Given that accepting B Teams into the EFL Trophy drastically reduced crowds and the competion now only survives financially because of a Premier League subsidy, the idea that accepting B Teams into the league would help sustainably should be seen for what it is: a convenient lie.
It's a zombie idea: no matter how often it's rejected and the supposed justifications shown to be false, it just keeps coming back. Ultimately there is only one reason for B Teams, and it's a bad one. Top Premier League teams want to kill competition and entrench their advantage.
There is no future for the EFL in becoming practice matches for the Premier League youth teams. Imagine destroying over a century of history just because City and Chelsea would prefer not to have to send their hordes of youngster on loan.
It would be the most fundamental and regressive change to the structure of English football in my lifetime. The cure would be worst than the disease.
As with every time the idea of B Teams is mentioned, we need to absolutely bury it. No quarter.
Good point here. The only thing that stemmed Premier League losses, despite the billions of TV money, was FFP. They weren't sustainable businesses, they were just finally regulated. And that's the solution here, not dog-eat-dog rule by the rich.

On the question of financial sustainability and B Teams, some numbers:
1. Average Rd1 attendances before and after B Teams in the EFL Trophy
2. Barca B attendances 19/20
3. Real B att. 19/20
4. Bayern II att. 19/20

Fans do not go to B Team games.
1/2
#BTeamBoycott
Any notion that introducing B Teams to the English pyramid would aid sustainability is fanciful. I have literally never seen any evidence to support the idea that B Teams would generate bigger gates than existing games. I doubt even Man City believe it.

2/3
Not only would B Teams be destructive to fair competition (including in the PL), they would undoubtedly undermine EFL finances. Which means the PL would have to pay to be included (as with the EFL Trophy) or blackmail clubs.

Two tier football would destroy the EFL.
3/3
Record low attendances and secret refunds: something I wrote a while back about the financial impact of having B Teams in the EFL Trophy. The idea that it would make sense in the league is nonsense.
#BTeamBoycott

theuglygame.wordpress.com/2018/12/18/why…
And here is a detailed breakdown of how B Teams affected attendances and whether they generated meaningful appearances for youth players.
theuglygame.wordpress.com/2018/03/16/you…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with theuglygame

theuglygame Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @uglygame

8 Oct
Never been more grateful for the presence of a paywall.
#BTeamBoycott Image
All the evidence is fans don't want B Teams - they reduce attendances - so they aren't a solution to football's sustainability problem. Proposing B Teams only helps if PL teams are prepared to pay to have them. Which, of course, makes the EFL even more dependent on the PL.
B Teams have nothing to do with sustainability. They are about the wealthy abolishing smaller clubs so they can hoard young players. It's the football equivalent of suggesting that we could alleviate poverty by allowing the unemployed to sell their kidneys.
Read 6 tweets
8 Oct
Returning to yesterday’s discussion of B Teams, it’s important not just to recognise why it’s bad for the pyramid, but to understand the underlying motives of the Premier League and just how damaging they are to football generally.
#BTeamBoycott
1/
The problem in its simplest terms is that the biggest teams want to abolish competition. They desire a situation – as in Spain, Germany, Scotland, France – where who finishes top is preordained.
2/
That gives predictable access to more TV money and the riches of the UCL. A sport where the winners are a foregone conclusion is no longer a sport, but rather entertainment.
3/
Read 15 tweets
7 Oct
Haven't seen 'rebel' deployed this way - as a synonym for 'greedy and unprincipled' - since Gooch led a 'rebel' tour of South Africa, in breach of the cultural boycott, with Boycott, to protest at the lack of rands in his bank account.
telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/…
While obviously wishing nothing but hellfire, plague and complete financial ruin on any owner who supports a breakaway, I'm intrigued by the idea that now is a good time - that they can get a better deal during Covid by cutting the throats of their sibling clubs. Greedy bastards.
During a crisis seems like a poor time to be making decisions like this, not least I can't see a TV station ponying up enough to make all the upheaval worth it. That said, this is English football; it's so obviously a bad idea, it'll probably happen.
Read 6 tweets
6 Oct
Watching the Premier League dragging its heels over supporting the rest of the pyramid, and one owner actually denying any obligation to help support other clubs, made me think of a really interesting report I read a while back on the Premier League and its impact on the game.
1/
It highlighted the social importance of football and how all elements of the pyramid contribute to the Premier League's continuing financial growth.
2/ Image
It also diagrammed how solidarity payments to smaller clubs have been part of the Premier League's 'cycle of grow'.
3/ Image
Read 9 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!