1
00:00:02,759 --> 00:00:07,240
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

2
00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,039
Speaker 2: Let's turn to sports. Deep breath, can calm down? Now

3
00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:13,480
Speaker 2: the world's most watched football league making its way across

4
00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:16,400
Speaker 2: the Atlantic. The English Premier League is playing six matches

5
00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,680
Speaker 2: for sold out crowds in New Jersey, Chicago, and Atlanta

6
00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:22,119
Speaker 2: this summer, the series kicking off this past weekend with

7
00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,360
Speaker 2: Manchester United beating West Ham Joining US. Now, I'm very

8
00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:28,120
Speaker 2: pleased to say the CEO of the English Premier League,

9
00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:30,600
Speaker 2: Richard Masters, Richard Kimonic, good morning, thank you for having me.

10
00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:32,400
Speaker 2: Welcome to the studio here in New York. It's going

11
00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:34,640
Speaker 2: to see you, sir. Let's just talk about your involvement

12
00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:36,479
Speaker 2: in the sport. I think it's almost twenty years of

13
00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:39,639
Speaker 2: direct involvement with the Premier League. Are you surprised by

14
00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:42,080
Speaker 2: the amount of growth we've seen, Not in the UK,

15
00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:44,320
Speaker 2: forget all of that, the amount of growth we've seen

16
00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:45,199
Speaker 2: in America.

17
00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,240
Speaker 1: Yep, twenty years next January at the Premier League, seven

18
00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,560
Speaker 1: years at CEO in December. What's the Premier League gets?

19
00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,120
Speaker 1: Get bigger and bigger and bigger, and out here in

20
00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,680
Speaker 1: the US we've got a fantastic broadcast relationships NBC. We've

21
00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:00,680
Speaker 1: opened offices here in New York. We're committed to the game.

22
00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:04,480
Speaker 1: About thirty percent of the US population not interested in

23
00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:07,319
Speaker 1: soccer or football, and about two thirds of those follow

24
00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:09,360
Speaker 1: the Premier League, and that's a brilliant foundation which to

25
00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,200
Speaker 1: growth reason. We're out here with six of our teams

26
00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,160
Speaker 1: playing matches to give our fans a taste of the

27
00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:15,800
Speaker 1: Premier League.

28
00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:17,560
Speaker 2: As a Britain New York I can tell you the

29
00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:20,920
Speaker 2: experience of NBC is amazing. I get to wake up

30
00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:23,039
Speaker 2: on a Saturday morning on a Sunday and I get

31
00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,720
Speaker 2: to watch absolutely everything. That's not the experience in the

32
00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:29,240
Speaker 2: UK with Sky It's a very different experience. You only

33
00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:31,200
Speaker 2: get to watch so much. Why do we get to

34
00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,000
Speaker 2: see so much more through NBC than maybe fans in

35
00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:36,600
Speaker 2: the UK get to see at home.

36
00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:39,840
Speaker 1: Well, in the UK, the matches between two and five

37
00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,280
Speaker 1: o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, which is the traditional time

38
00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,440
Speaker 1: to go and watch football in the country, aren't broadcast.

39
00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:47,360
Speaker 1: So it's not just the Premier League, the FL as

40
00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:49,760
Speaker 1: well aren't broadcast and that's part of the decision we've made.

41
00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:52,600
Speaker 1: It's long term commitment to what's called Article forty eight.

42
00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:55,000
Speaker 1: But anywhere else outside of the UK, it's all three

43
00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,920
Speaker 1: hundred and eighty games throughout the season you can watch.

44
00:01:58,160 --> 00:01:59,920
Speaker 1: And of course here in the US, as you say,

45
00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,080
Speaker 1: there are millions of people getting up on a Saturday

46
00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,600
Speaker 1: and Sunday morning watching their favorite team and you can

47
00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:07,720
Speaker 1: sit there from seven ams lunchtime watch the entire thing

48
00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:10,240
Speaker 1: if you want to, and that's a brilliant thing for us.

49
00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:12,040
Speaker 3: Does it kind of hurt your soul to say soccer

50
00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:12,800
Speaker 3: instead of football?

51
00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:15,880
Speaker 1: Not at all. I think they're interchangeable. When I grew up,

52
00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,000
Speaker 1: I grew up in the Midlands, I watched soccer Sunday

53
00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:24,920
Speaker 1: on Star Soccer rather on a Sunday lunchtime, So it's interchangeable. Yea.

54
00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,800
Speaker 3: At this point, though, does it dilute the big player's

55
00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,480
Speaker 3: ability to really commit to not only a team but

56
00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:34,239
Speaker 3: a season if they're playing at all times in all

57
00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,320
Speaker 3: places and their bodies have to be exhausted at a

58
00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:37,880
Speaker 3: certain point.

59
00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:40,280
Speaker 1: Now that's true. I mean there is a start of

60
00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:41,919
Speaker 1: players at the top of the game who are playing

61
00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,840
Speaker 1: a lot, and it's a big issue within the game.

