Town chief executive Simon Clegg has warned that Championship clubs will find themselves £750,000 a year poorer as a result of the new Sky deal announced earlier in the week. The deal, which runs from 2012 to 2015, is worth £195 million in total, a drop of £69 million from the previous terms.

Sky will show 75 live league games per season, plus the play-offs, Carling Cup fixtures and the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, but the new arrangement will see the BBC’s TV coverage of the Football League end.

Clegg says that with around 80% of the revenue going to Championship clubs — 12% goes to League One and 8% to League Two — it’s the second tier which will be hit the most by the reduction: “It will affect us all, but it will be in the Championship that it will be felt the most.

“In the current climate this looks a good deal for the Football League. But the fact is it represents a 26% drop from the last deal.

“The market place has changed substantially, and it is a very different economy for clubs.

"With the consequent loss of tension in the market place, without having BBC, ITV and Setanta bidding, the bottom line is we will get £766,000 per annum less and so we need to cut our cloth accordingly.”

The Blues chief executive says clubs will certainly notice the shortfall: “I cannot believe £750,000 plus per annum will not have an impact on how people run their businesses. And much of our outgoings relate to players’ wages and transfers.

“Clubs will not be willing to give out large contracts and this could impact on players. People will act accordingly but I cannot believe that 24 clubs in the Championship will collectively be able to accept a loss of £18 million. Clubs will have to focus their minds even more on their finances.”

Photo: Action Images

TractorMan added 09:12 - Apr 6 A little bit of mindgames with the agents perhaps (David Norris's in particular), mentioning reduction of income and not such big contracts? I know it doesn't kick in until 2012/13 season, but could be a clever move by Clegg?
0

Matteo_Sereni added 09:17 - Apr 6 the words 'Clegg' and 'clever' have never been used in the same sentance before! And that goes for our Cheif Exec and indeed the DPM!!
0

MaySixth added 09:21 - Apr 6 Well Mr Clegg we will just have to get promoted then.
0

itfc1981 added 09:25 - Apr 6 yes we will be up by then, and Clegg will have gone.
0

Weekender added 09:25 - Apr 6 Matteo Sereni: I'm willing to bet that Clegg has achieved far more in his career than you.
0

bedsitfc added 09:26 - Apr 6 Is this clegg being clever or is this a way of letting us know we may not get all that we want in the summer.
0

dirtydingusmagee added 09:32 - Apr 6 oh well suppose you could whack admission price up 26% Cleggy,
0

clive_baker added 09:57 - Apr 6 Amazes me how people come on here and criticise Clegg. Most of them will know nothing about the ins and outs of the commercials at ITFC and how they are handled by Clegg. The contract situation shouldn't have got to this stage but ultimately he has to protect the interests of Marcus Evans while backing Jewell to the best of his ability.
0

CavendishBlue added 10:05 - Apr 6 Matteo_Sereni You have no idea hoiw these things work.Even a halfwit can't get to where he has got in buisness without knowing what to say and how to say it. I have met Clegg , Evans and the DPM so take your comments with a pinch of salt as I suspect that you haven't a scooby as to what they are really like.
0

jas0999 added 10:19 - Apr 6 bedsitfc - I agree. I don't think these comments will convince Norris' agent to accept a pay cut for his player nor do I think it's Clegg's intention. I suspect it is a way of saying we will need to cut back on signings/player wages. But as someone pointed out - hopefully with a decent push, backed by Clegg/ME THIS Summer, we will be in the PL by the time this deal comes through! I am afraid I disagree with other posters. Although I have never met Clegg, I don't rate him very highly - although I am sure he is an okay type of guy. From what we have heard in both Roy's/PJ's time at the club, he has failed to seal a number of deals for players.

0

Bluetone added 10:44 - Apr 6 So it looks as if we will be back to the same old ways the manager lines them up Clegg scuppers the deals.
0

Matteo_Sereni added 10:50 - Apr 6 oh how i do like to wind people up of a morning!! It is such a good sport! Have a good day 'weekender' and 'cavandish blue' congratulations on meeting all three! Your life must now be complete! Where has all this Clegg support come from? Let's seal some deal first!
0

50yearsablue added 10:59 - Apr 6 Matteo, you're not too clever either if you can't even spell 'chief'. Plus, your attempts at humour aren't funny and sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. I agree with some posters about knocking Clegg with no knowledge of the situation or the person. He is constrained by budget the same as we all are in life and he cannot seal deals if the circumstances are not right. He has achieved more in his lifetime than most of us on here ever have or will.

0

cats_whiskers added 11:42 - Apr 6 Sad to say that the bleedin gulf between "Premiership" and Football League is getting wider that it's almost at the point of being insuperable. If the BBC aren't going to show highlights after this current deal ends then what chance have we got of seeing local football round-up on the box regularly. I for one am sick of Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea etc being rammed down our TV throats.

0

Mungo added 13:12 - Apr 6 Disappointing, but a sign of the times I suppose. Can't blame Clegg for this one! Hopefully we will be able to plan ahead so the impact shouldn't be any more severe for us than any other club... Not surprised the BBC didn't bid again. Their scheduling of the League highlights is ridiculous!
0

stringtheory added 13:29 - Apr 6 A word of thanks to all on here who understand that Simon Clegg is not a one man band, totally responsible for all financial dealings, player signings (or not!) plus any random event that doesn't benenfir the club in some way. I for one was really excited when I first heard that he was coming here. Check out this man's achievements on wikipedeia. This club will not fail because of him but hopefully will suceed with his help and our support.

0

brogansnose added 15:07 - Apr 6 Whatever your viewpoint of clegg is, it is a fact that all clubs will have a smaller slice of the cake and that revenue will have to come from somewhere or from economies which will surely have to be from inflated wage and agents fees. Football as it is simply not sustainable for those outside of the big 5 or 6 and less exposure for those outside of that top echelon which which has further impacts accross the board for football as we know it or how we would like it to be. At some point football will implode and the" wonderful product" that the FA and Sky are so proud of will dissapear up its backside. Against Modern Football

0

WickedBlue added 15:46 - Apr 6 I think people are really missing the real point of all this. It is going to further erode the gap between Premiership and Championship football. In the end we will finish up like the American leagues a Major league (Premier) and a Minor league (Championship) with all the rest of the leagues going to the wall. There will be no promotion or relegation out of these leagues.......It what the big clubs Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool have wanted all along with their demands for the Premier legaue............. you can probably add a few more clubs like Man City to that list...........

0

Skip73 added 15:52 - Apr 6 I hate bleedin Sky, they said the other day that it was 'great' news, great news for who exactly.
0

stringtheory added 17:00 - Apr 6 Mighty changes would be required to stop the madness and widening gap. How about a law that prevents a club from buying players any new players if the club has made a trading loss in the previous year? It would take a while for things to settle down but think about it, every club would have to live within its means, paying out in wages (the biggest expense) no more than it could afford from income. That would even things up nicely and even clubs like Chelsea would be on an even par with ipswich.

0

debenhamsteve added 17:09 - Apr 6 cats_whiskers - I couldn't agree more. I hate Sky and will never invest in it. Mungo - I think it is very sad the BBC aren't continuing their coverage. They are doing a very good job. It is easy to see the Football League Programme by recording it or watching on iplayer or you can pick highlights by individual club online. You don't have to stay up 'til midnight. Duh!

0

Mungo added 18:55 - Apr 6 debenhamsteve - I think you may have missed my point re the BBC. I actually enjoy the Football League Show, I just think it would get more viewers if it were moved to a more sociable time of the day! Wickedblue - Couldn't agree with you more. The 'big' clubs have far too much influence on the game now.
0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls