With the January transfer window open, speculation on player movement is once again rampant. Every fan is eager to see who their club will buy/sell, while every blogger wants to be the one to pass along the rumor that turns out to be true. Over the course of the next month teams will be linked with players they have no interest in, and a large portion of players will be set to join multiple teams (if you are to believe the reports). Not all transfers and transfer rumors are created equal, meaning a select few will capture the footballing world’s attention; perhaps none more so than the fate of Championship team Crystal Palace’s young starlet Wilfried Zaha.
Zaha has become a hot commodity with sparkling performances
domestically, as well as recently catching the eye of England manager Roy
Hodgson. His meteoric rise has prompted a legion of fans, writers, reporters,
and managers to comment on which top Premier League team will earn his
signature. Zaha has come out recently suggesting he would like a greater
challenge and would be ready for a move to the Premier League, but has somewhat
contradicted that by offering to stay the rest of the season to help Crystal
Palace get promoted. The latter would be the best case scenario for both club
and player for a myriad of reasons. For Zaha it will offer him a chance to play
meaningful football and show clubs he can handle the pressure of being counted
on to perform, and for Crystal Palace their chief gain will be financial. The naiveté
that comes with being a football fan means that we often forget that this is a
business and clubs are in it to make money first and foremost. Crystal Palace
is no different.
Some will try to argue that Crystal Palace would be smart to
take the rumored £15m that Zaha is currently worth as his
value likely won’t get much higher, but they would in fact be foolish to make
such a move when Premier league promotion is within their grasp. Promotion is
every clubs dream and it certainly has its benefits. Last season the Premier
League brought in an estimated £1.17b in TV revenue from overseas sales
that after deductions netted each team a cool £18.7m. In addition to the
overseas revenue, each club then nets money from domestic sales. This money is
split three ways; an equal share, facility fees, and a merit payment. The equal
share came to £13.78m. Next, the facility fees were paid based on how
many TV appearances a club had (every team is guaranteed at least 10), with
each appearance equaling roughly £522,000. This means the pay range from the facility
fee went from £5.2-£13.4m. Lastly is the merit payment which is
awarded based off of the clubs finish in the league. Last place Wolverhampton
took home £755,000, while champions Manchester City raked in an
astonishing £15.1m. All told teams made anywhere from £39m-£60.6m
just from TV money.
Crystal Palace is surely aware of how much they stand to
benefit from promotion to the Premier League, and are undoubtedly taking this
into account. As stated, the figures above represent only the TV revenue and
don’t include the gains from ticket sales and merchandise. The question now
becomes do Crystal Palace have a long term plan in place that could see them
succeed financially, or will they cash in for a short term fix? This fan hopes
they see the big picture.
Credit to NYTimes & @SportingIntel for figures
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