Would You Like a New Ground With Your Television Money ? June 14th, 2012 | Yesterday the Premier League renewed its television rights deal, with BSkyB and BT, sharing the total of 154 live matches between them (in a 116-38 split). The total paid by the two broadcasters was a staggering £33bn, a rise of more than 70% on the previous arrangement, which was worth £1.773bn. While Queenâs Park Rangers wonât expect to be featuring in too many of these games, the announcement confirms the sheer value, in purely financial terms, of remaining in the Premier League. With the club set to take its slice of this vast, vast cake, itâs probably fair to speculate on just what Tony Fernandes and co. will choose to do with their new-found (extra) fortune. They could save it for a rainy day. No wait, thatâs boring. Itâs much better to splash out on a new player, perhaps Montpellierâs Olivier Giroud ? Pocketing the cash really would be wise, given how many clubs have lived the Premier League âdreamâ in outer space only to fall back to earth (the nPower Championship). That said, given how much was splashed out in order to keep the Râs in the Premier League, the sudden advent of financial stringency is unlikely. So with a few sound acquisitions, relegation guaranteed not to be a possibility next year by manager Mark Hughes, and a couple of quid burning a hole in Fernandesâ back pocket, the obvious solution is a brand new stadium. Loftus Road is too small for the Premier League, there is no escaping this. Expansion is impossible, as the ground is hemmed in on all sides by houses and flats. A ground share has been emphatically ruled out, and rightly so, on the grounds of it being against the wishes of the supporters. While accepting Fulham as temporary residents of Loftus Road some years ago was acceptable given the divisional gap, it simply wouldnât work with both clubs playing in the top flight. Chief Executive Phil Beard has emphasised the necessity for any new stadium to be âmulti-useâ, and able to raise revenue through a variety of means, including concerts and special events. While the spectre of QPR getting their âown Emiratesâ is very exciting indeed, leaving Loftus Road would be a decision that the club would need to make with the full agreement of the fanbase. Supporters of the club have for too long had their views disregarded, and so, while for now it may be idle chatter, as long as Rangers donât repeat the season enjoyed by Wolverhampton Wanderers, expect moves to be made towards a solution to the âstadium problemâ during the coming season. These are exciting times in which to be an Râs fan, exciting times indeed. Chris King Twitter.com/chriskking www.thearmchairpundits.com Kindly borrowed from independent rs website.
Why won't we expect to be featuring in too many games? We were 50% of the event of the season, at the Etihad. People will be queuing up to see us...
IMO we may great TV and apart from MOTD we are firm favourite to watch in my social circle. People like or loath us but they watch us ... we are QPR flair and location
Not sure who the author of this piece actually is but as Beard recently brought up the possibility of ground share again just recently his comment that this notion has been 'emphatically ruled out' is way off beam (sadly). Could he please pay attention while 'punditing' from his armchair.
I thought wed finally have a season where wed have a lot of 3pm Saturday games as we are now a small fish in a big pond. I think it shows we still are a draw despite Swansea and Norwich fans thinking they are a bigger club.
Fernandes all but ruled out ground sharing yesterday. He said that while it makes business sense, he knows it isn't what fans would want, therefore it is extremely unlikely to happen.
Also when Beard spoke about ground sharing, he spoke about clubs of other sports and holding events like concerts. He didn't mention sharing with another football club.
I think they rules out a joint project with the other team taking half the profits. I dont think they rule out a rugby club being tenants there.
