Tom Burwell - Interim CEO Podcast

[Mowgli]

Burwell will be fuming. Not going to shift many premium spaces if last nights performance continues

 

[Wearson]

Can see why people were put off by how they talk but it was hardly some technical business lingo like

We've gone from people like Donald and someone who wears pink trousers to Kyril and this bloke.

Yep, we were waiting a long time to “see what good looked like” iirc

 

[the sleeping giant]

I've listen to the whole thing and whilst I warmed to the bloke and his ambitions, it also struck me as more of a sales pitch than a big reveal.

Who / what he's selling we'll have to guess at, but I'm not convinced it's just sponsors.

There's also a danger that he and others are going to milk this 'fans first / connection to the community' narrative, whilst at the same time evidently putting profit before people.

They need to decide which one is their priority. Because if it's the former they'll soon lose face and favour the very moment results turn, and they find the long-standing and loyal have decided to move on and away from the PL hype & bluster.

The london and west lancs tourists-types aren't arriving via the Metro anytime soon.

 

[Zen Den]

I want to like him but with these blokes shtick is their shtick.

 

[the sleeping giant]

I want to like him but with these blokes shtick is their shtick.

If he's still in post in 2-3 years I'd be very surprised so - on that basis - he's can pretty much say what he wants....

If it goes wrong, we're on a 'journey' or it's a 'work in progress'. If it goes right, he moves onto to bigger and better things.

And his words will be a distant memory when the next Ellis Short / Charlie Methven / whoever, comes in and tells us we (the fans) are what makes it special and he (or she) feels very much 'one of us'.

And then we start all over again.

 

[old supporter]

If he's still in post in 2-3 years I'd be very surprised so - on that basis - he's can pretty much say what he wants....

If it goes wrong, we're on a 'journey' or it's a 'work in progress'. If it goes right, he moves onto to bigger and better things.

And his words will be a distant memory when the next Ellis Short / Charlie Methven / whoever, comes in and tells us we (the fans) are what makes it special and he (or she) feels very much 'one of us'.

And then we start all over

He's only interim CEO until a permanent appointment he said he was interviewing someone that afternoon. He's CEO of Bio Sports Group which KLD and Sartori set up. He's also a non executive director of SAFC

 

[contrarian]

Full of corporate BS and LinkedIn linguo
No thanks

 

[sir rowell cummins]

Its a business conversation for business people. They seem determined and clear. It shows how hard it is to balance us fans with capitalism.

 

[the sleeping giant]

He's only interim CEO until a permanent appointment he said he was interviewing someone that afternoon. He's CEO of Bio Sports Group which KLD and Sartori set up. He's also a non executive director of SAFC

Understood. But he's clearly highly involved with setting out Sunderland AFC's strategy.

If Bio Sportsgroup are basically the overall owners of SAFC then he will continue to do so even if a football club CEO is appointed.

The point remains that owners and CEO's will come and go.... it's the fans that are the constant.

 

[Chewit]

We will get an annual fee from Hummel. Will be about £400k a year. We will have received a promotion bonus. I reckon it will have been about £800k / £1m and then we’ll probably get an additional £100k a year being in premier league so this summer we’ll probably get about £500k.

This is about 10% of what a top 6 team will get.

Shirt sales will be peanuts due to the deal we have. Fanatics own the result therefore they take the margin. We will get a royalty payment. Probably around 5%.

I’d estimate the following structure roughly.

Costs Hummel £15 landed into UK.
Sells to Fanatics for £30.
Fanatics sells it’s for £60.
Royalties due to club about £3 per shirt.

We’ll sell about 100k shirts this season.
So £300k royalties plus £400k annual fee. Total £700k.

Now… imagine we made the kit ourselves!!

Using the same figures as above we would make £4.5m vs £700k.

Yes it would cost us about £0.5m to set up a team to do it etc. but that would be offset with the additional revenue you make by doing other merch like training wear, generic stuff like cotton tees, polos, baby grows etc etc.

You’d made another couple of million in profit doing that sort of stuff.

There is a very strong argument to make in the club doing it themselves in my opinion.

An argument to the tune of about £6m / £7m additional profit.


Clubs can buy themselves out of the contract. Hummel won’t let this go mind easily. It’s a great deal for them. They might be persuaded next year once the novelty has worn off. You always see a decline in sales in years 4 and 5 of a 5 year deal.

I’ve got one question for you Roland. Would you have bought that kit that Boro made themselves all those years back

Listened to the whole thing now. He speaks really well, I’ve no doubt he’ll help to grown our revenue and make us more competitive on the pitch.

However the whole thing is tinged a bit for me, given what’s going on with season tickets. I worry he’s being disingenuous.

