Money Calling: Bye Bye Sport

Published by Stephen Milward in Sport · Friday 27 Feb 2026 · 3 minutes
Tags: money, sport, finance, investment, sports, industry, career, change, personal, finance, income, financial, freedom, relegation, promotion

I've been concerned about professional sport for years. Let's be clear - sports clubs that are professional are first and foremost businesses. They are owned, sometimes by billionaires, not for the enjoyment of sporting prowess, but to be a profit making machine. Two obvious examples stand out.

The Premier League (i) and EFL in England were created to replace the Football League in 1992. What has happened since? Ticket prices have gone through the roof, live football is rare on free-to-air TV (the subscription model has become the default) and there are examples of owners, mostly foreign, using the club assets as collateral against loans, while at the same time sacking long-serving staff (I'm looking at you Manchester United) (ii). United fans have been protesting against the ownership for years. I for one hope that they succeed in getting the Glaziers and INEOS out.

One disturbing aspect of professional sport is the umbilical cord link to betting companies. These lousy, parasitic companies, who actively encourage people (many young men) to spend money chasing the dream, are sometimes run by billionaires, who clearly are themselves strapped for a bob or two. To make matters worse, we now have the ridiculous growth in 'stats', that even commentators depend on rather than actually telling us what is happening on the pitch.

The second example is reported in the Guardian 27 February 2026 (iii). The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is moving to a franchise model, where promotion and relegation are ditched, much like the American NFL. All justifications offered for this step are financial and nothing to do with sporting success or failure. It's pathetic, wrong and retrograde, since why would a supporter spend possibly thousands of pounds a season without sporting jeopardy? Where is the thrill and excitement in that? TV subscriptions may well fall. Crowds lessen, ticket prices go up..... clubs close down. To those clubs who have agreed to this change, when you close down, remember that you won't be missed. It reminds me of the attempt by the large powerful European football clubs to set up a European Super League. That was defeated by a tremendous fan backlash.

Let's be clear, there is an answer. Let the big professional clubs kid themselves that the future is bright. For the sports fan who wants a true sporting challenge and not a closed shop, follow the lower league clubs, the amateur clubs and better still, get involved in sport rather than just watch it. You'll enjoy it more, be more connected to it and have the satisfaction that you're not helping businessmen who don't care about you to get even richer. Believe in fan power. Don't just protest against these owners, boycott the club. You'll survive in the same way that getting rid of Facebook, X and the rest of social media can be a liberating experience. Teach these clubs that your support is conditional and should never be taken for granted.

(i) Wikipedia: Premier League

(ii) Wikipedia: Glazer ownership of Manchester United

(iii) The Guardian 27 February 2026: Promotion and relegation from Prem to be scrapped as rugby moves to franchise model