Football. Insane and sickening.

Teetonetal

Transfer prices have always been on the silly side but the figures being banded about this window are insane.

Decent but not world beating players like Lukaku are being attached to 70 million plus transfer fees. Players with limited pedigree and virtually no winners medals like Eric Diet are now 50 million plus. 

It's loopy. I am amazed that football can sustain this. I am also amazed that the general public can stomach it. For so much talk of austerity and poverty, right there with so many supporters is one of the most obscene businesses.

underdog

I dread to think what everton are going to be paying a barely functioning Rooney for the next few years 

Dominic

Never mind that.......
 I heard on radio programme yesterday that Ronaldo gets paid £308,000 for every Instagram post he makes and is the 3rd highest internet media earner in the world.

holnrew

Dominic said:

Never mind that.......
 I heard on radio programme yesterday that Ronaldo gets paid £308,000 for every Instagram post he makes and is the 3rd highest internet media earner in the world.

And he still cheated on his taxes

guitarfishbay

It's sport, it's fantasy for most and reality for few... just so long as none of these guys ever say they got bored during a match and didn't try their hardest it'll all just continue

Bellycaster

It is a bitch, really. If only Rupert Murdoch could have sold mediocre Guitar Solos to the world, I'd be a chuffing Billionaire.

I'm only guessing here, but most of the people who react to this (and I'm not saying the OP is one) are the ones who fund it by chucking the money at it that it relies to sustain itself.

Stop feeding it if you don't like it!

Bellycaster

News Flash!

The renowned Guitarist of Pink Floyd, David Gilmour, has been sold for a record breaking £875.24 to a promising new band from Scotland called..... The Bay City Rollers.

Teetonetal

Bellycaster said:

It is a bitch, really. If only Rupert Murdoch could have sold mediocre Guitar Solos to the world, I'd be a chuffing Billionaire.

I'm only guessing here, but most of the people who react to this (and I'm not saying the OP is one) are the ones who fund it by chucking the money at it that it relies to sustain itself.

Stop feeding it if you don't like it!

I like football but not enough to pay to watch it. Ice Hockey and mountain biking are my thing.

frictionfraction

Skys football subscription numbers are decreasing.  If this continues they will bid less for football rights and hey ho wages and transfer fees go down... Oh.. and we return to the 1970s..  mud, grim football, violence..

Fuengi

The average player budget for the entirety of the 24 League 2 clubs will be less than Man United will spend on signing Lukaku, let alone his wages. Not even their most expensive player! 

It's like buying a Gibson - you know it should be good, but it's going to cost an awful lot and you hope it doesn't break. 

CabbageCat

It's their money. If they think an asset is worth investing in then I don't see why we should have a problem with it.

Of course, I will always think it's terribly unfair that Man U doesn't only spend £74m on Lukaku and buy me a nice gold fridge with what they have saved, but that's because I'm a jealous, greedy, selfish whiner like the rest of humanity.

quarky

Transfer prices don't matter while the money in football is on an upward trend. When was the last time a club like United has a sustained decrease in revenue? So it makes sense to spend money now because it will cost more to buy the same thing in the future. On top of that, it is all relative. So £x for Lukaku is probably less of a gamble than £x+20% for Morata who has no premierleague experience. 

frictionfraction said:
Skys football subscription numbers are decreasing.  If this continues they will bid less for football rights and hey ho wages and transfer fees go down.

So unless the fall in Sky viewing figures continues (or the loss in revenue is not covered elsewhere), transfer prices will increase and the only sensible approach is to spend. I cancelled my Sky Sports package when it went up to £7.50 a month. It is over £20/month now apparently.

Iamnobody

Bellycaster said:

I'm only guessing here, but most of the people who react to this (and I'm not saying the OP is one) are the ones who fund it by chucking the money at it that it relies to sustain itself.

Stop feeding it if you don't like it!

I stopped following the pro game over 20 years ago...

I don't even watch the international fixtures.

Generally though I don't think your average fan cares. Blinded by loyalty and wrapped up in the tribal mentality of following 'their' team.

mike_l

The club will soon recoup the money spent on playerX.
The club will sell X-number of season tickets. WIth these tickets the fan will also spend in the club shop, buy a pie at half time and drinks (on match-day).
The club will sell shirts with playerX's name on the back, at £50/time.
PlayerX being on the team sheet will help sell the left-over publically available match tickets.

Premiership (and spanish/German/Italian/American) football these days is a global thing so shirt sales etc are worldwide and not limited to a 30mile radius of the club.

Rocker

I expect that the gate receipts represent a very small percentage of a football clubs annual income. Shirt sales, TV etc is what keeps the club afloat. The football part is almost incidental......

chrispy108

No it isn't Rocker, because if the football part isn't good, then the rest falls away (although it will take a while).

People around the globe have no issue with paying £50 for a shirt, £20 a month for TV, £50 for a match ticket, £5 for a hot dog etc etc (If they did have an issue, they'd stop doing it). So football is collecting  a huge sum of money.

Therefore the money should be going to the players, as they're the product.

Does anyone have an issue with Brad Pitt etc earning a huge chunk of a films revenue? So why are people outraged by footballer's salaries?

mike_l

chrispy108 said:
Therefore the money should be going to the players, as they're the product.

Does anyone have an issue with Brad Pitt etc earning a huge chunk of a films revenue? So why are people outraged by footballer's salaries?

Personally I'd like to see a cap on player wages. Something like the NFL where individual wages can be anything, but total wages cannot be above either a set amount or a percentage of the clubs income. This should stop individual clubs buying all the top players and (effectively) buying their success. I'm well aware it won't eliminate this completely, but should help make things a little fairer.

Teetonetal

chrispy108 said:

No it isn't Rocker, because if the football part isn't good, then the rest falls away (although it will take a while).

People around the globe have no issue with paying £50 for a shirt, £20 a month for TV, £50 for a match ticket, £5 for a hot dog etc etc (If they did have an issue, they'd stop doing it). So football is collecting  a huge sum of money.

Therefore the money should be going to the players, as they're the product.

Does anyone have an issue with Brad Pitt etc earning a huge chunk of a films revenue? So why are people outraged by footballer's salaries?

Transfer fees, not salaries.

I'm just surprised that in this era of austerity footballers, who aren't proven at the top level,  command such high fees. 

I'm also quite surprised people are willing to pay so much to watch it. Few clubs have any real aspirations to actually win much. Leicester and possibly athletico being the exceptions.

TheBlueWolf

Given what laughingly passes for football in this country I'm surprised any of them get paid at all. I'm utterly astounded that most of them can do anything, yet alone kick a ball.

@chrispy108 no I don't resent actors being well paid at all. If nothing else, the likes of Brad Pitt, etc have talent, work hard for their cash and deliver. Show me one English footballer who is worth their exorbitant wage, ta

mudslide73

The product is at the centre of the industry and they're paid the going rate. I'm not keen on Ed Sheeran or Katy Perry but I don't begrudge them their wages. 

quarky

TheBlueWolf said:

Given what laughingly passes for football in this country I'm surprised any of them get paid at all. I'm utterly astounded that most of them can do anything, yet alone kick a ball.

@chrispy108 no I don't resent actors being well paid at all. If nothing else, the likes of Brad Pitt, etc have talent, work hard for their cash and deliver. Show me one English footballer who is worth their exorbitant wage, ta

That is just silly. If they were not considered to be worth their wages, they wouldn't be employed, just like anyone else.