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Morris Leading Rebellion Against Football League


therealhantsram

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Strange no mention of this story yet...

Not surprising an Internet Billionaire want to shake up football by using Internet to distribute content instead of traditional media. What's particularly interesting this that this comes a week after the news that DCFC are pulling out of the Football League website & mobile app deal to go it alone.  I do wonder if Mel sees a money making opportunity there.

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6 minutes ago, Daz_The_Ram said:

I do wish he'd keep his mug out of the papers. 

What an unusual response? Morris hasn't gone to or had any interaction with the papers about this. This is another club leaking something then not having the balls to say which club they are from. Mel is doing something behind the scenes to benefit the club, and someone somewhere else is broadcasting it, should he sit, locked in a tower, and only allowed a single person in so he can sign some cheques? :blink:

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4 minutes ago, rynny said:

should he sit, locked in a tower, and only allowed a single person in so he can sign some cheques? :blink:

Yes. Pretty much.

To my mind, chairmen should be seen, and not heard. Their egos are big enough as it is. I simply do not trust football club owners and chairmen/whatever you call them ... who are constantly in the media. I don't like it.

Just my take on things.

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35 minutes ago, therealhantsram said:

Strange no mention of this story yet...

Not surprising an Internet Billionaire want to shake up football by using Internet to distribute content instead of traditional media. What's particularly interesting this that this comes a week after the news that DCFC are pulling out of the Football League website & mobile app deal to go it alone.  I do wonder if Mel sees a money making opportunity there.

He is absolutely right though.

Below the Premier League, supporting Football League clubs is a personal passion. They're not easy, and they're not always fun, but they're something that is probably part of who you are.

Some Football League clubs are often also based in towns rather than the PL's reliance on London, Liverpool and Manchester, or places that a lot of people move away from. I know a number of Blackburn fans for example, but based on their example, but they and their mates moved out of the area to Manchester, London, Sheffield, Liverpool etc for jobs/uni etc.

So they buy a shirt and see a few games each year, but there's not really a way to give the club more money. I think each club has a real market there, and it's willing to give them direct income.

Why can you not bung Derby directly a set figure each year and watch games via streaming that hit a certain attendance threshold? I believe the NFL does this to some success.

There's probably some money to be made for Mel if he can come up with a streaming platform that works for fans. Look at the success of Twitch!

 

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1 minute ago, Daz_The_Ram said:

Yes. Pretty much.

To my mind, chairmen should be seen, and not heard. Their egos are big enough as it is. I simply do not trust football club owners and chairmen/whatever you call them ... who are constantly in the media. I don't like it.

Just my take on things.

So you avoid the whole of my post and the fact that Morris hasn't been to papers and just focus on satirical conclusion.

He is trying to advance the club, increase the income we receive, all behind the scenes yet that isn't good enough for you because ANOTHER club has leaked information to the papers on what Morris is working on.

I am sure if we didn't hear anything from, or on, Morris people would be moaning, oh wait they have already when things were going poorly under Pearson.

 

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18 minutes ago, Daz_The_Ram said:

Yes. Pretty much.

To my mind, chairmen should be seen, and not heard. Their egos are big enough as it is. I simply do not trust football club owners and chairmen/whatever you call them ... who are constantly in the media. I don't like it.

Just my take on things.

But he's not constantly in the media. 

I can't remember the last time I heard from Mel to be honest. And as someone has just said, this is about him, not said by him.

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25 minutes ago, Kennington Ram said:

He is absolutely right though.

Below the Premier League, supporting Football League clubs is a personal passion. They're not easy, and they're not always fun, but they're something that is probably part of who you are.

Some Football League clubs are often also based in towns rather than the PL's reliance on London, Liverpool and Manchester, or places that a lot of people move away from. I know a number of Blackburn fans for example, but based on their example, but they and their mates moved out of the area to Manchester, London, Sheffield, Liverpool etc for jobs/uni etc.

So they buy a shirt and see a few games each year, but there's not really a way to give the club more money. I think each club has a real market there, and it's willing to give them direct income.

Why can you not bung Derby directly a set figure each year and watch games via streaming that hit a certain attendance threshold? I believe the NFL does this to some success.

There's probably some money to be made for Mel if he can come up with a streaming platform that works for fans. Look at the success of Twitch!

 

Also, to finish the thought, what's the illicit viewership for each Derby game online? Particularly for Football League games.

I'm willing to bet a very significant amount of people watch each game via illicit streaming services compared to those who watch via Sky, Now TV, the Sky Sports day pass, or their other outlets when we're live.

If the club could capture even a tiny % of this in direct fees, it'd significantly improve our cash flow!

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Derby County chairman and owner Mel Morris has hit out at the Football League over their television rights deal.

Morris believes the Rams should be getting more money from televised games.

He has written a letter to all clubs in the EFL to ask for their backing in taking on the authorities.

The letter has also been sent to EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey.

Morris has called for more transparency after asking for full details of the League's TV rights agreements, only to be told that they are subject to a confidentiality clause.

"I am perplexed and worried by the lack of transparency we as member clubs have over major decisions taken," he writes.

"I expected that these contracts, which are worth millions to each of our clubs, would simply be provided freely and willingly. Sadly, this was not to be the case.

