In the Press

[MOT1964]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/20 ... leven/amp/

Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani’s sports firm, Eleven Sports UK, is at risk of closure in a development which could have ramifications for the Championship club.

Radrizzani’s sports streaming service is in danger of shutting down after only four months, amid growing doubts over the financial viability of the company.

The 44-year-old Italian businessman is understood to have sought guarantees from insurers over financial assistance should the club still be in the Championship next season.

It is believed that Radrizzani has been unsuccessfully attempting to renegotiate deals with established pay-TV operators but Eleven Sports has considered the prospect of pulling the plug on its UK company.

It is claimed he owes up to £30million in rights fees to clients including mixed martial arts company UFC, Serie A, La Liga and the Eredivisie.

Telegraph Sport understands there could now be added pressure on Leeds to achieve promotion this season because of fears over cash-flow issues. Leeds insist that it is business as usual, and sources have said Radrizzani is in talks to restructure the UK company and is hopeful of finding a solution.

Under former Argentina and Chile manager Marcelo Bielsa, the club are second in the Championship, a point behind league leaders Norwich.

Radrizzani completed his full takeover of the Yorkshire club in May last year, replacing the controversial Massimo Cellino, and was recently believed to be one of the main agitators against the English Football League’s £595million TV deal with Sky.

The EFL agreed a controversial five-year contract with Sky which left several clubs, including Leeds, Derby and Aston Villa, “gravely concerned”.

Sky’s new terms represent a 35 per cent increase on the current arrangement, and the broadcasting giant will continue to show the EFL games (including play-offs), Carabao Cup and the Checkatrade Trophy until May 2024.

Radrizzani and representatives from other Championship clubs held a meeting in London late last month in a bid to challenge the deal, but at this stage, there has been no indication of their next move.

The crisis over Eleven Sports UK, known as the ‘Netflix of Sports’ is now likely to be Radrizzani’s main focus and official confirmation of its plans are expected in the next few days.

An Eleven Sports spokesman said: “Without carriage agreements with the existing platforms, alongside the challenges posed by rampant piracy, the current market dynamics in the UK and Ireland are very hostile for new entrants.

“We are in discussions with our rights partners, La Liga and IMG, about how we can restructure our existing agreements in order to continue our current OTT [streaming] service.”

In October, the digital-only broadcaster announced that it was to abandon its policy of screening European football games on Saturday afternoons.

Radrizzani had been under pressure for streaming games from leagues including La Liga and Serie A in the UK at “traditional” 3pm kick-off times.

A lifelong Juventus supporter, he launched Eleven Sports in April 2015 and earlier this year pulled off a significant coup by beating Sky Sports to the La Liga TV rights.

Meanwhile, Leeds’ opponents on Saturday, Bolton Wanderers, appear to finally be on the verge of resolving their wages crisis.

Bolton’s players have been promised they will be paid on Friday after a personal pledge from chairman Ken Anderson.

The salaries were originally scheduled for November 30 but Bolton’s players have not been paid and were understood to be considering strike action.

The Professional Footballers’ Association had been in talks with the club in a bid to thrash out an agreement but has pulled out after discovering Bolton have been issued with a winding-up petition.

Anderson met with the players on Wednesday and insisted the money would be paid into their bank accounts before the weekend.

Bolton have not won in the Championship for 11 games and Phil Parkinson’s future as manager is uncertain with interest from Reading.

[Austin91]

Apologies if this was the wrong forum to post this in, wasn't too sure where to put it.

Interesting article yesterday in the Guardian about Eleven Sports facing closure in the UK to lack of subscribers, and the return of several broadcast right contracts. It seems like Eleven Sports - and ultimately Radrizzani - overestimated the UK interest in overseas football broadcasting (and other sports) on a Netflix style subscription model that doesn't include regular tv broadcasting,

I wonder what, if any effect this will have on his cash flow (for LUFC) moving forward. Especially at a time when a bit of investment could really give us that final push.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/ ... our-months

[MOT1964]

I posted the article from the Telegraph about this in the 'In the Press' thread last night

[rss1969]

Not good this.

I am not a massive fan of Radz. In fact I think the majority of foreign owners (other than a couple of notable exceptions) have done more harm than good to English clubs.

This is a poor oversight. Why would English fans subscribe to Italian, French, Spanish or German football matches in large numbers? Surely the money to chase after is the other way around.

[Austin91]

Ah sorry - feel free to delete admins!

[Davycc]

Ah sorry - feel free to delete admins!

No don't delete them ! I think they do a pretty good job....occasionally.

[Wigan White]

Ah sorry - feel free to delete admins!

No don't delete them ! I think they do a pretty good job....occasionally.

[SCOTTISH LEEDS]

From the BBC Football website:-

Eleven Sports is trying to renegotiate its TV sports rights in the UK to online-only streaming deals.

Having won the rights to show La Liga and Serie A games earlier this year, the company was hoping to sub-licence the rights to broadcasting companies such as Sky, BT Sport and Virgin Media.

But a failure to strike a deal has led to the streaming platform to look again at its rights deals.

"We are in discussion with our rights partners," a spokesperson confirmed.

"Without carriage agreements with the existing platforms, alongside the challenges posed by rampant piracy, the market dynamics in the UK & Ireland are very hostile for new entrants," they added.

Meanwhile, mixed martial arts series UFC has pulled out of a deal with Eleven Sports, which was supposed to start in January, after the latter did not agree a contract to redistribute its events.

It is understood Eleven Sports is not in financial difficulties and the problems in the UK are in isolation rather than impacting on other markets in which it operates.

The company is owned by Leeds United chairman Andrea Radrizzani and the issues are not expected to affect the Championship club.

Sky held the La Liga rights, and BT Sport those for Serie A, before Eleven Sports signed three-year deals in May to show top-flight matches from Spain and Italy.

[Daz5]

This could have a big impact at LU !!

[lufctrav]

Taken from Through It All Together...

https://throughitalltogether.sbnation.c ... -worry-yet

The “UK arm” is the most important part of that statement about the future of Eleven Sports and any effect it will have on Leeds United, despite the doom and gloom that has seemed to accompany this announcement.

The fact is that Leeds United is not owned by Eleven Sports, nor is the fortunes of Eleven Sports directly tied to the financing of Leeds. Andrea Radrizzani might be the owner of Leeds and the chairman of Aser, the corporation that owns Eleven Sports and all of its arms, but the two accounts are not mixed in any fashion. If anything, the money that was borrowed to fund the Eleven Sports UK’s expansion might not get paid back to whatever lent the money to Eleven Sports UK, but beyond that, the other arms of Aser will likely not be impacted very much.