11 December 2010

The Football Association faces a battle to protect its £183m annual income from television and sponsorship
after UEFA began plans to centralise the sale of marketing and broadcast rights for European Championship
and World Cup qualifiers.

 UEFA plans to follow a model such as that used by the Premier League, where
broadcast rights are sold collectively and then distributed among member clubs. The move could shrink the
earning power of Europe's biggest football nations as it would see all monies generated from television and
commercial deals shared between the 53 member associations. The plan was a primary element of talks at
the UEFA executive-committee meeting in Prague. It is believed that England, Spain, Germany, France and
Italy have serious concerns about how the situation may develop. "The big-five nations are up in arms about
it," said a source with knowledge of the proposals. It is understood that the particular sticking point from
those nations' point of view is the scheme's sponsorship element. The FA's commercial partnerships are
worth £50m a year, and it is unlikely any collective deal could yield that amount for English football.
Nonetheless, despite clear opposition also from Germany on the sponsorship issue, UUFA has not yet
definitively withdrawn that from its plans. The FA refused to comment. The plan was devised by the Scottish
head of UEFA events, David Taylor with the intention of raising the overall value of television properties.
There would also be economies of scale: currently UEFA member associations engage sports-rights
consultancies to assist in striking their commercial and broadcasting deals on an individual basis. Taylor's
proposal would lead to a single point of sale, significantly reducing the continent-wide overheads.
One senior sponsorship consultant reinforced UEFA's enthusiasm for the plan, telling the Guardian that "all
our brands would go crazy for it". The FA wants to know more detail, and the impact the developments will
have on its finances will be determined by how evenly revenues are shared among the 53 UEFA nations.
Here the FA faces a particular challenge, and it is understood to have engaged with the other four major
football nations in an effort to ensure that their voice is heard in the negotiations. The political structure of
UEFA ensures a one-member-one-vote system that reduces the voice of individual nations, even those who
are Europe's highest earners. The plan stems from a proposal generated by the smaller and medium-size
nations which informed UEFA they want more security of revenue. Those federations' executives are
frustrated by a system that currently ensures their incomes are set by the lottery of qualifying-tournament
draws.{jcomments on}

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