TV right money as the main driver of change in football
The most crowded space at Siingapore airport is the Football Screen Lounge. Everytime I pass it, it is hard to get a seat. Obviously football is a wonderful travel partner.
Today, in every corner of this world, the coverage of international football on the screens is all over. Not a single day, where we can not follow live football, expert shows and interviews. A global party of entertainment, sponsorship and advertisement. All sport freaks are exposed to this global machine at all times. In professional football a gigantic increase in television revenue has led to a completely different football business as it has been even just 10 years ago and it is certainly not comparable at all with the times of superstars like Pelé, Beckenbauer or even Maradona. Player transfer monies, astronomically salaries and endless sums of sponsorships hit the daily news. And the trend still seems to show into the direction to further growth. The increasing focus on TV consumers in emerging markets allows more and more opportunities. Sport is one of the best marketing and advertising catalyst for the global corporations in their race of brand awareness.
Who can collect as much television money, of course, has more opportunities to invest in high quality players. No wonder that the Premier League clubs can afford the highest salaries - and not just the top clubs. Even clubs in the rear third of the table collect more money for TV rights than the top club FC Bayern Munich in Germany. In Europe, the football continent number 1, there is a massive shift in the practice of player transfers. Football clubs as well as the behavior of football players changed significantly since the TV funds have grown so massively. It will be intersting to see how this will continue in the coming years. But one thing is obvious, the competition between the different national leagues for more TV right money, the best players and global awareness has reached a new level of aggressiveness. We will see strategic and innovative strategies in the global race for a global fan base.
