CONFRIMED: Latest rumours Confrimed as Unconfrimed

[RG30]

The US investors will always want to make money, and that means aiming for the top league. Interesting to listen to the US Bournemouth owner last night on his plans, and the Birmingham City expansion plans. We already have the stadium, but needs more use. Buy the land around the ground from the Thais, buy Smallmead, develop a retail park and let this then fund the investment in the football future. Its a big bet, but doable, as once in the Premier League you have to make money, and the investors get their payback.

Easy to write down, but needs cojones.

I think what we'll see from US influence is turning the matchdays into money making machines. I've been to some US sports games like baseball and NHL, and modern stadiums are designed for you to spend time and money in, with vendors competing for prime spots. Spurs' new stadium is similar, and they have pre match and post match entertainment there. Forget your pub routine; spend all your time and money at the ground. Especially as all the pubs nearby Spurs are dives.

In the context of Reading, buying the land back off the Thais and doing the REP development would be the obvious way to do this.

Wouldn’t they need to get out of the Compass contract to that ? We were heading in exactly that direction with Blue Collar but Compass pointed to their contract and killed it. I can’t see how it’s a money maker for them and after all these years a change of catering is well over due….

Last I heard Compass are gone this summer and aren't coming back.

[Crusader Royal]

I think what we'll see from US influence is turning the matchdays into money making machines. I've been to some US sports games like baseball and NHL, and modern stadiums are designed for you to spend time and money in, with vendors competing for prime spots. Spurs' new stadium is similar, and they have pre match and post match entertainment there. Forget your pub routine; spend all your time and money at the ground. Especially as all the pubs nearby Spurs are dives.

In the context of Reading, buying the land back off the Thais and doing the REP development would be the obvious way to do this.

Wouldn’t they need to get out of the Compass contract to that ? We were heading in exactly that direction with Blue Collar but Compass pointed to their contract and killed it. I can’t see how it’s a money maker for them and after all these years a change of catering is well over due….

Last I heard Compass are gone this summer and aren't coming back.

I’m almost prepared to pay for a big flag to wish them and their substandard over priced food farewell !
Let’s hope the club show a bit of imagination with a new offering.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Now safety in L1 is pretty much guaranteed, I wonder how quickly the takeover will move. The expectation of EFL checks was 3 - 4 weeks (I think they mentioned this to STAR) and we're about 2 weeks in. What else is likely to be a deal breaker? I always thought the biggest threat on the buyers side was the risk of relegation. There is always the "Dai is a cnut" on the selling side, but the charge over Bearwood hopefully mitigates that - he has given away leverage.

The stadium's community asset status could potentially cause a hold up between exchanging and completion, but if we get that far it's basically done. Plus it's owned by a separate entity so wouldn't need to hold up sale of the club itself.

[mikey_1871]

Now safety in L1 is pretty much guaranteed, I wonder how quickly the takeover will move. The expectation of EFL checks was 3 - 4 weeks (I think they mentioned this to STAR) and we're about 2 weeks in. What else is likely to be a deal breaker? I always thought the biggest threat on the buyers side was the risk of relegation. There is always the "Dai is a cnut" on the selling side, but the charge over Bearwood hopefully mitigates that - he has given away leverage.

The stadium's community asset status could potentially cause a hold up between exchanging and completion, but if we get that far it's basically done. Plus it's owned by a separate entity so wouldn't need to hold up sale of the club itself.

Wouldn't have thought the community asset status would affect anything. Presuming the new owner's intention is for the football club to play at the stadium (we assume this is the case!) then there is no need for this to be varied and the status runs with the asset, not the owner.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Now safety in L1 is pretty much guaranteed, I wonder how quickly the takeover will move. The expectation of EFL checks was 3 - 4 weeks (I think they mentioned this to STAR) and we're about 2 weeks in. What else is likely to be a deal breaker? I always thought the biggest threat on the buyers side was the risk of relegation. There is always the "Dai is a cnut" on the selling side, but the charge over Bearwood hopefully mitigates that - he has given away leverage.

The stadium's community asset status could potentially cause a hold up between exchanging and completion, but if we get that far it's basically done. Plus it's owned by a separate entity so wouldn't need to hold up sale of the club itself.

Wouldn't have thought the community asset status would affect anything. Presuming the new owner's intention is for the football club to play at the stadium (we assume this is the case!) then there is no need for this to be varied and the status runs with the asset, not the owner.

