Newcastle United: Club Sold To PCP - Official

[Isegrim 8868]

11 minutes ago, ewerk said:

 That was never going to work. The PL bundle these rights together for a reason, whether that is because it’s financially advantageous to do so or it’s just easier for them to manage that way. What SA was suggesting would have completely undermined that approach. It would have opened the door to any country who doesn’t missed out on the rights or didn’t like the rights holder to simply ban them from their airwaves and negotiate their own deal.

The PL have fucked this takeover up big time but I can’t argue with them on this one.

Of course it is convenient to them, but they are messing with the souvereignity of states if they force them to accept cross border broadcasting, especially if those nations can't stand each other. Who do the PL think they are? What's next, a bundle of rights for the mediterranean sold to Turkey so that they have to watch Digiturk in Greece? They could also include Isreael into the MENA bundle next time.

bein lost its license in Saudi Arabia anyway therefore there is no chance that those rights can be included in a deal covering the  MENA region next time. It's up to other nations of the region if they want to stick with bein or to look for someone else.

Edited July 31, 2020 by Isegrim

[Alex 30241]

3 minutes ago, Howay said:

Possible for sure. I’d add to my point that although it appears on face value to be an issue for Bein it’s likely more in their favor to just keep KSA out like this regardless of holding those rights being a waste of money, as it keeps KSA out of the football world Qatar are currently entrenching themselves in. 

Not making a decision, refusing to put a timeframe on the decision, imposing unreasonable conditions and then refusing to comment about it afterwards absolutely stinks of high-level corruption imo. What excuse do they have for such a lack of transparency? 

Edited July 31, 2020 by Alex

[Howay 12447]

10 minutes ago, Alex said:

Not making a decision, refusing to put a timeframe on the decision, imposing unreasonable conditions and then refusing to comment about it afterwards absolutely stinks of high-level corruption imo. What excuse do they have for such a lack of transparency? 

Agreed, if it really was a true process they were working hard on they’d surely have some idea of a time line, to just keep saying there wasn’t one was baffling. I think the troubling part was that it’s pretty clear the lack of transparency was also being shown to both the potential buyer and current owner of the club as well which is odd, I understand you’re not going  to disclose everything to them but surely you’d be giving them some kind of time line or at least gates they were passing/upcoming hurdles during the process? It honestly seems like they were as in the dark as everyone outside of the bid too. Having a completely sealed off process that can’t be tracked or seen by anyone else at all with no time frame (especially when working on a deal that literally has a timeline) stinks of corruption/collusion as you mention. 

Edited July 31, 2020 by Howay

[Carl 175]

I think the Premier Leagues treatment of on of their members is nothing short of disgraceful, the lack of communication is either through shear complacency that we dont matter or the fact that Masters is not fit to lead and is basically incompetent.

 

Qatar are corrupt and this has been proven on multiple occasions, I'm gutted at this outcome, but it's more the fact that in the grand scheme of things we and the other 14 clubs at our level dont matter and we exist to simply make up the numbers.

 

I feel heartbroken saying it after 35 years of support but "what's the point".

[Alex 30241]

I wonder if Ashley might take legal action too now? Whatever we think of him he’s been completely shafted too 

Edited July 31, 2020 by Alex

[Tom 13807]

Just now, Alex said:

I wonder of Ashley might take legal action too now? Whatever we think of him he’s been completely shafted too 

I would love that. The dual pincer of two ‘orrible cunts in Ashley & KSA.  

[ewerk 26173]

29 minutes ago, Howay said:

Fair, I just think the situation is a disaster for all parties (aside from probably the PL) as Bein hold rights to a country that doesn’t allow them air time so they’re making nothing from that, KSA’s issues with this are obvious. So it would have surely suited them to come to some type of arrangement. I get your point on opening the door to others but are many of the rights bundled for a whole region like this? It would also have to be very specific countries that would do this (ones with a leadership like KSA) as otherwise corporations that just happen to be based in a company wouldn’t wield the sort of clout to have a foreign company’s channel banned on a basis like this. 
 

Either way I take the point, but I just find it ridiculous they’d bundle the MENA rights as the fact Bein is banned in KSA, Egypt, and potentially other countries points to how ridiculous it is. 

The entire Middle East is a tinderbox. If you let one away with it then the rest will follow.

Whether the PL are allowed to bundle the rights the way they do is a matter of international law (I’m guessing) so if it were illegal then I’m sure someone would have brought the case before now.