Proof will be in the pudding

Full of corporate BS and LinkedIn linguo
No thanks

You didn’t understand then.
Got to remember talking industry standard language on a business related podcast is nothing more than you would expect.
You would be more worried if he talked like Del Boy in that context.
Be interesting to see how he pitches it with fans

 

[Balti Man]

I’ve got one question for you Roland. Would you have bought that kit that Boro made themselves all those years back


Proof will be in the pudding


You didn’t understand then.
Got to remember talking industry standard language on a business related podcast is nothing more than you would expect.
You would be more worried if he talked like Del Boy in that context.
Be interesting to see how he pitches it with fans

I am looking forward to a paradigm shift, if this fella can move the needle and achieve relentless revenue optimisation, monetising emerging markets and replicating the matchday experience for our friends in Rwanda, Tennessee and Cancun.

 

[haliwerfolc]

Rumour I heard at the weekend was that Bruce had been sacked because the commercial revenue was nowhere near where senior leadership wanted it, and they were unimpressed with our various sponsorship deals.

I think this interview (I’ve only watched the first bit so far) already singles exactly what the intent of the new CEO will be (I’m going to bet it ends up being this like full time - but even if not). To get every penny out of us all. Way of the modern game innit.

Totally agree, I got exactly the same impression from his interview

I honestly wish the club wouldn’t do these type of podcasts. Reminds me of the Stewy D era. Always ends up biting us on the backside.

He comes across as all about . Obvious why we are having issues with long serving season ticket holders not being able to renew!

I don’t think he comes across pro SAFC at all

Agree entirely

 

[Gaius Octavius]

Watched it but got to say it was like a game of corporate buzzword bingo. Obviously he has to try to create a perception that he has bought into the club but I've got no doubt at all, he won't be here long.

 

[FlashGordon]

I've just got around to this. He is a very impressive bloke, came across well.

The 1 in 10 people in Sunderland have a season ticket line is clearly an approximation of season ticket holders divided by population but it's a really useful mechanism to represent the importance of the local identity of the club.

The discussion about expanding the stadium was interesting and it's not surprising that they're looking at ways to increase their profit margin with premium tickets. The comparison to Everton was good. I read someone say it's unrealistic but I think it's ambitious. Everton in their new stadium have probably done the most Premium ticket sales outside of the top 6 - they're the benchmark that he's comparing us too.

Hopefully the new CEO is as engaged and competent as the interim.

 

[Fact Hunt]

I've just got around to this. He is a very impressive bloke, came across well.

The 1 in 10 people in Sunderland have a season ticket line is clearly an approximation of season ticket holders divided by population but it's a really useful mechanism to represent the importance of the local identity of the club.

The discussion about expanding the stadium was interesting and it's not surprising that they're looking at ways to increase their profit margin with premium tickets. The comparison to Everton was good. I read someone say it's unrealistic but I think it's ambitious. Everton in their new stadium have probably done the most Premium ticket sales outside of the top 6 - they're the benchmark that he's comparing us too.

Hopefully the new CEO is as engaged and competent as the interim.

Is it a realistic benchmark from us to be compared to them? I suspect that Everton have a significantly higher middle-class support than we do.

 

[FlashGordon]

Is it a realistic benchmark from us to be compared to them? I suspect that Everton have a significantly higher middle-class support than we do.

I'd say that premium seats aren't just about the "middle-class".

There's plenty of people who spend £2000 on non essentials throughout the year or on buying slightly more premium products than they need. It's about persuading them that the Premium experience of the match day is worth that too. Likewise, boxes are more corporate and about persuading businesses that it's a good client experience.

If we're to just stick to what's realistic, we can't expect anything better than bottom half of the league because that's where our revenues are.

The medium term aim for the club has to be "best of the rest" for want of a better term and you do that by measuring yourself against them and seeing how you can bridge the gap.

 

[Peter Crumb]

I'm about half way through. Definitely raised my eyebrows that we have a Michelin Starred restaurant. Must have missed the press release on that one. Must be the only Michelin starred rest in Sunderland?

 

[RedandWhiteRebel]

I'm about half way through. Definitely raised my eyebrows that we have a Michelin Starred restaurant. Must have missed the press release on that one. Must be the only Michelin starred rest in Sunderland?

Banks of the Wear. Tommy Banks is the chef, Usually around £800 per ticket.

It was we publicised before the season. There is a behind the scenes video knocking around somewhere.

 

[Definitely Maybe]

Saw Everton fans on Twitter last night discussing/complaining about a package they're selling for their away game at Spurs - train tickets to London, a night in a hotel, a river cruise along the Thames with a talk in from Reidy and Graham Sharpe and match ticket in the away end. £3k - no credits (their equivalent of loyalty points) required.

Thought it was interesting given the talk of Everton's corporate revenue.

 

[SPUFF]

Saw Everton fans on Twitter last night discussing/complaining about a package they're selling for their away game at Spurs - train tickets to London, a night in a hotel, a river cruise along the Thames with a talk in from Reidy and Graham Sharpe and match ticket in the away end. £3k - no credits (their equivalent of loyalty points) required.

Thought it was interesting given the talk of Everton's corporate revenue.

Just totted that up n real value £600-£700 max

Insane