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Breakaway threat to English clubs over new TV deal

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The collective broadcasting deals which bond all of the English Premier League clubs together is under threat from Manchester United.

According to a report by the well connected Charles Sale in the Daily Mail, United called a meeting of the big six (Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool) after finally agreeing a £564m three year deal to show Premier League football.

That deal was expected to be rubber stamped with each club in line for an extra £10m per season from the contract.

Man United have been pushing strongly to break into the Chinese market for a number of years and are believed to be keen to exploit the solo deals enjoyed by Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The collective bargaining of the EPL allows clubs like West Brom, Bournemouth, Stoke and Swansea to benefit from the big names that drive the broadcasting deals.

With English clubs struggling to match the big La Liga sides on the park United chief Ed Woodward is exploring go it alone deals.

According to the report in The Mail: “Woodward went into a huddle with representatives from Manchester City, Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool before eventually rubber-stamping the offer from China.

Nevertheless, the impromptu Big Six discussion caused significant concern among the other 14 clubs, who were not impressed with the divisive nature of a breakaway group and what it bodes for the future.”

Any break in the collective structure of the broadcasting deal could encourage hopes that Celtic could be invited into a breakaway set up with the hoops recognised as one of the top ten UK clubs in terms of worldwide appeal.



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