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<H4 class=topsech>New TV deal unveiled, Baby Bentleys for all</H4><DIV class=topsec>Premiership<DIV>by Matt Slater - BBC Sport 18 January 2007</DIV></DIV><DIV class=matchstats2><DL></DL></DIV><HR class=section><DIV class=bodytext>
This Big Brother racism ruckus has got a bit serious, hasn't it? It seems to have reached such a sorry state that we have sent our top man to India to say sorry to a country that has an increasingly large say in our financial well-being.
But if anybody can persuade the Indians that we are still brilliant and modern and cosmopolitan and basically the best, then it is Premier League boss Richard Scudamore. Let's just hope that he can keep our Commonwealth cousins sweet with his promise of "international football projects".
I can't think of a better man for the job. Because on Wednesday, Scudamore, before jetting off to the sub continent, was dotting the i's and crossing the t's on a new £625m deal for overseas television rights - more than double the current three-year deal. And to think the Bank of England is worried about inflation.
To be honest, us BBC types should have known Scudamore had found another golden ticket (I guess we were too preoccupied with the negotiations for our own humble media offerings). He was on the premises as a guest speaker at our News and Sport Festival (and yes, there were biscuits and bowls of fruit).
His panel discussion was titled "Investigating Sport: An Own Goal?" and he was joined in the dock, sorry, on the stage by our very own John Inverdale, ITV's Gabriel Clarke and BBC new boy/journalistic gumshoe Mihir Bose.
Without wanting to break the "what goes on tour..." code that was in operation, I can confirm that Scudamore was given a fairly rough ride by your truth-seeking representatives from the free press...well, he was moaned at for an hour by BBC hacks.
What was interesting was how well he took it. But then I suppose he would. He has the love and admiration of luxury car salesmen and chunky timepiece retailers across the land to sustain him.
So what does this new deal mean then?
Well, it means the bottom team next season will get more dosh than Blackburn earned last season for finishing sixth and qualifying for Europe. That figure, £26.8m, is more than 13 times what the average Championship or SPL club banks. Which is unlucky for them. Oh, and the team which finishes first in our "best league in the world" four-club race for the title will trouser £50m.
So that is more moolah from top to bottom. And far, far more euros than our continental neighbours have at their disposal. Getting all four "English" clubs into the last 16 of the Champions League should no longer be seen as a feat, it should be a par score.
But as well as more foreign viewers, this deal means more foreign players and owners. The English league has won. It has become the most attractive place to play football and the best place to run a football business. If we could do something about our weather the Premiership v La Liga v Serie A triangular series would be as close as the one currently being staged Down Under.
English football has won in the same way the City of London has become a world centre for financial services and Wimbledon is known for its tennis tournament. Namely, we might not provide the personnel but at least the big show is on our patch.
As Scudamore boasted to The Daily Telegraph: "The irony of all the negative headlines generated by the Stevens inquiry (into nasty old corruption in the beautiful game) is that we actually had our best year in all the time I have been here, bar none."
So why then don't I share his view that these are the best of times?
Perhaps it's because I'm still angry about the World Cup campaign staged by our golden generation and their handsomely paid coach.
This Big Brother racism ruckus has got a bit serious, hasn't it? It seems to have reached such a sorry state that we have sent our top man to India to say sorry to a country that has an increasingly large say in our financial well-being.
But if anybody can persuade the Indians that we are still brilliant and modern and cosmopolitan and basically the best, then it is Premier League boss Richard Scudamore. Let's just hope that he can keep our Commonwealth cousins sweet with his promise of "international football projects".
I can't think of a better man for the job. Because on Wednesday, Scudamore, before jetting off to the sub continent, was dotting the i's and crossing the t's on a new £625m deal for overseas television rights - more than double the current three-year deal. And to think the Bank of England is worried about inflation.
To be honest, us BBC types should have known Scudamore had found another golden ticket (I guess we were too preoccupied with the negotiations for our own humble media offerings). He was on the premises as a guest speaker at our News and Sport Festival (and yes, there were biscuits and bowls of fruit).
His panel discussion was titled "Investigating Sport: An Own Goal?" and he was joined in the dock, sorry, on the stage by our very own John Inverdale, ITV's Gabriel Clarke and BBC new boy/journalistic gumshoe Mihir Bose.
Without wanting to break the "what goes on tour..." code that was in operation, I can confirm that Scudamore was given a fairly rough ride by your truth-seeking representatives from the free press...well, he was moaned at for an hour by BBC hacks.
What was interesting was how well he took it. But then I suppose he would. He has the love and admiration of luxury car salesmen and chunky timepiece retailers across the land to sustain him.
So what does this new deal mean then?
Well, it means the bottom team next season will get more dosh than Blackburn earned last season for finishing sixth and qualifying for Europe. That figure, £26.8m, is more than 13 times what the average Championship or SPL club banks. Which is unlucky for them. Oh, and the team which finishes first in our "best league in the world" four-club race for the title will trouser £50m.
So that is more moolah from top to bottom. And far, far more euros than our continental neighbours have at their disposal. Getting all four "English" clubs into the last 16 of the Champions League should no longer be seen as a feat, it should be a par score.
But as well as more foreign viewers, this deal means more foreign players and owners. The English league has won. It has become the most attractive place to play football and the best place to run a football business. If we could do something about our weather the Premiership v La Liga v Serie A triangular series would be as close as the one currently being staged Down Under.
English football has won in the same way the City of London has become a world centre for financial services and Wimbledon is known for its tennis tournament. Namely, we might not provide the personnel but at least the big show is on our patch.
As Scudamore boasted to The Daily Telegraph: "The irony of all the negative headlines generated by the Stevens inquiry (into nasty old corruption in the beautiful game) is that we actually had our best year in all the time I have been here, bar none."
So why then don't I share his view that these are the best of times?
Perhaps it's because I'm still angry about the World Cup campaign staged by our golden generation and their handsomely paid coach.