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Wanna Argument?
Falling out of love with football?
As the fallout from the collapse of ITV Digital refuses to settle, leaving the 72 Football League clubs in a state of financial uncertainty, we look again at the English football industry. What future is there for a professional game that has become used to ever-rising revenues, if the TV companies fall out of love with football?
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Catch the footie over the weekend? I see the big boys are running away with the Premiership again! |
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What do you expect? It's always going to be the same. The rich get richer and all that. It's all too predictable....Man U, Arsenal and Liverpool are at the top and will stay there. |
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I see that O'Leary's 'babies' have fallen flat this season. They were supposed to be the new Man U, weren't they? |
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Yeah, don't know how long Risdale's going to put up with it. Not after the way they've splashed the cash on players. |
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Where did all the dosh come from for that then? They must be up to their ears in debt! |
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End of the road, then, for some of their star players, or should it be 'babies'! |
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Looks like it, but where do they go from here? They'll have to stick to their plans until they get where they want to be. |
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Right. Any other short-cuts to football club heaven, then? |
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So, find yourself a millionaire with an ego to feed and, bingo!, you've got a chance of your club making the bigtime? |
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Yeah, and a little bit of re-organisation of the club makes it a viable business until you get there. |
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Like Wimbledon, trying to re-locate to get more fans coming through the turnstiles? |
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Uh huh, or Rushden and Diamonds. |
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To merge or to move?
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'Trouble is, these stories all forget one thing: football's not a 'pile it high, sell it cheap' type of business. Clubs exist because supporters turn out week in, week out, to watch them play. |
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That's right. Marketing and business planning don't matter to fans. Even winning is irrelevant at times. Sure it's nice to have a good team to watch. But in the end it's the feeling that the club is a part of you that's important. |
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Taking 'ownership' of clubs to another level
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So when are we going to see you down at the Park, then, supporting your local Division 3 team? |
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As soon as the plug's pulled on my ITV Digital service, that's when! |
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