The statement says there is a 6 week notification period if Dai ever wants to sell it, unless the sale qualifies for an "exemption". Nothing on RBC's website specifies what an "exemption" is, but another council has a list. It includes things like gifting the asset, a sale if Dai dies etc., but the most relevant is a sale of land on which a business is carried on alongside the sale of said business.

Assuming the same exemption exists in Reading, you're right that the protection won't slow things at all.

So that takes us back to just EFL checks or one of the parties changing their mind.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

The parties will need to go in depth into expensive legal and financial analysis, that then gets reviewed, amendements proposed and negotiated, projections and models created etc. etc. Most of this I assume will not have been done before exclusivity because lawyers and accountants cost a lot of money.

God knows it can take two months to get a simple change to a basic business process to signed off, let alone buying a football

I think it's probably right that the EFL checks are a formality, as Howe said only those who would fly through would be taken seriously, and I tend to trust him.

Safety in League 1 can only help, but don't read too much into there being no news. We will, I'm afraid, have to be patient.

[Snowflake Royal]

The parties will need to go in depth into expensive legal and financial analysis, that then gets reviewed, amendements proposed and negotiated, projections and models created etc. etc. Most of this I assume will not have been done before exclusivity because lawyers and accountants cost a lot of money.

God knows it can take two months to get a simple change to a basic business process to signed off, let alone buying a football

I think it's probably right that the EFL checks are a formality, as Howe said only those who would fly through would be taken seriously, and I tend to trust him.

Safety in League 1 can only help, but don't read too much into there being no news. We will, I'm afraid, have to be patient.

Unlike prior to exclusivity, we're now in a period where no news is good news. Because the only news there could be right now is bad.

Give it another 2-3 weeks before news could be anything but bad imo

[Lower West]

My tuppence worth! I think that the Americans (as in Wrexham) are attempting to draw locals back to the game, Wrexham has good transport links to both Liverpool and Manchester. How often can they get tickets to see the big clubs and the cost associated with this, invest in a small club with big ambitions and as you can see it seems to be working (second in league 2 at the moment).

But why wouldn't you just go to Stockport or Tranmere?

Not Welsh teams. Wrexham has a large catchment area.

[rabidbee]

My tuppence worth! I think that the Americans (as in Wrexham) are attempting to draw locals back to the game, Wrexham has good transport links to both Liverpool and Manchester. How often can they get tickets to see the big clubs and the cost associated with this, invest in a small club with big ambitions and as you can see it seems to be working (second in league 2 at the moment).

But why wouldn't you just go to Stockport or Tranmere?

Not Welsh teams. Wrexham has a large catchment area.

Sorry, I thought you were suggesting people in Liverpool or Manchester could use those good transport links to watch Wrexham because they can’t afford PL games.

[tmesis]

My tuppence worth! I think that the Americans (as in Wrexham) are attempting to draw locals back to the game, Wrexham has good transport links to both Liverpool and Manchester. How often can they get tickets to see the big clubs and the cost associated with this, invest in a small club with big ambitions and as you can see it seems to be working (second in league 2 at the moment).

But why wouldn't you just go to Stockport or Tranmere?

Not Welsh teams. Wrexham has a large catchment area.

Wrexham itself is a small town though, and there isn't that large a population who don't have loyalties to bigger clubs.

Wrexham's highest average ever is 11600, and their crowds do seem to drop like a stone when the glory days tail off.

I would expect them to do challenge in League One next year, but buying their way out of the Championship will be much harder. Will the bandwagon jumpers stick around if they are mid-table? Will interest from TV viewers stay high without there being any drama?

[Sutekh]

Nothing new but a general summary of things currently:

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/readi ... -at-owner/

[From Despair To Where?]

But why wouldn't you just go to Stockport or Tranmere?

Not Welsh teams. Wrexham has a large catchment area.

Wrexham itself is a small town though, and there isn't that large a population who don't have loyalties to bigger clubs.

Wrexham's highest average ever is 11600, and their crowds do seem to drop like a stone when the glory days tail off.

I would expect them to do challenge in League One next year, but buying their way out of the Championship will be much harder. Will the bandwagon jumpers stick around if they are mid-table? Will interest from TV viewers stay high without there being any drama?

The problem Wrexham will have at Championship level is that their success so far has been built on having the core of the squad playing (and being paid) at a level 1 or 2 steps below their ability. They will not get away with that in the Championship.

