Here is a good question: what is the cultural product whose value rises through economic troughs and changes in fashion and leisure, and no matter the general state of the national or global economy? Answer: Premier League football on television.
The bidding war has already begun for the next round of Premier League TV rights from 2016, covering a new three-year period. In January, it was suggested that bringing forward the blind auction in which bidders make hidden
offers for various match packages was a piece of "commercial opportunism" by the Premier League.
Why risk a future fall in football's popularity if you can strike early, when likely bidders are already lining up?
The value of domestic rights to Premier League matches from 2016 is argued to rise to over £4 billion. This is good news for clubs because, unlike in some competitor leagues in Europe, the TV deal here is still centrally negotiated and TV income is spread relatively evenly between the elite. Even if they finished rock bottom of the Premier League in the new era, a club such as Leicester City would still clean up more than £100 million a season – just from TV.
Technology giants
Competition is driving up the value of TV rights: BT Sport is desperate to compete with Sky Sports for domestic football rights and even American technology giants such as Yahoo, Apple and Google have all been rumoured (perhaps by the Premier League) to have shown "interest" in the new round.
But increased competition was also supposed to benefit the consumer, though it is sometimes unclear exactly how. Top live TV matches are now divided between platforms and there is little sign of the still dominant Sky Sports reducing its subscription prices, even as its hold on sporting rights diminishes and live matches appear elsewhere.
In 1992, the CEO of the Premier League, Rick Parry, claimed that selling live rights exclusively to satellite TV would help keep ticket prices down for active fans. This proved to be cynical wishful thinking – maybe the ticket price reductions can start now? Perhaps we need a ceiling on agent fees and top players' vast salaries: this is, after all, where most of the TV money ends up.
The FA's recent report on the urgent need to improve grass roots facilities in English football and to rapidly increase the number of qualified coaches here also looks like a suitable case for funding.
Maybe some of the new TV money could be directed down below? The alternative is salary inflation and more "failing" Premier League clubs risking ruin, despite their huge TV income. It seems like a no-brainer, doesn't it? Watch this space.
John Williams is senior lecturer in the
University of Leicester's department of sociology.
