Gazidis: Arsenal don't need the Champions League to be viable

Ivan Gazidis says what I wish he would have said a long time ago - it won't mean ruin if Arsenal don't qualify for the Champions League next year. Will players leave? Sure. Will it be the end of the club? Not even close.

7 months ago pdb 18 comments 0 recs |

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I agree it won't mean the end of the club, but....

Many players out there, Mikel Arteta for example, consider the prospect of CL football as a considerable factor in what clubs they want to join. The truth is the Champions League, for both prestige and monetary purposes, is important…

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by silverace99 on Oct 7, 2011 11:44 AM EDT reply actions

Well, yes, but I think it is also a matter of continually missing it.

The problem with losing or drawing new players will only become serious if it looks like Arsenal are going to be out of the CL for a long time. I don’t think that’ll happen and if they miss this year, I do not think it a stretch that Arsenal can convince players they are still able – with the proper moves, of course. Remember, Liverpool went through troubles and are now back while holding on to some of their bigger names and still attracting good players.

by Learn2Leaf on Oct 7, 2011 12:18 PM EDT up reply actions

The great thing about sports is that there is a continual pipeline of players

as learn2leaf says, if Arsenal go through a stretch of three or four years with no CL, there might be issues, but missing one year is really not that big a deal – Arsenal are still a big enough club that good players will want to go there. Arsenal currently miss out on the top tier of players anyway, so it’s not like it’s a huge step backwards to not be in the market for that top tier in the future.

Arteta is a good player, but there are more Artetas in the world than there are Messis, and Arsenal will always be in the market for them.

by pdb on Oct 7, 2011 1:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Sorry pdb, but what else would he say?

“OH NOES IF WE MISS DA CL WE’S FUCKED!”

I don’t think so.

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by Ben Schneider on Oct 7, 2011 2:36 PM EDT reply actions

No, but

there’s a difference between staying quiet, which a lot of owners would do, and coming out and saying “we have a model that will carry us through a rough patch”. To me it shows that they’re not depending on CL money to survive, and I love hearing that from them.

by pdb on Oct 7, 2011 3:14 PM EDT up reply actions

Just because we can survive doesn’t mean we will do well without it. Without the Champions League all of a sudden we have to start overpaying for quality players (Like Liverpool) and it becomes harder to lure them in. (Arteta and others have come because they wanted competition at the highest level)

by Roa on Oct 7, 2011 10:09 PM EDT reply actions

I understand what your saying

but you also have to consider that we don’t play in a league where we are guaranteed to be in a qualifying position each year. There’s a reason the EPL gets the most spots: it’s that competitive. It’s unfair to demand that we dominate such a difficult league. Russian or Arab billionaires don’t buy spanish or italian teams and stack them with all-stars. It sucks that it’s so hard for us but you’ve got to face reality: it is!!

Captain, there are doubt''s...

by Match Day 5 on Oct 8, 2011 9:08 AM EDT up reply actions

I guess my question for you and others who feel this way is

If Arsenal aren’t in the Champions League, and thus don’t attract top talent, will you still be a fan? Or will the fact that Arsenal no longer are in that elite tier of teams mean that your fandom will shift to a team that is?

I don’t ask that in a snarky or meanspirited way – I’m genuinely curious as to what the lack of Champions League soccer means to people’s fandom.

by pdb on Oct 8, 2011 12:08 PM EDT up reply actions

I'll be a fan regardless.

Doesn’t mean I’ll ever be content with mediocrity.

I stuck with Leicester City through our first ever relegation to league 1 but I wasn’t nearly as happy with the club as I am now that we’re looking like we could become a solid premier league team again.

by Roa on Oct 8, 2011 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh it doesn't affect my fandom.

But the debate here isn’t whether the team will keep it’s fans (probably will lose a few fairweather ones, who cares). It’s about the long term success of the club and how losing the CL affects it. Gazidis can say this, and he is perhaps right that financially Arsenal can survive a season without it. But the longer you are out of the CL, the harder it is to get back in it. And as I said above, for attracting players AND for money reasons, it’s not a good thing. Remember that we’re not being backed by an oil magnate, we can’t use embarrassing amounts of money to overcome this problem.

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by silverace99 on Oct 8, 2011 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions

But I think that's missing the point a bit

It’s about the long term success of the club…remember that we’re not being backed by an oil magnate, we can’t use embarrassing amounts of money to overcome this problem.