[Carl 175]

The Premier League is toxic to me now, so bring it on

[ewerk 26173]

If something’s toxic then that’s probably the last thing you want to be doing tbh.

[Carl 175]

With regards to TV rights in that region, the Premier League have back the wrong horse here, the UAE, Bahrain and others have already sided with KSA as can be seen with the recent Joshua boxing fight in the region, I think and hope they have shit in their own best.

[Ayatollah Hermione 12736]

7 minutes ago, Tom said:

I would love that. The dual pincer of two ‘orrible cunts in Ashley & KSA.  

 

Like when two right nasty bastards team up to fight Spiderman (Fish can fill the blanks in). Except in this case, Spiderman is a total cunt as well.

[Carl 175]

3 minutes ago, ewerk said:

If something’s toxic then that’s probably the last thing you want to be doing tbh.

Erm........I meant the court case.

[Tom 13807]

9 minutes ago, Ayatollah Hermione said:

 

Like when two right nasty bastards team up to fight Spiderman (Fish can fill the blanks in). Except in this case, Spiderman is a total cunt as well.

I’ve always thought spiderman was a cunt tbh. Imagine you’re just going about you’re crime and some super powered doylem turns up dressed in a spare Bowie costume and brays you all over.

[Isegrim 8868]

7 minutes ago, ewerk said:

The entire Middle East is a tinderbox. If you let one away with it then the rest will follow.

Whether the PL are allowed to bundle the rights the way they do is a matter of international law (I’m guessing) so if it were illegal then I’m sure someone would have brought the case before now.

I don't think it has been illegal because until recently (when they lost their appeal) bein had a valid license for Saudi Arabia which they must have obtained before the start of the conflict in 2017. As I understand it the PL has probably created the mess itself somewhat when they awarded the rights for the MENA region to bein early in August 2018 for another three years from 2019 to 2022. Even if bein did still possess a license to KSA back then it must have been clear that it was a disaster to happen.  It couldn't have come as a surprise that bein lost its license to Saudi Arabia later that month (end of August 2018). That is when this mess should have been fixed at the earliest and might have prevented all this piracy malarkey.

[Howay 12447]

15 minutes ago, ewerk said:

The entire Middle East is a tinderbox. If you let one away with it then the rest will follow.

Whether the PL are allowed to bundle the rights the way they do is a matter of international law (I’m guessing) so if it were illegal then I’m sure someone would have brought the case before now.

True enough, I was coming at it from the angle that the way the rights have been sold to that region is absurd (I don’t think it’s illegal) and with the situation in that region regarding the fall out Qatar has had with many of their neighbors surely it would be in everyone’s best interest to reassess rather than just give up on everything due to the old deal having a year or two left to run. I understand Qatar would likely fight it as it’s giving them this control which is more important to them than the loss of revenue from no broadcasts in these countries, but in doing so that would potentially make their argument of not paying if the deal went through fairly weak since people were trying to mitigate and make things as whole as they could be. The PL could have potentially made more money out of it (charging those countries more than the pro-rata share of Bein rights). I understand they have a contract and probably can’t be bothered, plus it’s clear they don’t want NUFC challenging the current established ‘elite’.

 

I’m not sure if this regional rights is done elsewhere but I just don’t see how it could have, for example I think it’d be highly unlikely Japan and other nations would allow a Chinese broadcaster to hold the rights to distribute the PL within their country. It’s a bit of a weird one and has literally caused all of the issues in this takeover. 
 

Maybe I am completely wrong and the PL’s hands were tied here, I’m just a bit hesitant to give them that benefit seeing as they’ve handled this whole process so poorly. 

[Isegrim 8868]

9 minutes ago, Isegrim said:

I don't think it has been illegal because until recently (when they lost their appeal) bein had a valid license for Saudi Arabia which they must have obtained before the start of the conflict in 2017. As I understand it the PL has probably created the mess itself somewhat when they awarded the rights for the MENA region to bein early in August 2018 for another three years from 2019 to 2022. Even if bein did still possess a license to KSA back then it must have been clear that it was a disaster to happen.  It couldn't have come as a surprise that bein lost its license to Saudi Arabia later that month (end of August 2018). That is when this mess should have been fixed at the earliest and might have prevented all this piracy malarkey.

And I might add that the offer to buy the rights this might explain the timing of the latest court ruling (there is one high member of the judiciary a board member of PIF). It might have been thought that this would strengthen the position to buy the rights if bein has no further legal rights in Saudi Arabia.

