Football Governance Act 2025: Implementation
Debate between Baroness Twycross and Lord Londesborough(2 weeks, 3 days ago)
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Baroness Twycross (Lab)
Clearly, we are really proud of the Premier League and of English and British football. It is our national game. However, the genesis of the Football Governance Act was based on some real issues within the game of football and the entire pyramid, and I expect and anticipate that the chair of the regulator will see these as a key priority, while not undermining the competitiveness of the Premier League.
Lord Londesborough (CB)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that it would be wrong to single out clubs such as Morecambe and Sheffield Wednesday as outliers or exceptional? I say that because, in the last two seasons, all 24 clubs in our second tier—the EFL Championship—have generated operating losses, with wage bills continuing to spiral. The clubs together now carry a debt of £1.5 billion. Time is surely not on the regulator’s side.
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
This is exactly why we intend to get the regulator up as quickly as possible.
Ticket Sales: Dynamic Pricing
Debate between Baroness Twycross and Lord Londesborough
Lord Londesborough (CB)
My Lords, like it or not, dynamic pricing, driven by supply and demand, has been with us for centuries and is a key ingredient of economic growth. Does the Minister agree that Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge last week to
“make sure that tickets are available at a price that people can actually afford”
is at odds with the Government’s number one mission? Is the Prime Minister committed to economic growth or—with apologies to Oasis—is this a case of “Definitely Maybe”?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
Noble Lords will note that I have taken a deliberate decision not to quote song titles. The Minister of State, Chris Bryant, described people being able to access live events as “a joy”. The joy of live events should be available to everyone and that has to be reflected in fair pricing.