Chapter 398 Let’s see who will kill whom!

It was already past midnight when we returned to Southampton from Bucharest.

As soon as everyone in Southampton arrived at Southampton Airport, they did not go to Staplewood, but went directly to Wangjiang Pavilion.

Huang Tianshun and others had also received the news early and had already prepared a sumptuous celebratory banquet to welcome the team.

Soon, the entire Wangjiang Pavilion was in chaos.

There were a thousand members of the Saints Fans Club, people from all over Southampton, plus guests invited by the team. The whole scene was bustling and lively.

Zhuang Ziqing didn't like such occasions, so Yang Huan directly asked Long Wu to take her to the villa in Southampton.

He stayed in Wangjiang Pavilion and celebrated with the guests and players.

He drank so much that he even forgot how much he had drunk.

Yang Huan didn't get away until Scudmore came and invited him to talk outside.

The two of them did not go out, but walked directly along the Test River in the open-air restaurant area of ​​Wangjiang Pavilion.

"Southampton has developed rapidly in recent years. I heard that the renovation of the old city is about to start. It will soon be a big change."

Skudmore said with a sigh.

Yang Huan smiled faintly and did not comment.

The Premier League is actually like a management company that is responsible for the operation of the Premier League.

And Scudmore is the CEO of this management company.

In simple terms, he is the steward of the Premier League.

His power is given by the 20 Premier League teams.

However, Skudmore has been in charge of the Premier League for many years, and the period during which he was in charge was precisely the most successful period of commercial development for the Premier League, so Skudmore has a significant influence in the Premier League.

But if he wants to make any major decisions, sorry, he doesn't have the power to do so.

That would require convening a meeting of all Premier League club owners or executives.

This is the Premier League Chairman's Summit held every three months

To give the simplest example, the winter break.

The top teams are eager to have a winter break and have been calling for it for many years. Even Scudamore agrees with it, but it just can't be implemented. The reason is that the majority of the mid- and lower-level teams don't care about your plan.

You top teams have to fight on multiple fronts, you have to consider European competitions, but we don't.

We mid- and lower-level teams only have to take care of domestic cup competitions. We don’t even have a chance to participate in cup competitions. We only have to play in the league and don’t have much pressure. Pressure is the business of you top teams. Who asked you to fight on multiple fronts?

Can't stand it?

If you can't stand it, don't open up so many fronts. Who forces you to do that?

I hope you have a bad record.

So, when the vote was taken, the majority voted against the winter break.

Sometimes, things are so troublesome and so interesting

When Skudmore saw that Yang Huan didn't say anything, he smiled bitterly in his heart.

Although Young Master Huan is young, he has a very shrewd mind.

"Southampton has also undergone tremendous changes in the past two years. It has gathered many stars and is very strong. Now, it is the Europa League champion. It has made progress every year and will participate in the Premier League next season."

Yang Huan still didn't say anything. He was waiting for Skudmore to get to the point.

The CEO of the Premier League smiled bitterly in his heart and sighed, knowing that he had to do the bad thing himself.

"Mr. Yang Huan, to be honest, in the past two or three months, the league has been very dissatisfied with some of Southampton's practices."

"Oh?" Yang Huan narrowed his eyes, but was not surprised at all.

Southampton's entry into the Premier League clearly shows their intention to get a share of the pie.

Every season, there are newly promoted teams entering the Premier League, but even though they are all newly promoted teams, they are treated differently.

Which one is the most popular?

It's the likes of Norwich, the typical Premier League team that only plays as a supporting role for one season.

These teams are neither strong nor financially powerful. They may be able to dominate the Championship, but what about the Premier League?

Ha, sorry, the elder brothers will teach you how to behave.

Generally speaking, this type of team is the most popular because it poses little threat to existing Premier League teams.

Another type is a team that has just been relegated but quickly re-promoted, such as West Ham United this season.

The Hammers have already secured promotion and will return to the Premier League next season.

The Premier League is usually more tolerant of such teams.

After all, they are all old acquaintances, and their relationship networks and connections are there.

But there is another type of team that has not yet been promoted to the Premier League, but has already made a name for itself, is strong and wealthy, and almost everyone believes that it will definitely be able to secure a position in the Premier League.

This kind of team is rare, for example, Fulham was bought by an Egyptian tycoon.

However, this kind of team is also the most unpopular, because once this team gains a foothold in the Premier League, other teams will definitely be relegated in the new season.

As for who will be demoted, it is hard to say

However, generally speaking, it is the mid- and lower-level teams that have more objections to the newly promoted teams.

The top teams generally don't have much opinion about the newly promoted teams, nor do they have any feelings about them.

There are only a few strong teams in the Premier League, and the newly promoted teams cannot shake their position at all. They don't need to worry about relegation, so they don't take it to heart at all.

But this year is different

Southampton was promoted to the Premier League with four golden championship titles: League Cup, FA Cup, Championship and Europa League. The Saints team is full of stars, strong and wealthy.

Anyone can see that the Saints' ambition is not to avoid relegation.

They are aiming for the top four in the league.

Therefore, Southampton's promotion is unwelcome to all Premier League teams.

Lower-tier teams worry about relegation, mid-tier teams worry about Europa League qualification, and upper-tier teams worry about the top four in the league.

This situation has never happened before in the history of the Premier League.

