Premier League TV row: Managers and Executives at odds

Premier League clubs are exploring alternative ways to offer greater value to TV companies amid a reluctance from managers to grant broadcasters greater access behind the scenes, Football Insider has learned.

The top flight’s 20 members have for some time been investigating the possibility of offering enhanced coverage to Sky Sports, BT Sport and Amazon in the form of training ground and dressing room content.

Newcastle United director Amanda Staveley heads a Premier League research group dedicated to examining the pros and cons of such a strategy, which advocates believe could supercharge the value of domestic TV rights.

But there is broad opposition to the proposition among managers, including Newcastle’s Eddie Howe and West Ham’s David Moyes, both of whom have voiced their doubts in public.

It is for that reason that Premier League clubs, who are acutely aware that industry experts believe the domestic TV deal could fall in value ahead of the next rights cycle, are brainstorming other ideas.

One source told Football Insider that a more interactive element to coverage is actively being explored, although it is not clear what that would entail.

There are also loose plans to package content in different ways, perhaps with a more club-specific focus.

Enhanced behind-the-scenes access, however, is still very much on the table and is the solution which executives are most confident would deliver guaranteed value.

There have long been concerns about the effect that broadcast piracy is having on the value of the rights, and this site revealed in February that Sky Sports believe they are losing 10-15 per cent of domestic viewership to illegal streaming.

But decision-makers at club, league and broadcast levels are conscious of squaring demands to upgrade their content with the needs of those who create the product – players and managers.

Significantly, Staveley revealed at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit last week that a new Amazon documentary on Newcastle would focus primarily on the club’s commercial operations rather than the team itself.