The BackPage Weekly | BackPage round-up after another huge week for the football industry
By Jonny Madill, Daniel Geey & Louisa Botha
It’s been yet another significant week of developments in the football industry – especially for those in or around the business of football.
Court decision favours agents
Firstly, yesterday’s decision in favour of football agents blocking the implementation of the FIFA agent regulations is obviously big news – but given the full decision has yet to be published, there remain more questions than answers around what will happen next. What we do know is that yesterday’s decision means that neither the cap on service fees or the restrictions around payments only being made quarterly, comply with UK competition law. This means the FA is prevented from implementing the cap / payment schedule restrictions in its NFAR. The wider question is whether:
FIFA accepts defeat, removes the offending elements from its overarching rules and moves ahead with its licensing system;
retreats to the status quo of national associations enforcing domestic rules; or
goes back to the drawing board with an entirely new approach.
New club-owned structure to lead professional women’s football into a new era
This week’s BackPage, however, focuses on the news from Tuesday of this week that the Barclays Women’s Super League and Barclays Women’s Championship clubs in England have unanimously agreed to a new club-owned entity (NewCo) to lead the women’s professional game into a new era, from the 2024-25 season onwards.
This will mean a shift from the current status quo (whereby the Football Association being in control of England’s top two leagues, the WSL and Championship) to a new regime where the clubs will become shareholders of the organisation.
Charlotte Harpur’s in-depth piece in The Athletic is a recommended read for this week, but we’ve set out below a summary of what exactly we can expect, based on what we know so far:
Whilst Championship clubs initially rejected the new structure, all 24 clubs subsequently voted in favour of the new regime. A working group of 10 club representatives (the All Professional Game Working Group) had been set up by the FA to develop the long term vision for elite women’s football in England, which was overseen by Nikki Doucet, formerly of Nike and CitiBank. Doucet will be NewCo’s CEO and it will have its own dedicated board, just like any other league entity.
This has been brewing for a number of years, with it being no secret that the FA has been open to a move towards an independent entity for some time. The vote was not just in relation to going ahead with NewCo, but also set out a number of proposals. These covered in many of the governance and commercial rights issues that any football or indeed sports rights holder need to consider: regulatory and governance frameworks; how revenue will be distributed amongst member clubs; the voting rights of shareholders (clubs); the centralisation of commercial agreements. It has been reported that the proposals envisage a 75:25 per cent split between WSL and WC clubs in relation to commercial and broadcasting revenues.
Comparisons are unsurprisingly being made to when the Premier League in the men’s game was formed in 1991-92. There are some notable differences, however, as ‘NewCo’ has been largely a collaborative process between the FA, clubs and other stakeholders.
The plan is to have the new structure in place for next season – the 2024-25 domestic season.
Rebecca Smith of Crux Sports, had this to say about what the new structure could mean for the women’s professional game in England and further afield:
I’m excited about the NewCo that’s been in the works for a while now and who finally announced their new CEO, Nikki Doucet. If done correctly, it can be a positive step for the women’s game in England. Specifically, it can allow for a more business driven focus and ideally take the lead and drive further research and thought leadership around player health, medical topics, referee support and fan engagement.
The news didn’t stop there either. It was also reported that the proposed takeover by Mercury 13 of Lewes FC was called off too.
Deloitte report on 2024 women’s sport predictions
Finally, Deloitte has released its annual report predicting the revenue growth of women’s sport globally. The headline is that global revenue is predicted to surpass £1 billion. Other insights include:
Commercial revenue is identified as a leading growth driver for women’s sport globally, followed by broadcast revenue and matchday revenue. This contrasts with men’s sport where broadcast revenue is the primary contributor.
The US and Europe forecast as the largest geographical markets for women’s sport, with football and basketball projected as the most valuable sports.
Valuations for teams and leagues expected to rise, with several teams’ values predicted to exceed $100million in 2024.
The virtuous circle of investment is at the core of driving value in women’s sport; more investment leads to professionalisation, generating a better, and in turn more valuable, product.
The unbundling of rights: expected growth in standalone sponsorship deals for women’s teams especially in women’s football.
Individual sponsorship in women’s elite sport is likely to remain a key income source for athletes.
Deloitte predicts visibility and accessibility of women’s elite sports will rise with the delegation of more prime-time slots, and the increasing use of major stadiums to host matches leading to increased attendance and, in turn, greater matchday revenue.