Desperate times call for desperate measures

By Moses Banturaki

The Coronavirus crisis has been harsh and common belief today is that the calamity hasn’t even bottomed out yet. Businesses have and continue to shut down. And those that remain open are lurching from crisis to crisis with no relief in sight.
I guess what am trying to say is that these are times like we have never seen before, which is the background I carry into the on-going payment-impasse debate between StarTimes and Fufa Super league Limited (FSSL).

To understand the source of the stand-off, one needs to go back to the heady optimistic pre-coronavirus crisis days of 2018 when StarTimes and FSSL signed a broadcast and title rights deal. At $7.24m and for 10 years, it was the biggest and most ambitious agreement an infant football market such as ours had ever seen.

Then six months ago, the Coronavirus crisis struck. That meant our football already an immature and undiversified product with insignificant commercial activity and matchday incomes could no longer offer broadcast potential to StarTimes which was dishing out $680,000 per season – by the time Fufa closed out the 2019/20 season in June using Article 18 of its competition rules, StarTimes had already remitted 75 per cent of this fee.

Today, the balance is 25 per cent. StarTimes thinks it shouldn’t be paying out more than 8per cent, while FSLL reckons 12 per cent would be sufficient compromise in the circumstances. That’s the stand-off which I belive will be settled somehow. But that’s not my point
My point is StarTimes sees that the clubs, a key part of the economics, haven’t kicked a ball in months and when they do in a month’s time, it shall be without another key component of the economics - the fans. This isn’t what they signed up for. They will want to revisit not just the incomplete 2019-20 season, but the entire eight years left on the contract.

On the other hand, FSSL continue to stare at the risks of possible cancellations from sponsors because closed door games don’t promote products as effectively, falling commitment from fans who can neither afford to attend games nor risk their health doing so, and playing staff who may start to feel their economic security might lay away from football.

In such circumstances, the key consideration should be securing revenue of any kind and not haggling over the size of due payments. And this is how that might be done.

The clubs under FSSL are already exploring other revenue sources like Fifa support funds but as far as this broadcast deal is concerned there are two things clear to me.

First, there is a 10-year contract in place. And then there is goodwill from all parties – FSSL has offered Drum and Super Eight mini-tournaments in consideration for the current loss of opportunity while StarTimes head of marketing, Isma Lule says current affairs don’t affect the 2020-21 season.

So, the big negotiation should be how to execute on that contract with due consideration to all parties.
Going forward, given current circumstances and regardless of what the contract says, it would be unreasonable to expect StarTimes to meet full price for 2020/21. FSSL should come to them with a 20 per cent crisis consideration. Then, 30per cent goes towards re-introduction of televised games (health and marketing), while 50 per cent can then be extended as operational funds for clubs.

I haven’t used any scientific method to arrive at these figures. This is just minimal consideration for the need to re-negotiate the current position before it morphs into a costly legal mess – which it shall if neither side makes movement. These are desperate times. They shall call for desperate measures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @MBanturaki