africa – all key future economic growth centres. Twothirds of the world’s population live within an eight hours’ flight time, further enhancing its leading global financial and business hub status.

Aside from the glorious weather, luxurious lifestyle and low tax benefits, Dubai has firmly established itself as a global hub city yet continues to develop its infrastructure in order to position itself as the world’s smartest and most liveable city.

However, given the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, even the most optimistic thought this momentum was likely to come to an abrupt halt. While activity has certainly slowed, there is still considerable purchaser appetite. In the year to April 2020, off-plan transaction volumes increased by 5.0%, whilst property transactions decreased by 5.0% when compared to the same period a year earlier. Month-on-month off-plan transaction volumes in April 2020 fell by 8%, whilst ready property transactions ISSUE TEN ★ JUNE 2020

fell by 68% over the same period. With physical viewings no longer possible during such a time, off-plan transactions volumes have likely increased due to developers thinking quickly and introducing virtual-reality viewings for their clients.

Why is buying in Dubai a great investment opportunity?

Dubai is a major hub strategically placed between the Middle East / Asia and Africa, with daily direct flights throughout Europe. The Emirate also benefits from tax-free earnings, a very high standard of living and year-round sun, which all add to the appeal of this iconic metropolis, coupled with its status as one of the safest cities in the world.

What are the benefits of owning real estate in Dubai?

Tax-free earnings, as well as investment yields of 5 to 8% dependant on the property location. The majority of Dubai property developments are relatively new, with the oldest development only 12 years old.

What are the cons?

The market can be very volatile in terms of prices; however, this is where using an experienced real estate broker / brokerage like Knight Frank helps.

What is the process of buying a property in Dubai?

It is a very simple process. On a resale property, once a price is agreed, a contract is signed by both parties and the transaction involves the seller paying any outstanding service charges after which a transfer of the title deed is done. If banks are involved, then valuations or clearing of liabilities are completed before the transfer, but it is advisable a professional conveyance company is used for the process.

An off-plan purchase is done directly with a developer with payments linked to construction, with some developers offering post-handover payment plans.

How ‘tax-free’ is Dubai?

Your salary earnings are not taxed and neither is any property rental income.

How to determine which is the right property for me?

Prices vary greatly as Dubai has grown exponentially, with both city and urban living, so it depends on the type of lifestyle you are after.

What can I expect from the Dubai lifestyle?

Year-round sun, stunning beaches, incredible restaurants, buzzing nightlife, fantastic shopping experiences and a diverse cultural mix of people.

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Super-prime property developments Globally exclusive to Knight Frank Middle East, The Royal Atlantis Residences are set to become one of the most coveted global addresses and this new ultra-luxury Resort & Residences, located on the iconic Palm Jumeirah, will feature architecture from the finest international designers and benefit from uninterrupted views of both the Ocean and Dubai’s iconic skyline.

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This elegant haven sits high up above the waters of the stunning Arabian Gulf and represents Dubai’s first ‘superprime’ branded residences, with residents enjoying their own private entrance, a 90-metre-high infinity swimming pool, private infinity pools and terraced gardens, and enjoy cuisine from world-renowned Michelin Star chefs.

Ref: dub140137

One of our most exquisite Dubai properties is this stunning beachfront villa with five bedrooms, a swimming pool and spectacular sunset views over the open sea.

This brand new contemporary masterpiece sits on the stunning Palm Jumeirah and has been meticulously rebuilt, extended and finished, using the most exquisite furnishings.

It affords open water views to the crescent, with panoramic views of the iconic Atlantis Hotel and the new Royal Atlantis Residences. This property really does need to be seen to appreciate the extravagance firsthand and is an exceptional example of Dubai’s super-prime, luxury property market.

Ref: dub012035063

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INVESTMENT

Barnsley FC majority shareholders acquire Belgian outfit After prolongated negotiations, American investment group Pacific Media Group (PMG) has become the new owner of struggling Belgian first division side, KV Oostende.

The acquisition becomes the third investment into European football

by Pacific Media Group, who also own a majority stake in Barnsley FC and Swiss Super League outfit FC Thun, while they failed to buy Scottish Championship side Partick Thistle last year.

In 2017, former owner and billionaire businessman Marc Coucke left Oostende for Anderlecht and ever since the club has been struggling financially, owing Coucke €6.2 million, labouring under a skewed salary structure, stadium rent, and an operational deficit of €9.6 million in the 2018-2019 season. On the field, Oostende were entangled in a relegation battle before the Belgian league was suspended with one match day remaining on the calendar.

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But the new deal marks a lifeline for Oostende. “This ensures the future of KV Oostende,” wrote the club in a statement. “We are currently working serenely and hard on our license dossier, which will be submitted to the BAS on Monday, May 4th. After obtaining the license, more extensive communication will take place.”

Pacific Media Group’s bid to buy Thistle was thwarted due to guidelines put in place by the Scottish Football Association preventing the ownership of multiple clubs.

Reports last month suggested that Barnley’s co-Chairman, Paul Conway, has since made tentative approaches to clubs in the top-flight of the Scottish Premier League - with the Scottish Football Association to compromise

over dual ownership to attract investment to stricken Scottish clubs hit by the coronavirus shutdown, Speaking at the time, Conway said: ‘We want to take this opportunity in the current environment to say to clubs in Scotland, we are open for business.’

We are hearing there might be more flexibility with regard to dual ownership, which might be a good thing during this difficult period for clubs.

‘We can move fast for the right opportunity in the Scottish League and we are open to creative deals.’

“We would look to bring the same methods we employ with our other clubs such as Barnsley - which is a young team, data-led, balancing a budget sensibly. We would look to run a club as a proper business.”

RECRUITMENT

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Current Vacancies Each month PSN will be promoting job vacancies across the world of professional sport. If you have a vacancy you would like to promote, please contact enquires@premiersportsnetwork.com.

Academy Director - Blackpool FC Location: Blackpool, England Salary: Competitive Closing date: 3 June

Commercial Manager - Formula 1 Location: London, England Salary: Competitive Closing date: Ongoing

Planning and Integration Coordinator Qatar World Cup 2022 Location: Doha, Qatar Salary: Competitive Closing date: 11 June 2020

Finance Assistant - Manchester City FC Location: Manchester, England Salary: Competitive Closing date: Ongoing

Performance Director - LTA Location: United Kingdom Salary: Competitive Closing date: 14 June 2020 Trustee - Palace for Life Foundation Location: London, England Closing date: 19 June 2020 England Women’s Senior Head Coach Location: Burton-on-Trent, England Salary: Competitive Closing date: 25 June 2020 Group Leader Infrastructure Management and Production - FIFA Location: Zurich, Switzerland Salary: Competitive Closing date: 26 June 2020 Stadium Configuration Coordinator - FIFA Location: Zurich, Switzerland Salary: Competitive Closing date: 26 June 2020 Commercial Sales Manager - Harlequins Location: United Kingdom Salary: Competitive Closing date: Ongoing

Head of Player Health Administration MLS Location: New York, USA Closing date: Ongoing Director, Partnership Marketing - MLS Location: New York, USA Closing date: Ongoing Senior Vice President, Business Affairs MLS Location: New York, USA Closing date: Ongoing Director, U.S. Soccer Partnership - MLS Location: New York, USA Closing date: Ongoing Senior Coordinator, Business Operations - MLS Location: New York, USA Closing date: Ongoing Manager, Partnership Marketing - MLS Location: New York, USA Closing date: Ongoing

TO ADVERISE IN ON THE FRONT FOOT CONTACT

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