Premflix moves closer to reality

GM football fans. It’s Wednesday, Nov. 27, and we’re covering the Premier League’s move to Premflix, the Club World Cup’s new lifeline, and much more. First time reading? Sign up here.

Editor’s note: Starting this week, Route One’s Daily Brief will be sent from a different email address. If it doesn’t land in your inbox, make sure to check your junk or spam folders.

TODAY’S UCL STATS

Liverpool vs Real Madrid (20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET). Madrid is the team that Liverpool have lost against most often in European competitions (7). Arne Slot’s men are still favourites going into this fixture. Aston Villa vs Juventus (20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET). Villa have won seven of their last eight home matches in major European competitions, while Juventus have won just three of their last 15 matches on English soil. Celtic vs Club Brugge (20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET). Celtic have lost just once in 19 matches across all competitions this season. Meanwhile, despite a rocky start to their campaign, the Belgian champions have now gone unbeaten in their last six matches (5W 1D). Full list of Champions League fixtures here.

Plus…

• UCL results: Man City 3 - 3 Feyenoord | Bayern Munich 1 - 0 PSG | Sporting 1 - 5 Arsenal | Barcelona 3 - 0 Brest | Inter Milan 1 - 0 Leipzig | Sparta P 0 - 6 Atletico | Leverkusen 5 - 0 RB Salzburg | Slovan 2 - 3 AC Milan | Young Boys 1 - 6 Atalanta

• Robert Lewandowski becomes the third player to reach 100 UCL goals, after Ronaldo and Messi (More)

• Six to face trial in Paris for blackmailing Paul Pogba (More)

• Match officials for Matchday 13 (More)

• Arsenal fan given three-year football ban for racially abusing Thomas Partey (More)

NETFLIX OF FOOTBALL

Premier League closer to ‘Premflix’, boost revenues for clubs and lower costs for fans

Premier League clubs have voted to bring all international production in-house from 2026. The English top flight is ending its 20-year partnership with IMG, which broadcasts matches in 189 markets outside the UK. The vote took place at Friday's shareholders' meeting, where clubs also voted to change APT rules.

By taking control of its international broadcast, the Premier League is moving closer to a direct-to-consumer streaming service. It has been dubbed the ‘Netflix of Football’ or ‘Premflix’. A report found that a dedicated Premier League streaming service could boost annual media rights income from £3.5bn to £24bn. It would also mean that fans won’t have to pay for multiple subscriptions to watch different Premier League matches.

The NFL and NBA have already established their versions of this, NFL Game Pass and NBA League Pass. And where the more commercially mature US sports market leads, Europe tends to follow.

POLL

HEAD START

> Football Governance Bill faces criticism in the Lords. The bill, which had its second reading in the House of Lords this month, says that the regulator will oversee “English football”. The Lords have criticised the bill for not clearly defining which leagues the football regulator will have power over. Peers have tabled more than 350 amendments to the bill already, raising the risk it could be further delayed. The football regulator would grant powers to a body, independent of government and football authorities, to oversee clubs in English football. Dive deeper into the regulator here.

> Man United profitable during the first quarter of the season. Manchester United have made a profit during the first quarter of the 2024-25 season amid cost-cutting measures. During the same period last year, the club posted losses of £32.8mn. Earlier this year, the INEOS-led hierarchy cut 250 jobs and cancelled some corporate benefits. Importantly, though, United’s latest figures do not include the compensation paid to Erik ten Hag following his sacking or the fee paid to Sporting for Ruben Amorim. This will cost around £15mn and £9.2mn, respectively.

> US senators urge FIFA not to pick Saudi as World Cup hosts. Two United States senators urged FIFA not to pick Saudi Arabia as the 2034 World Cup host. They cited the kingdom’s record on human rights as a concern. Some believe FIFA designed the contest for Saudi Arabia to win the bid. But 15 stadiums need to be built before 2034, risking repeat labour rights issues that occurred ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

CLUB WORLD CUP

Controversial Club World Cup issued lifeline by sponsor, but FIFA struggles to convince others

FIFA has signed a Club World Cup deal with longtime sponsor AB InBev, which will promote alcoholic beverages at the expanded tournament next year. This is only the second deal to be found for the tournament. The governing body has not announced the value of either sponsorship.