[under the tin]

My tuppence worth! I think that the Americans (as in Wrexham) are attempting to draw locals back to the game, Wrexham has good transport links to both Liverpool and Manchester. How often can they get tickets to see the big clubs and the cost associated with this, invest in a small club with big ambitions and as you can see it seems to be working (second in league 2 at the moment).

But why wouldn't you just go to Stockport or Tranmere?

This is something that's close to my heart.
It must be so, so tempting just to follow the "big boys" in urban areas like Greater Manchester. I have a lot of time for folk who actually choose to forego the United's, City's and follow the Stockport's, Orient's, Tranmere's, Port Vale's, Rochdale's of this world. One of my customers, a very old boy in Lower Earley still regularly travels up to watch his lifelong love, Oldham Athletic.
I feel that people like that are my brethren, as in the early 1970's this nobber used to photograph and note down the numbers of locomotives at Reading General, and on a Saturday morning those days, platform 5 was always very well populated with those spending a mere 25 minutes or so on a train for the choice of Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, et al. That same Saturday afternoon, I was in the town end at EP, with another 4000 die hards.

[bcubed]

My tuppence worth! I think that the Americans (as in Wrexham) are attempting to draw locals back to the game, Wrexham has good transport links to both Liverpool and Manchester. How often can they get tickets to see the big clubs and the cost associated with this, invest in a small club with big ambitions and as you can see it seems to be working (second in league 2 at the moment).

But why wouldn't you just go to Stockport or Tranmere?

This is something that's close to my heart.
It must be so, so tempting just to follow the "big boys" in urban areas like Greater Manchester. I have a lot of time for folk who actually choose to forego the United's, City's and follow the Stockport's, Orient's, Tranmere's, Port Vale's, Rochdale's of this world. One of my customers, a very old boy in Lower Earley still regularly travels up to watch his lifelong love, Oldham Athletic.
I feel that people like that are my brethren, as in the early 1970's this nobber used to photograph and note down the numbers of locomotives at Reading General, and on a Saturday morning those days, platform 5 was always very well populated with those spending a mere 25 minutes or so on a train for the choice of Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, et al. That same Saturday afternoon, I was in the town end at EP, with another 4000 die hards.

I wonder if anybody trainspots these days

[From Despair To Where?]

But why wouldn't you just go to Stockport or Tranmere?

This is something that's close to my heart.
It must be so, so tempting just to follow the "big boys" in urban areas like Greater Manchester. I have a lot of time for folk who actually choose to forego the United's, City's and follow the Stockport's, Orient's, Tranmere's, Port Vale's, Rochdale's of this world. One of my customers, a very old boy in Lower Earley still regularly travels up to watch his lifelong love, Oldham Athletic.
I feel that people like that are my brethren, as in the early 1970's this nobber used to photograph and note down the numbers of locomotives at Reading General, and on a Saturday morning those days, platform 5 was always very well populated with those spending a mere 25 minutes or so on a train for the choice of Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, et al. That same Saturday afternoon, I was in the town end at EP, with another 4000 die hards.

I wonder if anybody trainspots these days

[Crusader Royal]

My tuppence worth! I think that the Americans (as in Wrexham) are attempting to draw locals back to the game, Wrexham has good transport links to both Liverpool and Manchester. How often can they get tickets to see the big clubs and the cost associated with this, invest in a small club with big ambitions and as you can see it seems to be working (second in league 2 at the moment).

But why wouldn't you just go to Stockport or Tranmere?

This is something that's close to my heart.
It must be so, so tempting just to follow the "big boys" in urban areas like Greater Manchester. I have a lot of time for folk who actually choose to forego the United's, City's and follow the Stockport's, Orient's, Tranmere's, Port Vale's, Rochdale's of this world. One of my customers, a very old boy in Lower Earley still regularly travels up to watch his lifelong love, Oldham Athletic.
I feel that people like that are my brethren, as in the early 1970's this nobber used to photograph and note down the numbers of locomotives at Reading General, and on a Saturday morning those days, platform 5 was always very well populated with those spending a mere 25 minutes or so on a train for the choice of Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, et al. That same Saturday afternoon, I was in the town end at EP, with another 4000 die hards.

There is a whole ecosystem of fans
Last weekend Plymouth Parkway played Swindon Supermarine. Both teams had die hard fans who had chosen their team rather than the bigger ( but hardly glamorous) teams in their city/town.

