For the big European Leagues, broadcast rights ahve become the major source of income for the clubs, so much so that relegation from the English Premier league constitutes a loss of hundreds of millions for Aston Villa, Norwich City and Newcastle United. Sponsorships take on a myriad of roles. There are the main club sponsors, whose logo appear on the club’s jerseys and training gear, match sponsors, sponsors of individual players and backroom staff, including the manager/head coach. In some countries, the players look like advertising boards for the number of sponsors on their shirts. Clubs also use their catering facilities at their stadiums as banqueting halls. Grounds also have executive boxes for corporate hospitality. Match day catering and alcohol sales also add to the coffers. In actuality, ticket sales are the lowest percentage of income for clubs although many supporters feel ticket prices are too high, especially for the visiting team supporters. Some clubs, such as Manchester City in England, Paris St Germain in France and Barcelona in Spain, have massive foreign investment. Manchester United of England were bought by the American Glazer family, who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL. The sold debentures on the club to finance their purchase which angered many supporters. Chelsea are owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. On the other end of the spectrum would be teams like AFC Bournemouth, which has the smalest stadium in the Premier league and Crystal Palace, only six years removed from administration (bankruptcy) and nearly being liquidated until four wealthy but not extravagantly rich Palace supporters formed the CPFC 2010 consortium and bought both the club and Selhurst Park. Recently, the consortium were able to secure massive investment from two Americans, David Blitzer and Josh Harris. Their priority is to improve the infrastructure of the club, meaning Selhurst Park and a new state of the art training ground as well as improving the playing squad.