[ewerk 26173]

9 minutes ago, Isegrim said:

I don't think it has been illegal because until recently (when they lost their appeal) bein had a valid license for Saudi Arabia which they must have obtained before the start of the conflict in 2017. As I understand it the PL has probably created the mess itself somewhat when they awarded the rights for the MENA region to bein early in August 2018 for another three years from 2019 to 2022. Even if bein did still possess a license to KSA back then it must have been clear that it was a disaster to happen.  It couldn't have come as a surprise that bein lost its license to Saudi Arabia later that month (end of August 2018). That is when this mess should have been fixed at the earliest and might have prevented all this piracy malarkey.

This is only a mess because KSA chose to buy a PL making it an issue. If KSA revokes Bein’s licence and weren’t involved with us then none of us would have ever heard about it. It wasn’t something the PL could reasonably have foreseen.

[ewerk 26173]

13 minutes ago, Howay said:

True enough, I was coming at it from the angle that the way the rights have been sold to that region is absurd (I don’t think it’s illegal) and with the situation in that region regarding the fall out Qatar has had with many of their neighbors surely it would be in everyone’s best interest to reassess rather than just give up on everything due to the old deal having a year or two left to run. I understand Qatar would likely fight it as it’s giving them this control which is more important to them than the loss of revenue from no broadcasts in these countries, but in doing so that would potentially make their argument of not paying if the deal went through fairly weak since people were trying to mitigate and make things as whole as they could be. The PL could have potentially made more money out of it (charging those countries more than the pro-rata share of Bein rights). I understand they have a contract and probably can’t be bothered, plus it’s clear they don’t want NUFC challenging the current established ‘elite’.

 

I’m not sure if this regional rights is done elsewhere but I just don’t see how it could have, for example I think it’d be highly unlikely Japan and other nations would allow a Chinese broadcaster to hold the rights to distribute the PL within their country. It’s a bit of a weird one and has literally caused all of the issues in this takeover. 
 

Maybe I am completely wrong and the PL’s hands were tied here, I’m just a bit hesitant to give them that benefit seeing as they’ve handled this whole process so poorly. 

It is done in some other areas but none as big as MENA. Richard Masters’ main job is to provide revenue to the clubs. Upsetting the incredibly successful apple cart was not going to be a viable option for him.

[Isegrim 8868]

8 minutes ago, ewerk said:

This is only a mess because KSA chose to buy a PL making it an issue. If KSA revokes Bein’s licence and weren’t involved with us then none of us would have ever heard about it. It wasn’t something the PL could reasonably have foreseen.

It’s been a mess anyway because it has brought two years of leagues and associations fighting with Saudi Arabia about piracy and forcing them to accept bein. The same does apply for the Bundesliga, La Liga, UEFa (Champions League etc). With the importance of broadcasting major sports events it would have and probably will drag on anyway. The takeover only made it even more of an issue. It might also have worked as a catalyst for a solution.

We will see how it is going to work out with future tv deals in the next future.

[wykikitoon 16496]

I would love it if Ashley fucking took legal action. In fact I would love it if Ashley told the government that if they don't lean on the PL to accept this he will close all the debenhams stores because he's skint and they will have to deal with the unemployment. 

[trooper 940]

Over 24 hours & not a fucking sausage from the PL. The pack spineless pricks 

[wykikitoon 16496]

They won't. When they do they will no doubt hide behind the NDA bollocks. 

[Monkeys Fist 38559]

16 minutes ago, trooper said:

Over 24 hours & not a fucking sausage from the PL. The pack spineless pricks 

What did you expect? 
 

This isn’t a dig at you Troops, but do you really expect them to come out and apologise? 

[trooper 940]

3 minutes ago, Monkeys Fist said:

What did you expect? 
 

This isn’t a dig at you Troops, but do you really expect them to come out and apologise? 

No I dont expect an apology off them. But they must have some sort of comment to make, considering Masters said he expected a decision shortly. That was about a fortnight ago. To just ignore it like it never happened is amateurish. It doesnt look very good for future investors in the PL if this is how they conduct themselves 

[ewerk 26173]

52 minutes ago, wykikitoon said:

I would love it if Ashley fucking took legal action. In fact I would love it if Ashley told the government that if they don't lean on the PL to accept this he will close all the debenhams stores because he's skint and they will have to deal with the unemployment. 

I mean that’d be a brave move seeing as he doesn’t own any part of Debenhams. Are we thinking a mass arson job?