So, in the past few months, these Premier League bosses have been finding faults and setting traps for Southampton.

"One point that everyone disagrees with is Southampton's jersey issue"

Skudmore said with a wry smile.

These are not new problems.

This is an old problem, isn't it?

Ferguson once criticized Southampton for advertising on jerseys to attract sponsorship, but it eventually came to nothing.

However, the Premier League has clear regulations that do not require advertising or sponsorship on jerseys.

Will you comply with this in Southampton?

Not complying?

OK, don't come to the Premier League, we are also relieved

obey?

You'll lose business income.

When Yang Huan heard what Skudmore said, he couldn't help laughing.

"Mr. Scudmore, the commercial sponsorships we signed haven't expired yet."

Scudmore already found this matter difficult.

How do the Chinese people say this?

Oh, by the way, destroying someone's financial resources is like killing their parents.

Southampton has finally attracted these sponsors. Regardless of whether these sponsors are really Yang Huan’s personal assets as rumored by the outside world, will the Saints be willing to give up just for those commercial sponsorships?

"This contract has not expired. If we unilaterally tear up the contract, how much compensation will we have to pay?"

Skudmore frowned.

Yes, if the contract is unilaterally torn up, how can we deal with such a huge penalty?

In the past, many of the newly promoted Championship teams even had difficulty attracting sponsors. Who is like Southampton?

The advertisements are directly on the collar of the jersey.

Southampton has one advertisement on each of its cuffs, one on the collar and two on the hem, for a total of five sponsorship advertisements on the jersey.

Business income varies from large to small, with the largest being as high as 30 million pounds per year and the smallest being over 10 million pounds.

This is a staggering amount of income.

"Mr. Scudmore, our ads are very low-key. They are so small and have no impact. I don't understand why we can't run them?"

After hearing this, Scudmore smiled bitterly and said, "The rules of the Premier League clearly stipulate that advertisements are not allowed on jerseys."

"That's different. We have been advertising since the English Football League One. These contracts have been signed long ago. We signed the sponsorship first and then became a Premier League team. It's a special situation."

Skudmore's smile became even more awkward. You, Master Huan, are trying to find an exception in the rules.

"Mr. Yang Huan, I personally understand Southampton's difficulties, but I am afraid that other teams will not agree."

At this point, Skudmore suddenly thought, "How about, Mr. Yang Huan, you personally explain this Premier League Chairman Summit and seek everyone's opinions?"

Yang Huan knew in his heart that although Skudmore held a high position, he did not necessarily have great power.

"Okay, I will attend the Premier League Chairman Summit in person"

He also wanted to see what tricks those Premier League club owners were going to play.

Speaking of playing tricks, I like playing tricks the most. Let's see who will win.

There was nothing that Skudmore could do. He had to remain neutral on this matter, otherwise it would be difficult for him to do his job in the future.

"One more thing."

"Um?"

"Just now in Bucharest, Sky TV CEO Jeremy Darroch mentioned to me that he plans to restart the negotiations for the Premier League broadcasting rights tomorrow and strive to complete them in a short time."

"That's a good thing," Yang laughed.

Southampton now has a Europa League title in hand, and their share of broadcasting fees for next season will definitely not be less.

The bosses of those Premier League clubs are probably jealous and are looking for reasons and excuses to disgust themselves.

"At the same time, they hope to complete the transformation of the broadcasting system at St. Mary's Stadium as soon as possible."

The broadcasting level of the Premier League is second to none in the world of football.

Aren't those broadcasting cameras in the stadium what we rely on?

Southampton has now returned to the Premier League and broadcasters have high hopes for it. The previous plan to transform the broadcasting system was suspended due to protests from Abramovich and some mid- and lower-level Premier League teams.

It is reasonable to continue now.

"Okay, I'll arrange this matter," Yang Huan agreed readily.

This is also good for Southampton.

There were only two things on Scudmore's mind, one of which was dragging on and the other was resolved, so he was in a pretty good mood.

But whenever he thought of the upcoming Premier League Chairman's Summit, his heart was in his throat.

Judging from the way this young master behaves, who knows what kind of trouble he will cause.

The world is bustling with people, all for the sake of profit; the world is in turmoil, all for the sake of profit.

After all, it is a matter of distribution of interests that concerns both parties.

Yang Huan watched Skudmore walk back to Wangjiang Pavilion, secretly laughing in his heart.

Yang Huan doesn't really care whether there is jersey advertising sponsorship.

According to UEFA rules, the funds Southampton invests in new stadiums, new training bases and youth training can be deducted from liabilities.

Therefore, even without these jersey advertising sponsorship contracts, Southampton's debt would not be that serious.

Especially considering that the debt will be even less after promotion to the Premier League next season.

However, Yang Huan never likes being told what to do.

After Ferguson's fuss, these team owners are now protesting again, and Yang Huan is also angry.

Hasn't this team been promoted to the Premier League yet?

There's a lot of shit.

It's my own money, my own team, I can do whatever I want with it. What qualifications do you have to point fingers?

Well, the more you tell me we can’t do this, the more I’m going to do it.

At worst, we can just go our separate ways. Who’s afraid of who?

Don't think that we, Southampton, are soft persimmons that anyone can pinch.

Just as Skudmore went in, Peternian came out.

Yang Huan had something to discuss with him, so he immediately waved and called him over.