Tottenham Talk on Sunday 25th
Tottenham Talk on Sunday 25th
I'll start this morning by adding to my comments made about Spurs TV that I first aired around 4 years ago now.
A quick aside, what on earth is one Spurs TV employee interviewing another before the game. We have no interest in an interviewers view, has he played the game, no, is he a qualified coach, no, he is not an expert in any shape or form.
It shouts amateur hour, like I say, this needs to become far more professional.
I am not interested in what he wants to see, I do want to know what a coach wants to see, I know what I want to see.
I suggested then that we should look at trying to secure a deal to show Premier League games after a delay or at least the extended highlights, having recorded the game ourselves.
Often the first game of the League Cup isn't on telly anywhere, not even Internet streams so why couldn't we record that game and show it live or after a delay?
Would the opposition mind, I doubt it, would both sets of fans buy a virtual ticket to watch the game? You bet they would.
Surely you would easily get 10,000 watching and add worldwide, could we double or treble that?
Live or after a delay, you include in the package free access to Spurs TV for a month.
Take the game or a game and deeply analyse it.
Bring on board someone like Ledley King with coaching experience and playing experience to explain what the opposition are trying to do, how Spurs are countering that or visa versa.
Highlight particular skills and include those in tutorial sessions for youngsters to learn.
Explain in various situations what a player is having to think about.
Again a fabulous tutorial for youngsters training them what to look out for, training them how to read a game, how to position themselves, body shape, so much that players in an academy get taught, but those outside don't.
There is a whole market out there waiting for this content.
What parent is not going to buy their football mad kid a package where they get professional training like this.
Professional football coaching via a TV programme on Spurs TV.
You could sell that package not just to Spurs fans but any football mad kid, how big is that market?
Does that promote Tottenham Hotspur to children?
League One, League Two, non-league clubs, none of them can afford to do this, but everyone supporting or associated with them are a target market.
What would that do for Spurs TV subscriptions?
No point waiting until someone else does it, entrepreneurs ride the crest of a wave, not follow it.
Spurs should be constantly looking at every aspect of their operation and asking every week, how can we improve that, what opportunities are there?
We are innovating with the NFL for instance and the income potential is huge but every aspect, even the small things, you look at and improve.
For me Spurs TV hasn't even scratched the surface of what is possible and it certainly hasn't been looked at in enough detail as to how it can be used to promote the Tottenham Hotspur brand worldwide and how it can be turned into a revenue stream, how it can build the next generation of Spurs fans.
The more fans we have the greater the commercial opportunities and deals, the more income we generate, the more can be spent on the team.
The business pays for the football.
If you sell football merchandise online, say Kitbag or other companies like this, you earn around 7% of the cost of the goods and they are dropshipped (sent direct to the customer for you).
Those who get a website and do the selling, who earn the 7% commission are called affiliates.
Why are Tottenham not running an affiliate programme?
Is there a worthwhile opportunity there or are there not enough goods to warrant it?
Could that model work selling Spurs TV subscriptions and all it's training packages, everything doesn't have to be done by the club itself.
The big thing is marketing Spurs TV beyond the Spurs fan to the football fan, are Spurs experts in that?
I'd say the answer is no, I'd say we don't yet know how to use social media, when you have resources, as anything more than brand awareness to our own fans.
Social media gives you the opportunity to go beyond that and I don't think we use that opportunity well enough.
Spurs don't harness the fans it has and utilises them to promote the club in a positive way.
There should be a slot on Spurs TV perhaps each month to explain the direction of the club, one aspect of the overall plan.
WE get a yearly statement from the chairman, we have been told where we are going, but that message needs reinforcement, constant reinforcement.
That message is particularly important for the anti-Levy anti-SNIC and sometimes anti-Tottenham vocal smattering, as they haven't grasped it yet and understood it's significance to our future and winning trophies.
There is no reason why Spurs TV doesn't make programmes about every aspect of Spurs, the brewery, the bakery, the groundstaff, the medical staff.
There are plenty of programmes on TV about life working at airports, train service, ambulances etc., so there is clearly a market for this type of programme.
Utilise it, create one about Spurs and it's staff, don't leave it to Amazon.
Create it and show it on Spurs TV or sell it to broadcaster worldwide, get the Spurs brand out there beyond the Spurs fan.
Think big, not small.
Think opportunity, not beholden by fear.
There is a world of possibility and opportunity beyond the current boundary we limit ourselves too.
There is not enough thinking.
It isn't up to the chairman to come up with every idea, it is up to those running each department to create an environment where anyone can have an idea, a vision and bring it to them.
They then feed it forward.
Yes of course this is happening to some extent, but the fact that Spurs TV is so underdeveloped and under utilised suggests that this very process is analysed and improved itself.
Programmes on injuries, the treatment of and recovery from are again provide a big opportunity.
There is a huge market out there that isn't being tapped into by anyone on mainstream TV.
Let's take players recovering from injury and sit in on those discussions, on the treatment, on the gym training.
Let's have a question and answer session with our medical team answering questions sent in or streamed in.
Yes it means player contracts will have to be amended to include this in image rights so there is a cost implication there but the sale of such a programme, particularly an ongoing programme would pay for that.
