Coronavirus and pro sport

blazing_saddles

RichN95. said:

Tottenham have furloughed their non-playing staff in the same week that they announced operating profits of £173 million. They are mostly owned by Joe Lewis, a tax exile worth 4.5 billion.

Liverpool only made £43 million profit. They have also furloughed their non-playing staff.

But sure, it's the players' fault. Let's make the millionaires pay so the billionaires don't lose out.

Most teams aren't operating with those nice profit margins and that was then, not now.
So, the millionaires sitting on their backsides, indefinitely, should be exempt because their is someone higher up the food chain?
That applies to everybody who has either suffered pay cuts, or worse.
Most are, or were, earning a pittance too.

RichN95.

blazing_saddles said:

Most teams aren't operating with those nice profit margins and that was then, not now.
So, the millionaires sitting on their backsides, indefinitely, should be exempt because their is someone higher up the food chain?
That applies to everybody who has either suffered pay cuts, or worse.
Most are, or were, earning a pittance too.

They're not sitting on their backsides. They pay their taxes. They are involved in community projects year after year. Many grew up in third world countries and provide for entire communities. Unlike their owners.

This "outrage" came about on the day Tottenham (profits in excess of £300 in the last two years) furloughed non-playing staff. People expected the players to pay this difference, but why not the owners. Billionaires tax exile owners such as Joe Lewis and Lord Ashcroft.

They say that the players could give up as much as £500 million in wages. And where does that £500 million end up. The NHS? No. The club staff? No - clubs will still furlough. The fans? No. It will end up in the pockets of the owners who will spend it on transfer fees to replace the players who gave up their wages.

But the the media, owned by billionaire tax dodgers such as Viscount Rothmere, Richard Desmond and the Barclay brothers have successfully persuaded you that source of the country's ills is some working class kids made good and not them.

andyp

I concur with Rich, footballers, many of whom are working class and/or BAME, are a convenient scapegoat.

Meanwhile tax exile Richard Branson, worth £4 billion, is demanding the government bail out his airline.

blazing_saddles

So, as I said: footballers being asked to take a wage cut is to be viewed as a unique social injustice.
Okay.

TheBigBean

blazing_saddles said:

So, as I said: footballers being asked to take a wage cut is to be viewed as a unique social injustice.
Okay.

Have you taken a pay cut?

RichN95.

blazing_saddles said:

So, as I said: footballers being asked to take a wage cut is to be viewed as a unique social injustice.
Okay.

But who is the cut going to? And why should it be paid out of their wages rather than the huge profits of their employers?

pblakeney

I think you'll find that the profits are diminished somewhat for this period.

RichN95.

pblakeney said:

I think you'll find that the profits are diminished somewhat for this period.

So they'll have less to spend in the transfer market then. Maybe some players who are now expected pay the shortfall won't get replaced when the new season comes around.

blazing_saddles

I guess

pblakeney said:

I think you'll find that the profits are diminished somewhat for this period.

I guess that the acid test will be how long Sky and BT are prepared to fork out, or at least before they try to claim back the 1.5 billion cost of this blank screen season. Depends what is in the current contract I suppose.

Obviously clubs are currently losing gate revenue and subsequent sundries. It's not as if all the premier league clubs were in profit to start with, either.

TheBigBean

I am yet to receive a refund of my season ticket, so a lot of gate fees are still being collected in effect. That said, if they do cancel the season, I am expecting a refund although I doubt all clubs will do that.

Mad_Malx

Probably been done already, but have we discussed OOC doping for when things restart?

RichN95.

I see that Kyle Walker has given some of his wages to two local self-employed women and all he's getting is criticism.

blazing_saddles

RichN95. said:

I see that Kyle Walker has given some of his wages to two local self-employed women and all he's getting is criticism.

I would say that's the best way to make a difference.

Interesting article here on the state of a number of various clubs. Who owns what, who owes what, revenue generated etc.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/may/22/premier-league-finances-club-guide-2017-18-accounts-manchester-united-city

gsk82

RichN95. said:

I see that Kyle Walker has given some of his wages to two local self-employed women and all he's getting is criticism.

Criticism and has leg over.

pblakeney

RichN95. said:

pblakeney said:

I think you'll find that the profits are diminished somewhat for this period.

So they'll have less to spend in the transfer market then. Maybe some players who are now expected pay the shortfall won't get replaced when the new season comes around.

And those who's contracts are up for renewal may find the terms to be less favourable than they were.

blazing_saddles

gsk82 said:

RichN95. said:

I see that Kyle Walker has given some of his wages to two local self-employed women and all he's getting is criticism.

Criticism and has leg over.

