This article in the New York Times looks at Shad Khan’s ideas about transferring the American model (that is Jaguar’s) in raising revenue to Fulham FC. As such it outlines his Business Plan. ”The mile-long walk from the Putney Bridge tube stop to Craven Cottage, the home of Fulham Football Club, is among the most scenic in English soccer. On game days, fathers and sons, young couples and hardened fans amble together through Bishop’s Park past rose bushes, stone sculptures and the Thames. The pastoral parade is a world away from Jacksonville, Fla., where most Jaguars fans arrive at their team’s games by car or truck in search of parking spots for their card tables, barbecues and coolers. The scenes had little in common until July, when Shahid Khan, the owner of the Jaguars, bought Fulham for an estimated 200 million pounds (about $319 million), creating an unlikely sports tandem. Less than two decades old, the Jaguars are one of the N.F.L.’s youngest franchises and play in one of the league’s smallest markets, with only occasional success. Fulham, by contrast, dates to 1879, and while it lacks the winning tradition of, say, Manchester United, it has produced great players like Johnny Haynes and Bobby Robson. Archibald Leitch, a renowned architect, designed part of its stadium, a landmark in an upscale section of London. Khan, an auto-parts magnate, wants to fuse the teams in ways no owner of American and English teams has done. He committed the Jaguars to playing home games in London the next four seasons — including on Oct. 27 against the 49ers — fueling talk that they may move there. Fulham will play friendlies in Florida. Khan has hired marketers to win sponsors on both sides of the Atlantic and has told his teams to share tips on everything from catering to ticketing. “They are two separate entities, but there is common ground where two plus two equals five,” he said. “It’s kind of saturated in the U.S., so the growth will be internationally.”..........….. It’s a lengthy piece - but all the more worth a read - so rather than copy the rest, here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/s...eeks-a-football-fusion.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
It's difficult to balance the unashamedly corporate US system in sport where clubs are franchises and income generation is god with our more covert British style where the heritage of each club is paramount. Combine that with oligarchs and sheiks pumping money in without much thought for the return and I think US owners will discover, and to some extent already have, that the margins in English football are narrow and nothing can be taken for granted. There is more to be gained in terms of prestige and status than money in English football- I'm not sure that Khan will enjoy much success using his ownership as a platform to promote his NFL franchise amongst Fulham fans or generally. There may well be income to mine but I think the risks associated with owning a football club outweigh potential rewards -it's much easier to get it wrong than right, even more so if you don't understand the nuances of owning an English club.
I think you are absolutely right Silky. The one big difference is, of course, that it doesn't matter whether you pump money into the playing staff or not in the US football model. You can finish bog last every year and it doesn't matter. Over here a club needs continual investment in it's playing staff simply to stand still - players leave of their own volition, retire, or are picked off by other clubs and replacements are needed on a yearly basis and I'm not sure Khan has fully grasped this aspect. Go down and the value of his investment would, I imagine, be halved at least.
I'm in the US right now, and all I can say is that no one seems to respect the Jaguars. They are a joke right now. I can see what Khan is trying to build, but he needs to really get back to basics first and put in place a management structure that he trusts to put together competitive teams. Otherwise his investment is just going to devalue and honestly not that slowly. Either back Jol with cold, hard cash or sack him and find someone else. Enough of the this halfway limbo nonsense.