"Worringly, these contracts apparently included a confidentiality clause, implying that their contents cannot be shared with any of the clubs whose rights they exclusively determine. Why?"

Morris adds: "There is a simple, effective and low cost solution to this. I would like to solicit your full support to help me propose and vote for a resolution to amend the regulations and or articles of the EFL, to ensure total transparency in respect of all major dealings that have a significant monetary impact on our clubs.

"I firmly believe that such a change will be pivotal to maximising the full potential of our revenues in the short, medium and long term, and provides a much needed check and balance."

According to new figures, a televised Premier League game currently generates nearly £11m from the latest £5.1bn TV deal, while a Championship fixture brings in around £600,000.


http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/derby-county-owner-mel-morris-takes-on-football-league-over-tv-rights-deal/story-29952530-detail/story.html#vxG8wJ8Jf46gspTi.99

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1 hour ago, Daz_The_Ram said:

Yes. Pretty much.

To my mind, chairmen should be seen, and not heard. Their egos are big enough as it is. I simply do not trust football club owners and chairmen/whatever you call them ... who are constantly in the media. I don't like it.

Just my take on things.

What Mel is asking for is transparency.

It seems that you either do not agree, or if you do, then you feel that it should be somebody else making the point to the footballing authorities about the disparity between the TV rights money allocated to the Premier League elite (and by 'elite' I mean every club in the Premier League) and the crumbs which are allowed from the fat cats' laps down to the Football League clubs?

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56 minutes ago, Daz_The_Ram said:

Love that! 

The answer? Probably not ... I am a very bitter man, whose dreams have never been realised. ;-)

We noticed.

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1 hour ago, rynny said:

 

That made for interesting reading, and it's comforting to know that three months on, my opinion of certain posters hasn't changed.

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He is right. The sums don't match the demand. However it is more complicated than Championship clubs should earn half what Prem clubs do from a domestic deal because the viewing figures are half. There is room for an alternative to Sky. But someone or some group or organisation needs to buy the rights. Is he actually, through doing this, trying to convince the Football League and Championship clubs to go it alone. To setup it's own streaming network? Where the revenue comes from Ads and subscriptions. 

If they charged £10 a month for the 10 month season and they had 2 million subscribers that would generate £200m. Across 24 teams that would represent £8.3m for each club divided equally without accounting for costs. Then on top of that there is the possibility of ad revenue too. Instead of attempting to sell rights to areas and states like the PL currently does, they go the route of streaming services. A flat fee (or close to one) no matter where in the world you are. Such a platform could attract millions of subscribers. Millions who are either based in the UK or are Ex-pats. Never mind non Brits overseas who would bump up this figure. 

I wish Mel success in this. 

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Its clear that the current deal holds back potential from the likes of Leeds, Derby etc but I could see clubs with smaller stature not wanting to change (or being suspicious) that they'd lose out if the had to fight their own corner. 

Organization with many members and interests = hard to do good deals, promptly, transparently, without upsetting or buying off other parts of the organization.....

 

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2 hours ago, Kennington Ram said:

He is absolutely right though.

Below the Premier League, supporting Football League clubs is a personal passion. They're not easy, and they're not always fun, but they're something that is probably part of who you are.

Some Football League clubs are often also based in towns rather than the PL's reliance on London, Liverpool and Manchester, or places that a lot of people move away from. I know a number of Blackburn fans for example, but based on their example, but they and their mates moved out of the area to Manchester, London, Sheffield, Liverpool etc for jobs/uni etc.

So they buy a shirt and see a few games each year, but there's not really a way to give the club more money. I think each club has a real market there, and it's willing to give them direct income.

Why can you not bung Derby directly a set figure each year and watch games via streaming that hit a certain attendance threshold? I believe the NFL does this to some success.

There's probably some money to be made for Mel if he can come up with a streaming platform that works for fans. Look at the success of Twitch!

 

As an Australian-based lifelong Derby supporter, he is absolutely right.

I have been trying to interest the club in an international membership package for several years now. Part of my rationale was solely 'to belong' but it was also to quantify the level of active support to, one day, drive home the potential income stream from international streaming of games and other content. (Think the under-21s and women's sides too.)

In Australia, even the Premier League coverage is abysmal this season after a mobile phone company purchased it. Foxtel, our pay TV service, lost the rights but picked up the rights to re-broadcast Bein who broadcast anywhere between 0 and 3 Championship games a week. The coverage of Derby's been way down this season but, as someone else noted earlier, we do have a potentially valuable commodity in the games with Forest (and other midlands sides). Joining with Forest and promoting the daylights out of the Brian Clough connection could significantly grow prestige and profile.

I know this won't be everyone's first choice but, initially, bundling content between clubs might be the first step; say, market Derby and Forest games together, or midlands' football clubs (or Derbyshire). Even something along the lines of the original FA member clubs (a bit esoteric I acknowledge).

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2 hours ago, Daz_The_Ram said:

Yes. Pretty much.

To my mind, chairmen should be seen, and not heard. Their egos are big enough as it is. I simply do not trust football club owners and chairmen/whatever you call them ... who are constantly in the media. I don't like it.

Just my take on things.

Would you prefer he didn't write a letter and take a stand against the FL? That's all he's really done, he isn't the one that went to the papers.

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