I think that’s Gazidis’ point here – it’s not a problem if they miss the CL. Arsenal have built a business model (and I hate using terms like “business model” to talk about sports, but here we are) that does not depend on any one revenue stream to be a success – be that stream CL payouts, TV money, shirt sponsorships, or whatever.

Will they not attract the same quality of player if they are out of the CL? Probably. But I don’t think that is a long-term problem – as much as we shake our heads and boggle our minds when Arsene signs yet another 18 year old with unlimited upside, in two years (assuming Arsenal miss the CL next season) that player will be a 20 year old just discovering what “unlimited upside” actually means, and Arsenal are right back in the CL hunt.

I guess I just take the side of “the club as a whole knows what its doing” rather than gnashing my teeth and rending my garments at the concept of missing out on the CL next season.

by pdb on Oct 8, 2011 2:03 PM EDT up reply actions

On the topic of upside, I'd agree if this was an American sport

With the Draft and Salary Caps. But it isn’t. If you have unlimited money like some clubs do, there’s no reason to get young hot prospects when you can get a guaranteed star. Upside is just another word for “could be good, maybe”. These rich clubs don’t have to risk on the “maybe”. I can’t think of many teams in recent memory who won the league using many players they brought up through the ranks while dumping their stars. ManU for instance, has lots of youth but it is well mixed with veteran players who are skilled. Arsenal’s lineup, on the other hand, has been rather unstable even before this summer. We can’t do a youth experiment if we can’t hold the team together over the years.

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by silverace99 on Oct 9, 2011 1:15 AM EDT up reply actions

Barcelona: Ibrahimovic, Ronaldinho, Henry, Eto'o

ManU: van Nistelroy, Ronaldo, Tevez

Captain, there are doubt''s...

by Match Day 5 on Oct 9, 2011 11:56 AM EDT up reply actions

So the 'ludicrously expensive tickets + dumpster diving for players' model isn't at risk?

Um, good news, I guess

by rg643 on Oct 8, 2011 9:08 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

To me, that's my main concern

With ticket prices being the highest in the league, how will ticket-renewals be affected if we drop out of the CL? I can’t see Arsenal rolling back prices from where they’re currently at, so will the fans’ ire at the prices when we’re in the CL explode even more so if, or when, we fall out of the CL? The atmosphere at the Emirates is already edgy, so I’d hate to imagine what it’d be like with no Euro competitions to play for and sky-high ticket prices.

I understand why we operate the way we do when it comes to player transfers and I’ve learned to accept it a long time ago, but empty seats for home games and gameday protests can’t be tolerated for too long.

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by Twin Cities Hawk on Oct 9, 2011 8:29 AM EDT up reply actions

This

I wonder whether we can cope without the Champions League if there’s a full blown financial collapse in Europe, which, combined with failure to qualify for the Champions League, affects ticket renewals.
I’m sure Gazirdis and Arsene have considered that, but I think it is something to be concerned about, because we’re more affected by match day revenue than Chelsea, United, Barca and Real because our commercial income isn’t as good.

AAARRRRRRRSSSSSHHHHHHHHAAAAAAVVVVVIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNN!
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by Aidan Gibson on Oct 9, 2011 9:59 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm getting caught up on Arsenal news since I've been out for the past 8 days

I read this morning that we’re considering either re-negotiating or buying out our remaining years for our kit and stadium sponsorship from Emirates Airlines. If so, I can’t imagine what leverage we would have to other potential sponsorship suitors if we’re not in Europe next year. I’m not one of those fans that has thinks being out of Europe means the Apocalypse for Arsenal, but I’m not going to poo-poo being out of Europe either.

I understand the current global appeal that the name “Arsenal” and what the cannon and shield brings to the table (along with our continual financial strength), but the main motivation behind sponsorship is how well the club broadcasts their brand for them, and being out of Europe means less avenues of brand distribution. People may point to Liverpool as an example of of this theory being proven wrong, but since we last won a trophy they won a CL trophy and appeared in another CL final. In addition, I’d argue that Liverpool has a stronger brand name than Arsenal at the moment and it’s something that won’t correct itself anytime soon as long as we’re going seasons without winning anything.

Obviously Gazidis and others have forgotten more about this sort of thing than I’ll ever know, but on the surface it appears to be a pretty significant gamble that could either reap in millions more, or worse-case scenario, bring in less than what we have.

"I know you're from Middle America, and sometimes you feel like you're representing more than just a school or a conference, maybe an entire group of American citizens out there."

by Twin Cities Hawk on Oct 9, 2011 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions