Another big “crisis” meeting for the Premier League today .. main issues being how to finish the current season , presumably in June and July. There are no good options due to public health concerns, logistics and - from the PL clubs point of view - money.
Why do they want to finish the season? The main motivation is money .. the clubs would have to pay back to the broadcasters 100s of millions of pounds .. not to mention lawsuits from just about all the parties involved.
Any, and or all options are moot if we are still in a health emergency come summer time .. what’s more, this effects all the clubs in the football pyramid - not just the PL.
So putting on my prognosticators cap ..
Option 1 : Finish the season behind closed doors in June and early July.
Pros: avoid, paying back TV money, Avoid legal issues from relegated clubs , maintains the league pyramid structure
Cons: empty stadiums, player health from a packed schedule , logistical issues if neutral sites have to be used (the World Cup model)
So . if they can’t finish then what to do about the current season? Do they null and void or simply declare it’s done and dusted (as seems to be happening in Belgium) . These all have the TV money problem.
Option 2: Null and Void the season
Pros: nobody gets relegated.
Cons: nobody gets promoted , teams in the Europe spots that weren’t previously there are robbed - causing a multitude of lawsuits up and down the pyramid not to mention seriously pissed off fans.
Option 3: Declare the season finished .. current standings are the final standings.
Pros: pyramid structure is maintained. Fans are happy as the integrity of the competition is confirmed.Lawsuits would be minimized
Cons: some clubs are relegated despite schedule imbalances.
Option 4: a hybrid of option 3. I think this is what actually happens if they can’t finish.
- Declare the current standings as final. CL and EU positions are honoured.
- No clubs are relegated but all promotions are honoured
- This results in a 23 team PL .. annoying but can be managed. 2020/2021 season will have 5 relegated clubs , but only 3 promotions - restoring the structure.
Pros: no lawsuits . League’s competitive integrity is maintained. Fans are happy.
Cons: logistical problems due to the odd numbers of teams.
Note.: On the TV money problem .. this is going to be a real hit but compromises from everyone involved will minimize it I think.
- One assumes the large majority of the TV money is from subscription based services - that is, companies that have already received much of this money from current paid subscriptions ( in my case DAZN ) which they are highly unlikely to pay back - so they have lots of room to compromise from a financial health point of view.
- the Players are still being paid .. there is lots of room here for sharing the pain ( at least at the PL level)
- the clubs still have other sources of revenue
Getting all parties to agree is going to be tricky of course. But it’s not in anyone’s interest to see marginal teams being destroyed.
I really miss footy.