- Apr 23, 2014
- 4,583
- 6,947
- Thread starter
- #21
From what I gather, the plan has been along the lines of:
Build new training facilities
Build a new stadium
The stadium will be used both as an increased revenue stream in and of itself, but also to build the Spurs brand more widely around the world, which in turn generates revenue. This increased revenue is used to bring in the resources needed to challenge on four fronts on a regular basis. Buying the elite players with big names will also feed into the development of the brand, to sustain that increased revenue. It is basically trying to do what clubs like Real and Barca currently have - enormous presence around the world, which allows them to buy the big players and win trophies and maintain their fame, thus generating the money to buy the big names, win trophies and maintain their fame, and on and on and on.
Now, there is an argument that all of this tarnishes the purity of the game. There's certainly much grist for the mill when it comes to that debate. But whatever one's view of it is, we can't deny what the state of football actually is. That, at present, it is a business. That may change in the future or it may not, but today it is what it is. And so we have to play the game as it is, which is to treat it as a business.
But even with the new stadium and training facilities, we're still behind our rivals resource wise. I'm not saying we shouldn't do these things (quite the opposite, standing still is going backwards) but the Emirates didn't catapult Arsenal to a greater level of success than when they were at Highbury.
The cynic in me says that ENIC are happy to invest in capital projects because there is a lower risk of not realising the return. I've said this before many times but if it was between Spurs generating £50m profit in a trophyless season vs taking a risk and spending £50m to have a 75% chance of winning the league or a 25% chance of breaking even, then ENIC would bank the £50m and consider it a good season.