The Rolling Football Thread: Season 2025/26 - thread 2

[DuncinToffee]

Previous thread

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/sports/5383976-the-rolling-football-thread-season-202526?page=40&reply=147893728

You might be right that players might prefer not to fly all over the world and settle for lower wages in the PL, but considering that so many of the best players are happy to keep the Chelsea bench warm because of the wages that Chelsea are able to offer, then I doubt it.

Most players do not know how long their career will last and so will tend to go for the highest salary within reason.

Lots of players have to fly overseas for international matches any way. If they objected to flying that much then they would just stay in their home country.

It will significantly widen the gap between the top 6 or so clubs and the rest and I don’t believe that would be good for the league at all.
I agree it’s similar to the European super league idea- maybe good for the top few but potentially a disaster for everyone else.

Yes that’s true of course. Never understood it at this level. Even the lowest paid premier league player is earning enough for life. When Brighton were league 1/2 I understood the need for players to maximise their earnings as the amounts weren’t comparable

I don't think it would be a disaster for the fans to have one game overseas and if there is a lot of money in it, it might take the pressure off the clubs having raise domestic ticket prices (unlikely, but you never know).

But the point is that we can't be left behind if the other leagues do it.

But how would it be good for English football? I can maybe at a push see the argument that it would be good for premier league football (although as above I don’t believe the gap growing is good for the league) but I can’t see an argument at all for it being good for English football as a whole?

It would be a disaster to my mind because it moves even further away from football being about the fans and the connection with clubs towards football being about money. To me that is a disaster

But the more money you have, the more money you need to maintain your standard of living and for things like security.

Ronaldo is the first billionaire footballer, but I can guarantee that he wants even more.

But football is all about money now and you can't put the genie back in the bottle.

Money is all that matters because if you don't have money, you can't buy the best players.

But match day revenue does not just benefit the clubs, it bemefits the wider community.

It will be a disaster imo

But I don't think it would be money for English football, it would only go to the teams selected. It would go down badly with the fans who wouldn't be able to go - even if the clubs offered to pay their travel and accommodation not everyone would be able to, nor would want to, go.

The reason the Premier League is so successful (apart from marketing), is the competitiveness of the league. On any day, the bottom team can pull out a surprise win over the top team, and that makes it far more exiting than PSG telephoning a win in every week.

The passion of the fans is also something that attracts viewers from around the world, and turns them into fans.

Yes, I agree it would, but having the money to buy the best players is the only way that the PL can stay ahead. The money that the PL receives from broadcasters around the world has reached a peak and is actually going down on a per game basis, so we need to look for new sources of revenue.

Yes the competitiveness was what I was getting at

Doesn’t mean we need to make it any worse than it already is

meh.
i am a season ticket holder, if my club go and play one of the home matches elsewhere i won't be able to see it.

That is not rewarding my loyalty.

The Bundesliga wouldn't dare, anyway, so that's moot.

But if the rich clubs just want ever more and more money, they can push off and form their own league.

I must also say that I am not sure if PL willl actually be a success in america. Don't think there is any call for it-they have "soccer" there but are not that interested.

NFL def a hit here but Americans fly over for it and a trip to england- I think @Tiswa said her DS a fan of NFL-mine is as well-he took off work for the Super Bowl and went to a sports bar in london that showed it but I just dont see Pl being a hit in america.

PL plays so many more games than NFL. I worry about the impact on the players and I also think it is another sneaky way to scoop off the top and leave the rest behind.

It is a no from me but I fear for the future...

edited to say season ticker holder-if that adds relevance

good point. With the Wednesday fiasco, the smaller businesses who live largely from sales around matchdays are really suffering. So take away one match and it happens to the businesses and concession owners at the bigger clubs.

Football isn't just about business, it is about the fans, the community, the club. And anyone who doesn't understand that is an armchair fan and i don't have to listen to what they spout.

Yes, I agree that the fact that there are around 8 "big" clubs in the PL is important as most of the other European leagues have only one or two dominant clubs.

But if the European clubs start earning megabucks then they will be able to buy the best players and it will adversely affect the PL as a whole.

Yes, from what you have said about the set up in Germany, I don't think it would ever happen as the fans wouldn't allow it.

It’s a huge no from me as well. Normal fans are already being priced out of the game and it’s moving further and further away from its roots as the game of the working class, playing big money games abroad will only make that worse. I don’t think the PL need to do it to compete with the other leagues, the cash isn’t running out any time soon.

Great (expected 🤦🏼‍♀️) win for the Gulls this weekend @Cuwins, I dunno why we don’t all just agree that Danny Wellbeck can have one at least in the scoresheet before kick off and just take it from there 🤣

Sensational goal from Wolte-messi though, after another successful hate watch of Isak today I can only conclude we got the better end of the stick. Just need the rest of the team to click now!

Well, I think some money trickles down from the PL to lower leagues.

Also, it is more that if the don't do it then it will be bad for English football because the PL clubs won't have the money to invest in their academies if people around the world stop watching the PL because all the best players are now in La Liga.

But the money is running out in the PL. Broadcasting rights have reached a peak and are now going down.

😂 funny thing is your not the only club who says he always scores against you! Just watching match of the day and they said at 34 he is about to pass the point of scoring more goals in his 30’s than he did in his 20’s- that’s an impressive achievement.

But it will get a lot worse for the PL if we are left behind and for English football.

A small amount does trickle down yes (despite the top clubs best efforts!). However I don’t believe lower league clubs would agree that PL academies are a good thing for them- if the academies weren’t there where would those players be? Yes they get to loan the players but if the academies didn’t exist then many more players would be playing in lower leagues and clubs would be able to sell them up the leagues. I might be wrong but that’s my thought process.

@MustTryHarderAndHarder I just don’t think actually having a game in the US will help though.

NFL is actually a far more fascinating game than I thought and bringing it over here does open up the market - there are rumours that a London franchise based at Spurs may be an option (or moving one as you can in the NFL!) and there is a lot of scope to open the market

NBA I think to a lesser extent

Soccer though is pretty much everywhere having a game in the US is t going to bring more fans in MLS has been going awhile there is no more room

Plus given how badly the la liga move is going it will be interesting to see if they do it again and the impact it has