62
00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:47,760
Speaker 1: The Premier League, obviously, since ninety four, has been twenty

63
00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:50,880
Speaker 1: clubs to in ginety Games August to May. But we've

64
00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:55,640
Speaker 1: seen the gradual expansion of European competitions and now global

65
00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,720
Speaker 1: competitions as well. Next summer, the US will host the

66
00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,080
Speaker 1: World Cup, first time forty eight teams, and of course

67
00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:04,079
Speaker 1: in the last timemeer, we've seen the Club World Cup,

68
00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,680
Speaker 1: a brand new competition put into the calendar. And I

69
00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,000
Speaker 1: think that from my perspective, not just as CEO the

70
00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,360
Speaker 1: Premier League, but also my other role as chair of

71
00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,440
Speaker 1: the World League Association, which is about representing domestic leagues

72
00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:18,800
Speaker 1: around the world, there has to be a big conversation

73
00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:21,840
Speaker 1: now about how you balance this out properly and make

74
00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:25,079
Speaker 1: sure that players are looked after and that these competitions

75
00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,480
Speaker 1: are additive and not subtractive from the competitions they bump into.

76
00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:30,960
Speaker 2: Well's have the conversation right now. I can speak as

77
00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:33,359
Speaker 2: a fan. I hate it. I don't want to see

78
00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,720
Speaker 2: an expanded FIFA Club World Cup. In fact, for most

79
00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,040
Speaker 2: fans of the English Premier League, we get annoyed whenever

80
00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:41,440
Speaker 2: there's an international break. We don't want to see more tournaments.

81
00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:43,200
Speaker 2: What we loved was just the cadence of every two

82
00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:45,320
Speaker 2: years you had a major tournament. The Euro's the World Cup,

83
00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,200
Speaker 2: the Euro's the World cub. Why have we gotten away

84
00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:50,600
Speaker 2: from there? And what's your message to FEF to your

85
00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:52,960
Speaker 2: wafer As in the minds of many fans, they just

86
00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,520
Speaker 2: seem to be chasing money, the expense of the game

87
00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:56,960
Speaker 2: and maybe the player's health.

88
00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:00,600
Speaker 1: Well, the message is talk. You know that there is

89
00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:03,800
Speaker 1: actually strong dialogue between domestic leagues in Europe and new

90
00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:08,720
Speaker 1: about competitions and that's a coalition of stakeholders, clubs, leagues,

91
00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:12,640
Speaker 1: club players as well talking about it. That dialogue doesn't

92
00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:14,320
Speaker 1: happen at the top of the game, and it should do.

93
00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:16,640
Speaker 1: So that's the key message. Sit down and talk to

94
00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,039
Speaker 1: the leagues, talk to all the stakeholders and find a

95
00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:21,520
Speaker 1: way through all of this because it has to. It

96
00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:23,800
Speaker 1: has a limit, and I think we've gone past it.

97
00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:26,599
Speaker 1: We've gone past saturation point. My job, obviously is to

98
00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:30,159
Speaker 1: look after the Premier League and we're going great guns,

99
00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,000
Speaker 1: thank you very much. And I want the purity of

100
00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,760
Speaker 1: that competition to remain. I want people to be able

101
00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:36,960
Speaker 1: to enjoy that, enjoy their football because I want the

102
00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:39,360
Speaker 1: best players on the pitch all the time in the

103
00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:42,280
Speaker 1: Premier League and not worrying about to how to balance

104
00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:42,720
Speaker 1: everything out.

105
00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:44,960
Speaker 2: Let's talk about the purity of the game. It's a

106
00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:49,200
Speaker 2: polarizing topic and very controversial, as you know. Manchester City

107
00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,719
Speaker 2: and this number one hundred and fifteen the number of

108
00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,160
Speaker 2: charges for alleged breaches of financial regulations. What can you

109
00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,640
Speaker 2: share with us this morning about where things stand.

110
00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:03,160
Speaker 1: Nothing is truth. The case was heard last year, and

111
00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:05,680
Speaker 1: we wait for the decision to be made. We can't

112
00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:07,800
Speaker 1: hurry the people whose job it is to make that decision,

113
00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:09,760
Speaker 1: and it will happen when it happens, and I don't

114
00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:12,000
Speaker 1: know when it's going to be. We'll find out with

115
00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:12,599
Speaker 1: everybody else.

116
00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:14,560
Speaker 2: What's your sense of why it's taking so long?

117
00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:17,480
Speaker 1: I don't know, and it's difficult for me to speculate.

118
00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:17,960
Speaker 1: I'm sorry.

119
00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:19,880
Speaker 2: It's just difficult for a lot of people in the

120
00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,120
Speaker 2: game who follow the game to see how quickly things

121
00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,920
Speaker 2: concluded with a club like Everton and how long it's

122
00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:27,520
Speaker 2: taken with a club like Manchester City. And some people

123
00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,400
Speaker 2: can't help but conclude that maybe different clubs are being

124
00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:32,600
Speaker 2: treated differently because of these status they have in the

125
00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:33,400
Speaker 2: Premier League.

