Yes people literally played football in the midsts of war, I’m not talking about leagues, I’m talking about literally playing football in battlefields, have you not heard of the Christmas truce?
The Christmas truce is one of my very favorite moments of humanity. And one of the very starch reminders that the
vast majority of people want to live their lives and be friends. It's the men in command with their feelings hurt that get us into situations like the first and second world war.
A season of CL, or even two, would cost the big hitter teams a lot more than curtailing the end of this domestic season. The PL is unique in its financial power, the rest of the big European teams pull their main finances out of the CL. No way are they allowing that to be cancelled more than this season in order to save their league seasons.
Further, this £750m figure being banded about for the PL is nonsense. A far more likely scenario is that Sky/BT pull 25%. They are not going to pull the full amount as to do so will have serious implications for their biggest cash cow, why would they do that? It would be a prime example of being penny wise and pound foolish if they pulled the full amount in the medium to long term. Further, the current situation for them benefits them as more people have been signing up for services and spending on their platforms. The only concessions that they have given are a freeze on their sports products other than that they are booming.
As for logistics of the CL that could be admittedly be an issue. However, an easy way around that is to regionalise the groups next season so no team has to travel far so they could do their trips by road/train.
I take it you get the 25% number from the 9 remaining game rounds. Sky is owned by Comcast (USA), while BT's largest shareholder is Deutche Telecom at 12%. - You can get a Sky subscription through BT fibre. That's the relationship between the two, (as far as I understand, I'm not British).
I assume that the numbers presented to the FA is not pulled out of a hat, but is rather something presented in a contractual clause in the event a substantial amount of the league is not finished. SKY and BT Sport own the TV rights until 2022, with Amazon that shows 20 games pr season from 2019-22.
I actually had a good look online and I could not find a single corporate statement, forum post or news article detailing that subscriptions are up in the UK.. because why on earth would it be? The main draw in the UK market is suspended. Sky IS sports, that's their biggest draw.
For good measure, Sky sports have made it easy for subscribers to pause (not cancel) their Sky Sports subscriptions until Sky resumes again. That is an astonishing amount of lost revenue. BT Sports have also made it possible to pause the subscription, but they put some less customer friendly.
"Reports and anecdotal evidence suggest that at present BT is offering customers who ring up to cancel a month’s free BT Sport."
I think you are looking at this from a BT/Sky should carry the burden perspective. Butt hey are not going to do that. They are beholden to their shareholders and are legally obliged to not take any action that damages the share value. if they do they will face class action lawsuits faster than you can say cashgrab.
There is a way football clubs that receive TV money can make it through this on, and that is their main source of expense: Player wages. Players in the Bundeliga, Serie A and Primiera Division have already agreed to take paycuts, and I fully expect the Premier League clubs to follow suit, the sooner the better. The players can and should take the brunt of the cost here to protect the club in a show of solidarity. While I understand that that statement might seem a bit callous, let's just get a solid reminder out there that most players in the Premier League earn what you make in a year, in a single week sitting at home posting "Don't go outside" videos on Twitter. The players are the main entiety who are in power to protect the club from financial hardship.
Then you can make the argument that the owners should pay, or that Sky/BT should pay, or that the players have contracts and bla bla. But even if the players say "I will only earn £25k a week instead of £50k a week". Well, I am happy to say that I think the PL playres can somehow afford to keept he lights on and their families fed through these hard times along with the thousands that are currently laid off from their jobs
*50k was the Premier League Median weekly wage in 2017, I did not find a more recent number but obviously it has gone up with inflation.
tl;dr:
1) SKY/BT Subscriptions are NOT up. Their key customer group can't watch their product, and their buying power is down due to being laid off/reduced production in industry
2) SKY/BT custumers can suspend their subscritpions. The cost is enormous for SKY/BT and will affect their budget if prolonged
3) The players can reduce their salaries by 50%, still be rich, and save the clubs from difficulty
4) The British state needs to offer a financial stimulus package to help the lower-league clubs, compensate them in full for lost attendance and commercial revenue due to the corona outbreak.
5) SKY/BT will not simply sponsor the PL clubs so that they can pay full wages to players. They will, and should be able to be compensated for the loss of prodcut like everyone else.
6) IF they are claiming £750, theres a contract that allows them to do this
7)
I AM SO BORED SITTING AT HOME, STOP GOING OUTSIDE YOU MUPPETS WHO STILL DO.