Michael Broughton

@NizaarKinsella Back in Brasil for that prior family emergency? Or injured?

Lavia is on the bench, no Estevao.

Ares Capital Corp published FY25 accts. Notes for Eagle Football position(s): - New Series D matures Dec ’26; ACC holds ~ 8% of the $20m issue; rate of 20% (w/ Series B stepping up from 19% to 20%). - ACC carries Series A and Series C notes at ~ 32% of principal (Sep ’25: ~ 57%).

@ttmygh @EntertainedAre And I know this is another of your warning signals…

@mbrought9 @EntertainedAre This has been my contention for many years - since my early Real Vision days

@ttmygh do you recognise this line? You were saying this on GOG 7 years ago. It’s now finding itself in the new “thought-leadership” of the Substack LinkedIn crowd in sport. LMAO. They all get there in the end.

@ttmygh @EntertainedAre Delighted @ttmygh that you and I clearly agree on this (the quote is from me and nice that Roger is reading my pieces.) It’s been something I have been on about for a while and if you planted that seed on my brain all that time ago I thank you for it.

@EntertainedAre 💭🤔

@honigstein @NizaarKinsella @RobertBlaszczak Which is funny given that no club can survive without player trading… it’s a core business element.

@NizaarKinsella @RobertBlaszczak Deloitte don’t take player trading into account

Touched upon it in my latest piece on Chelsea's centre-back hunt but revenues have stalled at Stamford Bridge. It's an issue in the highly regulated world of football when wanting to spend big money on fees and wages.

🔮 Prediction: All nine (9) MLB teams that have terminated agreements with Main Street Sports will return to the regional sports network on renegotiated terms — potentially with supplementary coverage on local over-the-air networks — as it remains the single-best available revenue source. The matter of fact is that the traditional multi-channel video bundle continues to be the most powerful revenue engine in media (historically combining scale, stickiness, and pricing power like none other): less profitable today than in the past but not broken yet. Similar to 2023, Main Street Sports (formerly Diamond Sports Group) might just try to further improve its fixed-cost base and capital structure through filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy — as top-line revenues are in structurally decline. Once emerged from bankruptcy in early 2025, the structural mismatch between revenues, costs, and debt burden has been reduced: • 💰 Cost base: Reduced rights frees and added (MLB) digital rights were included in latest renegotiation, while the most erroneous contracts were shed completely such as #Padres #Diamondbacks. • 🏧 Capital structure: Most of the more than $9B debt was converted into equity, so that the creditor consortium became the majority owners, canceling any former equity interest (especially Sinclair Broadcast Group), and bringing on board strategic/minority investors. ⏭️ What’s next for the single-product company: At this stage, top-line revenue is about managing decline, not growth. With debt leverage largely removed, the only remaining lever is further cost flexibility. That’s where #DAZN’s potential involvement becomes strategically relevant, who has made a “more cooperative” licensing model with rights owners (a.k.a. risk and revenue sharing) it’s go-to strategy to right-size its own economics — even mid-cycle and based on a broad range of legal arguments (e.g. rampant piracy, lack of club cooperation, distributor concentration and collusion dynamics). If applied successfully to MSS, this model could variabilize rights costs further, aligning economics with actual monetization — something traditional RSN contracts historically failed to do — and make them potentially go through with the reported acquisition. 👎🏼 Why MLB alternatives don’t pencil (yet): MLB’s local in-house distribution via ad-hoc carriage agreements with pay-TV operators lacks scale and pricing power. The licensing agreement with ESPN for in-app digital rights are not providing the economics to sustain anything close to current revenues for the nine teams opted out. League reserve funds have already been materially drawn down to offset lost local media revenue for other clubs in recent seasons. ☝️ For MLB franchises prioritizing near-term revenue stability, a restructured, more flexible Main Street Sports — potentially combined with OTA exposure — likely remains the best available option, even if it’s no longer the perfect one.

@ConnorHolden00 @NiiNiiFC Main question given all your tactical work is where does he fit Estevao into the team. I see lots of people draw formations and tactics but his name is never on the board. Given the talent is that not a mistake?

@NiiNiiFC Out of interest, lineup you’d go with then?

If I EVER see Rosenior use a starting XI this diabolical, I'll sell my channel for mcdonalds vouchers Keep dreaming if you think we secure CL with this ish

FIFA’s promise to offer $60 tickets to World Cup matches is hilarious when you realize what seats they are discounting

There are billions of $ chasing sports investments these days… so where the hell will it get spent? open.substack.com/pub/sportbiz/p…

Fans look away now… Apollo didn’t buy Athletico for the football… open.substack.com/pub/sportbiz/p…

Madness - the sports industry in a nutshell? open.substack.com/pub/sportbiz/p…

The world is changing pretty quickly. Sports haven’t changed much in 30 years. Could get bumpy… #sportsbiz open.substack.com/pub/sportbiz/p…

The delulu generation. The sports industry stuck in limbo… -#sportsbiz open.substack.com/pub/sportbiz/p…

You can’t fake good storytelling: open.substack.com/pub/sportbiz/p…

Why Sports Entertainment Isn’t About Gimmicks—It’s About Storytelling, by @mbrought9 open.substack.com/pub/sportbiz/p…

What sports should learn from the yellow suit - The fan is first and last in all your thinking. open.substack.com/pub/sportbiz/p…

What a final at Roland Garros… and perhaps the unwritten rule that sports find a way to self perpetuate! #sportsbiz #RolandGarros2025 substack.com/profile/343714…

We’ve all been there—too many paywalls, too many platforms, too expensive to watch the team you love. But there’s a reason organised crime is in the IPTV business. You’re not just streaming football. You’re inviting fraud into your home. #sportsbiz open.substack.com/pub/sportbiz/p…

That £5 firestick streaming the match? It’s likely linked to human trafficking, drug crime and remote access malware. My latest piece dives into the dark side of pirated sports content. It’s not just illegal it’s dangerous #sportsbiz open.substack.com/pub/sportbiz/p…