126
00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I do want to sign of the frustration and

127
00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:39,800
Speaker 1: share some of those but in the end, This process

128
00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,440
Speaker 1: is very different. These allegations are very different. Makes it

129
00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:47,520
Speaker 1: different to you. They just said the charge themselves and

130
00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:49,560
Speaker 1: the number of them. But I can't really get into it.

131
00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:50,960
Speaker 1: I really can't talk about and you.

132
00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:52,680
Speaker 2: Can't get into the details. But do you think it's

133
00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:54,520
Speaker 2: hurting the reputation of the league?

134
00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,920
Speaker 1: Well, at the center of this is a football competition,

135
00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:01,120
Speaker 1: and I think people want to be basically watch the football.

136
00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:04,640
Speaker 1: That's the main event. And when you get dragged into

137
00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:09,320
Speaker 1: whatever it may be financial affairs, I think people think

138
00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:11,840
Speaker 1: that maybe there's something going wrong here. I do accept

139
00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:16,640
Speaker 1: all of that, but the competition remains strong, the economics

140
00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:19,760
Speaker 1: the PREMI League remain strong, and fundamentally, as long as

141
00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:21,960
Speaker 1: we can put the best players on the pitch and

142
00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,720
Speaker 1: give people a fantastic competition, I think we can get

143
00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:25,520
Speaker 1: through this period.

144
00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,279
Speaker 3: I've been an outsider and I've been studying the rules

145
00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:31,719
Speaker 3: of the game and the sustainability rule that kind of

146
00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,160
Speaker 3: led to this investigation into Man's City and this idea

147
00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:38,320
Speaker 3: that a club has to bring in and just spend

148
00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:40,560
Speaker 3: the same amount of money that it brings in. Do

149
00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,880
Speaker 3: you think that that rule has become outdated or unenforceable

150
00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:46,440
Speaker 3: in any kind of real time way.

151
00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:49,880
Speaker 1: So if you're talking about the financial regulations within football,

152
00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:52,960
Speaker 1: our clubs are all really subject to two sets of regulations,

153
00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:56,520
Speaker 1: our own, the profitably and sustainability rules and also u

154
00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,760
Speaker 1: waifers rules, So they're looking at two sets of financial

155
00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:04,239
Speaker 1: rules to comply with, and essentially in England our rules

156
00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,600
Speaker 1: are there. It's a spending rule really about profitability. So

157
00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:10,680
Speaker 1: there is the ability to invest and that's what we

158
00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:12,520
Speaker 1: want our clubs to do. We've got a fantastic set

159
00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,760
Speaker 1: of owners that invest in the stadiums, in fan experience

160
00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,160
Speaker 1: and players on the pitch, and that's what we want. Weever,

161
00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:21,360
Speaker 1: as I said, the great set of owners that want

162
00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:23,480
Speaker 1: to invest, and so there has to be a limit

163
00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,920
Speaker 1: ultimately to ensure we've got a competitive league, which we

164
00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,080
Speaker 1: do have. So I think we're known as look at

165
00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:30,920
Speaker 1: investing in the Premier League. They can see that you

166
00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:33,480
Speaker 1: can aspire to do better in the league and now

167
00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:37,360
Speaker 1: see more clubs qualifying for European competition. Our clubs are

168
00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,680
Speaker 1: incredibly successful in Europe and that's all down to investment.

169
00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:42,560
Speaker 1: So there has to be a limit ultimately on what

170
00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:44,760
Speaker 1: you can spend. Clubs have all signed up to these

171
00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:47,080
Speaker 1: rules and we are enforcing them.

172
00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:50,040
Speaker 3: Well, how much does the Saudi League really kind of,

173
00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:52,960
Speaker 3: I don't know, skew the financials of this in a

174
00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,800
Speaker 3: way that creates a sort of complicated dynamic.

175
00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:01,640
Speaker 1: Well, the Saudi League is in investment phrase Sally League

176
00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,600
Speaker 1: has been around for many decades and now we're seeing

177
00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:07,160
Speaker 1: local investment into that and they're becoming very active in

178
00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:10,080
Speaker 1: the marketplace. Sometimes that good for Premier leau clubs. Sometimes

179
00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:12,440
Speaker 1: they take clubs, take players that premier leage clubs want

180
00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,160
Speaker 1: to sign. It's just a new dynamic and we have

181
00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,000
Speaker 1: to observe it and we have to cope with it.

182
00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:20,200
Speaker 2: Richard, you'll be generous with your time. We appreciate it.

183
00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:21,960
Speaker 2: Thanks for dropping by, Thanks for having me. Thank you

184
00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:23,680
Speaker 2: very much for being here. Richard Master is there, the

185
00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:25,360
Speaker 2: English Premier League CEO