[Hendo]

Wrexham has an incredible curry house - https://www.ijazzwrexham.co.uk/

That's all I have to add.

[Fox Talbot]

But why wouldn't you just go to Stockport or Tranmere?

This is something that's close to my heart.
It must be so, so tempting just to follow the "big boys" in urban areas like Greater Manchester. I have a lot of time for folk who actually choose to forego the United's, City's and follow the Stockport's, Orient's, Tranmere's, Port Vale's, Rochdale's of this world. One of my customers, a very old boy in Lower Earley still regularly travels up to watch his lifelong love, Oldham Athletic.
I feel that people like that are my brethren, as in the early 1970's this nobber used to photograph and note down the numbers of locomotives at Reading General, and on a Saturday morning those days, platform 5 was always very well populated with those spending a mere 25 minutes or so on a train for the choice of Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, et al. That same Saturday afternoon, I was in the town end at EP, with another 4000 die hards.

There is a whole ecosystem of fans
Last weekend Plymouth Parkway played Swindon Supermarine. Both teams had die hard fans who had chosen their team rather than the bigger ( but hardly glamorous) teams in their city/town.

The missing point of this post is surely that the match was played at HUNGERFORD - or are we meant to guess that from the poster's name?!

[Clyde1998]

But why wouldn't you just go to Stockport or Tranmere?

Not Welsh teams. Wrexham has a large catchment area.

Wrexham itself is a small town though, and there isn't that large a population who don't have loyalties to bigger clubs.

Wrexham's highest average ever is 11600, and their crowds do seem to drop like a stone when the glory days tail off.

I would expect them to do challenge in League One next year, but buying their way out of the Championship will be much harder. Will the bandwagon jumpers stick around if they are mid-table? Will interest from TV viewers stay high without there being any drama?

I fully expect to hit a wall in League One, but agree they could challenge in League One next season (for the play-offs).

Interestingly*, they made a £5m loss in 2022-23 (National League), with turnover of £10m (so a loss of 50% of turnover). Their revenue sources will be an issue going forward. A breakdown of their turnover was:

by class of business

• Matchday Admissions - £2.84m (£2.40m in 2021-22)
• Matchday Commercial - £284k (£254k)
• Football - £1.31m (£531k)
• Retail - £3.43m (£1.30m)
• Sponsorship and Advertising - £1.88m (£1.05m)
• Stadium Hire and Catering - £702k (£429k)
• Other - £24k (£7k)

by geography

• United Kingdom - £7.84m (£5.30m)
• Europe - £55k (£14k)
• Rest of World - £2.58m (£657k)

All matchday, football and stadium related turnover will be in the UK. Retail and sponsorship revenue will be the only things that could be a source of revenue outside the UK.

That £2.64m non-UK revenue figure (Europe + Rest of World) implies around 50% of their retail and sponsorship sales come from outside the UK. It's likely that most sponsorship deals will be counted under the UK (as the primary sponsors will be kit and stadium). If all sponsorship is categorised as UK, then around 75% of their retail revenue is international.

As you ask, how long will those people realistically stick around for? This feels like a fad that will fade out, especially as there's only so much merchandising people can buy. They may sell a large amount of shirts initially, but a sizable percentage won't be buying a new one each season. Unless they get to the Premier League, it feels like the peak of their retail sales (perhaps this season will top it, certainly not next).

Additionally, international followers will struggle to maintain interest, as they won't have built up loyalty to the club that people who regularly go to matches (or have in the past) and/or live in the local area will have. A lot of them will lose interest naturally over time, as there'll be little to hold them - especially if they become a mid-table League One club with little for Netflix(?) to make documentaries about (as you've mentioned). For international followers it's merely a TV show, not a football club - people will be interested when it's entertaining, but will stop watching once it starts getting repetitive and move on to the next thing.

A decline in retail sales will be offset by increased broadcasting revenue, but suggests they won't significantly increase their revenue this season or in League One to allow them to have a playing budget beyond typical League One clubs which they had in the National League.

[WestYorksRoyal]

The Athletic estimates their revenue will hit c. £20m this season due to the US presence and sponsors that the TV series has generated. That's a mid table Championship budget. If they can hit those sort of levels, promotion from L1 is definitely achievable, but probably beyond them next season given the bulk of the squad was national league recently.