Just seven months from the opening game in Miami, sponsors remain unconvinced. Long-term partners such as Coca-Cola and Adidas have not committed to deals. Some critics believe sponsors are avoiding the tournament as it has been blighted by a legal row with player unions and leagues.

The biggest problem is the lack of a broadcaster for the tournament. FIFA aimed for around £3.2bn in broadcast revenue. But only one offer is thought to have been made, by Apple TV, but for only a quarter of the hoped-for revenue. In September, FIFA president Gianni Infantino held an emergency meeting to convince global broadcasters. Nothing came from that meeting. Learn more about the new Club World Cup format here.

AROUND THE FOOTBALL WORLD

Top Five European Leagues

> Serie A referee suspended for a week after failing to show Napoli striker Romelu Lukaku a yellow card for ‘two bookable offences’ in the first half of Roma-Napoli (More)

> Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham says that he felt “a bit like a scapegoat” for England’s failure to win Euro 2024 this summer (More)

Rest of the World

> Sheffield United top the Championship table after beating Oxford United 3-0 | Sunderland drop points again in a goalless draw with West Brom; the Black Cats fifth straight draw | Norwich’s Borja Sainz nets a hat-trick as he reaches 14 league goals (Championship table)

> Inter Miami officially announce Javier Mascherano as their new head coach, replacing Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino (More) | Vancouver Whitecaps have fired head coach Vanni Satini after the team’s elimination in the MLS playoffs; Satini becomes the 10th MLS coach to depart since the start of the 2024 season (More)

Women’s Football

> New York City head coach Nick Cushing has been sacked by the club amid interest from WSL side Arsenal. Cushing led Manchester City to the WSL title in 2016 during seven years in charge and is one of the candidates to replace Jonas Eidevall in north London (More)

> Zambia and Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda has been voted BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year (More)

ROUTER’S VOICE

Yesterday, we asked you: Are you enjoying the expanded Champions League format this year?

🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ 📺 Yes... (48%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👎 Nope... (51%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️  ✍️ Other (write in!)... (1%)

Your punditry takes:

• 📺 W.W: “It's been almost like an addiction, spending time in Austria while the Euro Cup was going on, we watched football every day. It didn't even matter who was playing. That's how I'm feeling about the Champions League right now.”

• 👎 S.F: “The number of games is ridiculous and the tension has gone. Even when a big team gets beaten it means very little as there are plenty of games to make it up. Too many games on at the same time and unless you just want a goals show by definition you have to miss at least seven of them. I think it's awful!”

• ✍️ P.C: “Couldn't care less, it’s one big money-making scheme.”

EXTRA TIME

Man City downgraded after 624 days on top. / ranking

Can Gyokeres match Messi's record season?

The heart-breaking side of academy football.

What it took to get a yellow card back in the day. / via X

The ‘Baller League’ explained in full.

Best photos of Matchweek 12.

The numbers behind Mbappe’s discomfort at Madrid.

Kane responds to claims he doesn’t score in big games. / via X

BBC’s Premier League team of the week.

Profit and loss of football clubs in Europe. / graph

GAME FACE ON

Question: Who Am I…

• I played for Anderlecht, Hamburger SV and Manchester City.

• As manager, I won the Championship in my first season before being relegated from the Premier League the following season.

• I was included in the Premier League Team of the Year in 2011, 2012, and 2014, and won the Premier League Player of the Season in 2012.

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Champions League

• Red Star vs Stuttgart (17:45)

• Sturm vs Girona (17:45)

• Aston Villa vs Juventus (20:00)

• Bologna vs Lille (20:00)

• Celtic vs Club Brugge (20:00)

• Dinamo Zagreb vs Borussia Dortmund (20:00)

• Liverpool vs Real Madrid (20:00)

• Monaco vs Benfica (20:00)

• PSV vs Shakhtar D (20:00)

Conference League

• Basaksehir vs Petrocub (15:30)

Championship

• Cardiff vs QPR (19:45)

• Leeds vs Luton (19:45)

• Middlesbrough vs Blackburn (19:45)

• Portsmouth vs Millwall (19:45)

• Derby vs Swansea (20:00)

*All time in UK. ET -5. CST -6. PST -8. MST -7. CET +1.

Answer

Vincent Kompany.