Philipp Grothe is the CEO of media rights company Kentaro. They are becoming increasingly known in the world of football and are sure to have a major say in proceedings in the future. This is great news for football worldwide but terrible news for the UK based fans of the premier league. What a history we have and what a game, why change it? One reason and that is money, and it is out of our hands. If rumour is true, talks are already in place to hold a future Carling cup final in the middle east!! Never happen? Thats what I thought and what many people will say, however many businesses work on numbers and as many people they will upset in the UK if this happens, they will earn more fans world wide and more money so they are not bothered!! I think its a horrible prospect and im still convinced it will not happen. However if you look a little deeper into it, you will find that Kentaro already have allot of the big clubs in the Premier league on their books, such as Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal (The Pre season Emirates Cup is thanks to Kentaro). The future could be frustrating for the average football fan in the UK.

So we all watched the game last weekend, where Englands second string were given the run around by the Brazilians. It was an interesting spectacle played out in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Allot of people wonder why it was played there? Well the main reason is because we owe Brazil a friendly from when they helped us christen the marvelous new Wembley Stadium the other year. What I think is the most interesting thing about the game though is that the English FA received around £400,000 for the game as an appearance fee, whereas the Brazilians received in the region of £4,000,000!!! Now that is quite a difference. The game thought to be organised by a company called Kentaro who have had a vision and are making money from it. They are successfully parading the Brazilians around the globe to wherever they can get the best money. England were simply a part of this show, nothing more. Interesting.

Heres abit of good news for you punters out there who fancy a flutter on todays game and also have an interest in the X Factor. Paddy Power bookmakers are offering a money back special if the famous twins are eliminated from the competition tomorrow night. Paddy Power are willing to refund all loosing 1st/lst goalscorer, correct score and scorecst singles on the Ireland v France match should Jedward be eliminated from the X Factor. What a great Idea and must be taken up by punters who would have had a bet on the game anyway. The terms and conditions are…
Applies to singles placed before kick off only

Applies to 1st/last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast markets only.
Applies to win part of each-way goalscorer bets only.
Max Refund £/E50 per customer.
John and Edward must be eliminated from X Factor on Sunday 15th November for special to apply.
Refunds apply to Ireland v France 1st leg match on 14th Nov only.
Paddy Power football rules apply.
Does not apply to customers whose language of registration is Spanish.

Ive just been checking the Wigan Athletic website and it appears that their season tickets for the up and coming premier league campaign are priced at £250. So fantastic value from the Latics, you can go and watch premier league football every other week for £13.16 !!! Surely any neutral football fans in the north west would seriously consider this. An exiting season lies ahead with the young Roberto Martinez at the helm backed by the fantastic Dave Whelan. Both have made their mark on the club already as Dave Whelans love for the club and his money helped the club rise from the old 3rd Division into the Premier League in the space of 10 years Between 1995 and 2005.  In 1995 Martinez was attracted to the club along with Isidro Diaz and Jesus Seba. The Spaniards became known as the Three Amigos and were at the forefront of the Whelan revolution of Wigan Athletic.

When you think about it, if you were not that bothered about watching all of the games it is still amazing value, even if you wanted to watch the top 7 teams play at the JJB, Lets say this season it will be Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton, Aston Villa, and Manchester City. That would work out at around £35 for each match which would probbably be the cheapest tickest available at any other ground to watch the big teams. Amazing, and thats only watching 7 games.

Manchester United understand the yearly increase of prize money more than anyone and just how important every position is within the premier league. When they first won the premier league, they received Prize Money of £815,210. This season they received £15,220,000. That is a massive increase of £14.4m over 17 years.
The total Prize money in 1993 was £9.3m, now the total fund is £160m. in addition to this, there are large amounts to be made from playing live on TV. The Premier League is now surely the most lucrative league in world football.

Premier League

1992-1993            Comparisons              2008-2009

£815,210            Manchester United                            £15,220,000
£778,155           Liverpool                                               £14,459,000
£741,100           Chelsea                                                    £13,698,000
£704,045          Arsenal                                                    £12,937,000
£666,990           Everton                                                   £12,176,000
£629,975           Aston Villa                                             £11,415,000
£592,880           Fulham                                                    £10,654,000
£555,825           Tottenham                                              £9,893,000
£518,770          West Ham                                                £9,132,000
£481,715           Manchester City                                   £8,371,000
£440,660          Stoke City                                                £7,610,000
£407,605         Wigan Athletic                                       £6,849,000
£370,550         Bolton Wanderers                                £6,088,000
£333,495          Portsmouth                                            £5,327,000
£296,440          Blackburn Rovers                                £4,566,000
£259,385          Sunderland                                             £3,805,000
£222,330          Hull City                                                  £3,044,000
£185,275          Newcastle                                                £2,283,000
£148,220          Middlesbrough                                      £1,522,000
£111,165           West Bromwich Albion                       £761,000
£74,110 -          N/A
£37,055 -         N/A
£9,372,820     Total                                                          £159,810,000