Yes, it seems we now know how those two women are self employed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52175132

Pross

RichN95. said:

I see that Kyle Walker has given some of his wages to two local self-employed women and all he's getting is criticism.

Same with Aaron Ramsey. Newport charity feeding the homeless asked local businesses for money to pay their rent. Ramsey stumped up the £3k they needed and people criticised him as it's 'pocket change' for him. The local NHS then posted he'd given them £10k and he got the same response. I suspect the people criticising never give anything, money or practical support, to charities. The irony is that had he given nothing then no-one would have criticised him. I doubt he asked anyone to make his donations public and who knows where else he has tried to help out.

Also in local news, Luke Rowe has bough a new bike for a medic that had theirs stolen. I hope he made sure it was a top of the range carbon frame with Campag Record and a nice pair of Lightweight wheels or he's hoping to get some grief.

pblakeney

I think that was a whoosh to Blazing's post.

RichN95.

Pross said:

RichN95. said:

I see that Kyle Walker has given some of his wages to two local self-employed women and all he's getting is criticism.

Same with Aaron Ramsey. Newport charity feeding the homeless asked local businesses for money to pay their rent. Ramsey stumped up the £3k they needed and people criticised him as it's 'pocket change' for him. The local NHS then posted he'd given them £10k and he got the same response. I suspect the people criticising never give anything, money or practical support, to charities. The irony is that had he given nothing then no-one would have criticised him. I doubt he asked anyone to make his donations public and who knows where else he has tried to help out.

I think you may have missed my joke. It was a reference to the report that Blazing posted.

As for Ramsey, of course he plays for Juventus who have just waived four months wages

Pross

No, I got the joke but it gave me a link to the Ramsey thing.

blazing_saddles

Well obviously I didn't, being unfamiliar with Kyle Walker and his er...................pastime.

Tough times for F1.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/52175140

Hopefully, the 70% of the cycling team's wage packet they've now saved can help them pull through.

rick_chasey

The focus on footballers is just classic.

Poshos don't like them because working class lads shouldn't have lots of money, and working class folk are jealous because they do the job of their dreams for multiples per week that they make in a year.

Everyone's wipping boy.

kingstongraham

If the government wants footballers to have lower take home pay and for that money to go towards helping the NHS, they should raise taxes.

redvision

I don't think the issue is necessarily the ridiculous wages players get (the top players now), it's the fact that clubs are furloughing non playing staff (who, it could be argued, can actually still undertake more aspects of their jobs than the players are able to under the lockdown) who are paid a relative pittance in comparison to the playing staff/ directors etc, which will have hardly any impact on the club's financial situation at the moment.

What was the figure quoted last week... the total combined saving of all the staff spurs furloughed last week is less than harry kane earns in a week!

That's why there are calls for the top players to take pay cuts.

bobmcstuff

Someone I know well is a marketing manager at one of the premier league clubs.

They don't get paid a great deal - like other high profile industries (e.g., theatre) they seem to be banking on the fact that people will accept low wages for the privilege of working in football. She would have earned more if she had stuck with marketing for one of the big 4 accountancy firms, but I think she decided that trying to market tax advisory services was completely miserable.

And as above, she is still able to do most of her job. The players aren't able to do anything meaningful.

Her club seem to be taking a stand and saying they will continue to pay salaries, so she's OK for now.

kingstongraham

redvision said:

What was the figure quoted last week... the total combined saving of all the staff spurs furloughed last week is less than harry kane earns in a week!

That's why there are calls for the top players to take pay cuts.

I can understand that from the outrage merchants in the press, but I don't know why it should be on the mind of the health secretary.

redvision

kingstongraham said:

redvision said:

What was the figure quoted last week... the total combined saving of all the staff spurs furloughed last week is less than harry kane earns in a week!

That's why there are calls for the top players to take pay cuts.

I can understand that from the outrage merchants in the press, but I don't know why it should be on the mind of the health secretary.

It's to distract attention away from the government, aided by the idiot players who have been caught breaching the lockdown.

blazing_saddles

Negotiations to start on a club to club basis, rather than across the board:

On Saturday the Premier League told senior players that a pay cut was required because the clubs faced losses of more than £1bn if the season could not be resumed.

But with players rejecting a league-wide proposal, they are now expected to ask their own clubs to explain more about the specifics of their finances before accepting any cuts or deferrals.

Some clubs are hoping that if executives and coaches accept pay cuts, it could help persuade players - who earn an average of £3.5m a year in the Premier League - to do the same by the end of the week.

Longshot

I suspect that the employment contracts of the non-playing staff may be less difficult to get out of/work around than the players'.

kingstongraham

Be crazy to do it as something consistent between clubs. Why would a Chelsea or Manchester City player accept a pay cut?