TGP WEEKLY 26TH SEP 2025
🚨 The Game Plan Weekly is live!🚨
⏱️ Your 3 minute sports industry sharpener
👔 Arsenal appoint new CEO
Arsenal have appointed Richard Garlick as CEO in a shock boardroom reshuffle, that sees several Kroenke sports and entertainment (KSE) executives join along side Ben Winston, a 13‑time Emmy‑winning producer.
✅ Game Plan Opportunity:
Does Ben Winston’s appointment as non-executive director signal Arsenal’s push to modernize leadership and diversify leadership?
💰 Premier League struggle to adopt new spending rules
At the latest Premier League shareholders’ meeting, executives failed to gain backing for new financial governance and spending rules.
With two proposals struggling to gain backing (The squad-cost ratio & Anchoring)
The squad-cost ratio would limit spending on wages to 85% of revenue.
Anchoring would limit spending for all clubs to a multiple of the revenue of the bottom-placed side.
✅ Game Plan Opportunity:
How crucial is it to implement these measures promptly to prevent wealthier clubs from outpacing smaller teams?
🏟️ Manchester United announced record revenue numbers
Manchester United announce record financial revenue of £666.5m last year despite on pitch performances being disappointing.
An overall loss of £33m equates a 70.8% reduction on the previous year loss figures of £113.2m.
✅ Game Plan Opportunity: With Man United transfer spending totalling to £156.8m does this provide evidence that big spending will continue to be financially sustainable - whilst on field results fall short?
💬 Quote of the Week:
Ousmane Dembele after winning the ballon d’or: (About his best friend) “He followed me through everything, until the end, we will be together he and I”
A reminder of how success is rarely a solo journey. The unseen loyalty, encouragement, and support of those closest to us from family and friends can be what makes the difference.
📈 Want deeper insights?
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TGP WEEKLY 19TH SEP 2025
🚨 The Game Plan Weekly is live! 🚨
⏱️ Your 3-minute sports industry sharpener
⚽ Premier League’s Free Agent Market
The window may be shut, but clubs can still strengthen with a pool of high-profile free agents. The Athletic highlights an XI featuring Christian Eriksen, Michail Antonio, Dele Alli, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Wages could be a stumbling block, but plenty of proven Premier League experience is still available.
✅ Game Plan Angle:
Free agents underline both the depth and inefficiency of the Premier League market. While other leagues would quickly absorb players of this calibre, England’s financial structures and FFP constraints mean clubs hesitate. It reflects how squad planning is increasingly about cap space, wage bills, and value-for-money decisions, not just talent on the pitch.
🏟️ Man City & Premier League Reach Sponsorship Truce
Manchester City and the Premier League have finally ended their long-running dispute over Associated Party Transactions (APT), rules designed to prevent inflated sponsorships linked to ownership. Both sides now accept APT as binding, though City’s separate case over 100+ alleged financial breaches looms large.
✅ Game Plan Angle:
This truce entrenches APT as a permanent guardrail on commercial strategy. For clubs, the rules reduce ambiguity and close loopholes; for sponsors, it clarifies what deals will withstand scrutiny. But City’s unresolved charges remain the bigger story, with potential precedent-setting implications for governance across the league.
🔥 Will Postecoglou and Marinakis Work?
Ange Postecoglou’s forthright style has earned him admirers and critics in equal measure. BBC Sport asks whether his confrontational edge is exactly what Olympiacos and Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis needs, or a combustible clash waiting to happen.
✅ Game Plan Angle:
The question is about alignment between leadership style and ownership culture. For clubs under ambitious, outspoken owners, managers like Postecoglou can thrive or implode quickly. It highlights the wider trend of personality-driven leadership in football where governance structures often lag behind the strength of individual egos.
🗣️ Quote of the Week
“I made a new friend.” - Cristiano Ronaldo, after sending a heartfelt message to a young mascot moved to tears.
A reminder of the emotional power of football. In a sport dominated by billion-pound deals and legal disputes, authentic moments like this drive fan connection. Should clubs and sponsors be investing more in amplifying these human stories as part of their brand strategy?
📈 Want deeper insights?
📲 Subscribe to The Game Plan Newsletter: www.thesportsaccelerator.com/newsletter
TGP WEEKLY 12TH SEP 2025
🚨 The Game Plan Weekly is live! 🚨
⏱️ Your 3-minute sports industry sharpener
⚽ Premier League’s Free Agent Market
The window may be shut, but clubs can still strengthen with a pool of high-profile free agents. The Athletic highlights an XI featuring Christian Eriksen, Michail Antonio, Dele Alli, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Wages could be a stumbling block, but plenty of proven Premier League experience is still available.
✅ Game Plan Angle:
Free agents underline both the depth and inefficiency of the Premier League market. While other leagues would quickly absorb players of this calibre, England’s financial structures and FFP constraints mean clubs hesitate. It reflects how squad planning is increasingly about cap space, wage bills, and value-for-money decisions, not just talent on the pitch.
🏟️ Man City & Premier League Reach Sponsorship Truce
Manchester City and the Premier League have finally ended their long-running dispute over Associated Party Transactions (APT), rules designed to prevent inflated sponsorships linked to ownership. Both sides now accept APT as binding, though City’s separate case over 100+ alleged financial breaches looms large.
✅ Game Plan Angle:
This truce entrenches APT as a permanent guardrail on commercial strategy. For clubs, the rules reduce ambiguity and close loopholes; for sponsors, it clarifies what deals will withstand scrutiny. But City’s unresolved charges remain the bigger story, with potential precedent-setting implications for governance across the league.
🔥 Will Postecoglou and Marinakis Work?
Ange Postecoglou’s forthright style has earned him admirers and critics in equal measure. BBC Sport asks whether his confrontational edge is exactly what Olympiacos and Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis needs, or a combustible clash waiting to happen.
✅ Game Plan Angle:
The question is about alignment between leadership style and ownership culture. For clubs under ambitious, outspoken owners, managers like Postecoglou can thrive or implode quickly. It highlights the wider trend of personality-driven leadership in football where governance structures often lag behind the strength of individual egos.
🗣️ Quote of the Week
“I made a new friend.” - Cristiano Ronaldo, after sending a heartfelt message to a young mascot moved to tears.
A reminder of the emotional power of football. In a sport dominated by billion-pound deals and legal disputes, authentic moments like this drive fan connection. Should clubs and sponsors be investing more in amplifying these human stories as part of their brand strategy?
📈 Want deeper insights?
📲 Subscribe to The Game Plan Newsletter: www.thesportsaccelerator.com/newsletter
TGP WEEKLY 5TH SEP 2025
🚨 The Game Plan Weekly is live! 🚨
⏱️ Your 3-minute sports sharpener
⚽ Daniel Levy steps down at Spurs
After 25 years, Levy resigns, leaving a £1.2bn stadium and valuation over £3bn. Power now shifts to CEO Vinai Venkatesham and chair Peter Charrington.
✅ Spurs move from family control to corporate governance, cutting key-man risk.
💷 Premier League spending hits £3bn
Deloitte confirms a record summer: £3.0bn gross, £1.2bn net. Isak’s £125m move a new British record.
✅ US, Middle Eastern, and PE investors fuelled the window. Serie A and La Liga spent under £1.5bn combined, cementing the Premier League supreme status.
💰 Apollo launches $5bn fund
Apollo creates its first sports vehicle with a $5bn war chest.
✅ PE now treats sport like infrastructure. Sport is firmly in the alternative asset mainstream.
🗣️ Quote of the Week
“We have built this club into a global heavyweight competing at the highest level” Daniel Levy