Or it's shown on Spurs TV and the channel is developed to include a non-Spurs supporting audience who can tune into such programmes as and when.
Do that and the advertising income opportunity drastically rises.
Do we use Press Releases enough to promote our brand across the world?
Are we making the media work for us or are we working for the media?
The media is a powerful marketing tool and we should be controlling the narrative, not just let them talk about us as and when they want to, but putting out our own message on a regular basis about one aspect of the club or another.
Do we have the next 6 months press releases planned, or the next year?
We should have.
That's what marketing is all about, it isn't just reacting to events.
Think about this, how could Spurs develop the name worldwide, how do we grow the fanbase, the next generation of fans, add new income streams, develop commercial revenue?
Because this is what pays for the football in the real world.
The more you do off the pitch successfully, the more you will achieve on the pitch.
I remind you of what Sir Alex Ferguson said on terrestrial TV in a programme about him, you have to have a successful business off the pitch to have success on the pitch.
And by that he meant continued success, continually lifting trophies, not a one-off.
Winning mentalities see opportunity, failure mentalities don't.
Well I was going to make one point and move on to some transfer news but the ideas flow when I start.
Have another happy day folks while I spend some time watching the family of starlings and sparrows feeding from the suet balls again.
As you can guess, that was to be the end of today's piece, but, as I couldn't sleep and with news being released today, there is more.
Are Manchester City finally going to get done for financial cheating and finally get banned from European football, not just for two years this time, but for five or more?
Manchester City are financial cheats, we all know that, the Premier League knows that, UEFA knows that.
UEFA gave them a two-year ban but City argued successfully that the evidence used to convict them was illegally obtained and therefore inadmissible as evidence and won their case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
They threatened to bankrupt UEFA with legal battles and appeared to mock the death of a UEFA employee.
Now, three senior judges have ruled that the Premier League investigation into them and the ongoing legal battle can be revealed to the public.
City had, until that point, managed to stop the two-year legal battle from being revealed.
Man City have refused to cooperate with both the UEFA and Premier League investigations refusing to hand over documents.
That alone is very revealing.
The Mail on Sunday are breaking the story today having won a legal battle to do so.
Rui Pinto and the Portuguese judiciary have come to an agreement.
Pinto, the Mail report, is a 'key' figure in the Football Leaks movement who is under house-arrest and has handed over millions of documents to help criminal investigations.
Nick Harris, Editor of Sporting Intelligence, claims that Pinto's lawyers have told him that he will cooperate in any Premier League investigation into Man City.
He says 'smoking gun' emails that 'might' prove Manchester City have been financially cheating and contradicts evidence they gave the CAS.
That could prove devastating and could see Man City eventually receive a far greater sentence that a two-year European ban.
How have Manchester City make £600m more commercial income than Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal in the last 10 years?
The Der Spiegel hack emails that Man City have been trying to keep secret can now be revealed.
Many of us believe, without having seen the evidence, that they have had inflated and illegal sponsorship deals from family members, which is against premier League rules.
We, the average football fan dead against Sugar Daddy football, can only hope that finally we get some justice and that Manchester City eventually receive some severe punishment.
It is not just fans in this country, in Spain, where Barcelona and Real Madrid were ordered to pay back illegal state aid, the LaLiga President, Javier Tebas, spoke about punishing Man City and PSG.
“UEFA finally taking decisive action. Enforcing rules of FFP + punishing financial doping is essential for future of football. For years we've been calling for severe action against Man City + PSG, we finally have good eg of action. Hope to see more"
Tabas had this to say earlier this month:
“Man City have lost €270m [during the pandemic] so obviously they wouldn't even consider signing Messi [on his previous salary]. PSG have had losses, too, so they can't even consider signing Messi. If they do, it will be financial doping. It would be incredible…”
How much longer before we possibly see that and does Harry Kane, as the England captain, want to be at a club where they are banned from UEFA competition for an extended period.
Personally, if found guilty, I would strip them of everything they have won and award it to the runners-up.
Technically, every club they have played, could sue them, as it was not a fair contest.
If I were Harry Kane I would want to know more before I went there.
If I were the Premier League, I'd give them a 25 point, or more, deduction every season for the next 10 years to make up for the 10 years or more of this alleged cheating.
Hopefully all those anti-ENIC anti-Levy folk will begin to understand Financial Fair Play (FFP) is there to stop Sugar Daddy owners from bankrolling clubs and that Tottenham have been built to a point where we can challenge through honest means, through sustainability, and self sufficiency.
Then they might start to realise how lucky we are to have Daniel Levy as our chairman.
The stadium is to generate revenue that propels us financially, then in years to come the NFL franchise and American commercial market.
OK guys, here's hoping and yes this is the end this time.
Hope you have enjoyed the read and I'll be back at 07:30 GMT tomorrow morning with some Tottenham Transfer Talk on a whole bunch of our players.
2 comments
As far as Spurs TV. I am just an ordinary Joe who pays inflated Sky prices, inflated BT prices and inflated ticket prices (when I can get one - anyone can get hospitality tickets from a travel company easier than a fan who wants to watch a game if they want to spend the money) to support my club. Shouldn't Spurs be giving something back, especially to the youngsters, for free. There must be ways to still make money through advertising etc etc
Still enough of my rants, have a good day to one and all.
COYS Bob