Of course I noticed it, but that’s probably a massive decline in income for the team. And as you mentioned, it’d likely be a far more massive deal as Dubai Air would be really peeved and be suing.
All we saw was the name on the jerseys change. I agree that it’s a big change, even if Dubai Air doesn’t sue them. Can a website startup like Bantr pay as much as an airline like Dubai Air for the sponsorship? Seems unlikely.
Well, seeing as how there’s no IRL airline named “Dubai Air…”
I agree it doesn’t fit as well with the world of 2020, but back in the dotcom era, I could see a startup website having enough VC cash floating around to do a jersey sponsorship of a Championship-level club. And given that Emirates Etihad Dubai Air probably is paying less for a Championship-level club than a Premier League one, it’s possible the loss might not be so horrid - certainly no more so than demotion was.
Heck, the Rupert/Rebecca divorce makes for a good in-universe explanation both for why the team is in the relegation slot at the start of Season 1 and why they could keep so much of the club on the payroll after demotion in Season 2. If the club was a bargaining chip in the divorce, they might have been enjoined from making large player purchases to try to stay up in the Premier League.
In the first or second episode this season, Higgins explained to Rebecca that after relegation their revenues were at Championship level but the team payroll was at Premier League level. That was one of the few times the economics of the team was addressed.
To me, one additional thing that the show is about is its relationship with its audience. (It’s a cheese topping! It’s a floor wax! Wait! You’re both right!)
As I observed about the Coach Beard episode, there was an element of “Hah! What can we get away with?” that will only resonate with a small segment of their audience.
Much like challenges that stand-up comics give themselves - “How can we get a big laugh from a joke about an infant burn victim? - GO!” ISTM that the challenge in this episode was, “How can we get a laugh from Rebecca weeping at her father’s funeral?” Answer: Rick-roll the audience!
Sure, only some people are going to get it immediately, but they’ll laugh, which is the goal.
Frankly, I enjoy that kinda stuff, but ultimately it takes me out of the story and makes me think of the writers and reminds me that it’s just a TV show. Which, to me, they should really decide if that’s the direction they want to keep going.
That’s true, but Higgins tends to be a worrywart about that kind of thing.
Seriously, though, payroll at Premier League clubs (according to spotrac.com) covers a span over an order of magnitude (Man City over 200 million to Brentford F.C., 13 million pounds). Given that 13 million ponds / 26 player roster is about 12.5K pounds per week per player, I’d guess that there is some overlap at the bottom end with Championship clubs. Some of the latter are probably (over)extending themselves in hope of promotion, which seemed to be Rebecca’s goal for this season. And they’ve unloaded Roy Kent’s millstone of a contract, and probably brought back Jamie Tartt on the cheap. Plus, AFC Richmond probably got a parachute payment for being relegated, which would help some for the current year but not be a sustainable source of income.
I watch the funeral episode and I liked it, Ted talking about his dad was well done.
For what it is worth I looked at the last 29 years of premier league promotions and relegations , and found of the 87 relegations ( 3 per year) there were only 40 teams in the list. Of that list 12 teams accounted for 1/2 of the relegations (46) , and obviously similar numbers on the promotions side . One team had been relegated 5 times over the period I looked, obviously with corresponding promotions between.
So there are a set of teams that bouncing up and down a league is a semi regular thing and they are probably appropriatly sized for the dips in revenue.
I guess from Richmond’s POV they have obviously been successful in the past as I recall we saw quite a few trophies on the wall back in season one , but that may well have been long in the past. Also in their favour they dont have to pay for a massive shiney new stadium as some of the epper echelon teams of the premiership do.
Why yes I am avoiding a really tedious work project .
As a Yank, I’m not intimately familiar with the pro/rel situation, but I would think that there would be many teams like this on a yo-yo. As in, they are a top team in the lower league, so they get promoted to be a bottom team in the higher league, so they get relegated where they are a higher team to get promoted, rinse and repeat.
If a team structures themselves knowing that one year they get larger revenues and the next year lesser, then it seems that they would be financially okay. I could see an issue if that team decided to spend a bunch of money to stay in the upper league by acquiring better players, and it didn’t work out, that it could bankrupt the team. But, again, I don’t know.
Yeah , it’s not an 'every other year ’ thing but not far off. 5 times in 30 years is still once every six years , and the 12 most relegated teams have had it happened 3-5 times each so once a decade ish. I suppose there are the corresponding promotions as well so the number of league transitions for some of those teams is higher. I didn’t look at average time between promotion and relegation.
Anyway the point is ( and I think we are agreeing) there are a set of teams that relegation or promotion is something they and their fans are used to, and probably end up in the danger zone more often than not.
Nate is an ingrate and a prick. Ted is always happy to share the credit but ok he has an inferiority complex. There is simply no excuse for betraying a confidence.
In the earlier episode in which Nate blew up at Will, he did so while they were alone in, I think, the shoe room, so no one else witnessed his misbehavior and I doubt that Will complained. But at the beginning of this episode, Beard watched Nate blow up at Will over the dry-cleaned suit and then both Beard and Roy heard Nate complain about not getting credit. And of course at the end of the episode, Ted learned from Trent Crimm that Nate violated his confidence. So perhaps in the season finale, we’ll see Nate’s misbehavior addressed, though perhaps not, as there are other storylines to cover.
Well that was some grade A, hyper refined, premium level bullshit there , from Nate.
In the middle of the last episode I was kind of hoping for a scene where Dani punts Rupert in the balls for his behavior, kind of thinking Nate needs it now.
I am sure there will be a good redemption arc for Nate , but I’d guess it comes next season rather than this one. My guess is they wont resolve many storylines at all and we are just ramping up for a big finale to set up next season, it’s one season of 20 episodes split over two seasons.
Good episode overall.
The Nate heel turn is a bit jarring though. In the first season he was a water boy with a heart of gold, who was surprised the coach wanted to know his name. And he was incredibly timid. He didn’t seem like a person who would stab you in the back. He was a character you just rooted for.
This season his inferiority complex kept building
(though apparently at light speed since his big time in the spotlight) but I’m a bit sad what they’ve done to last season’s Nate.
And I guess I was right that they randomly dropped in that they had such a great run that they are right about to gain promotion.
Agree, ,it was a bit jarring at the beginning of this season when he started his dickish tendencies, It looked like they were teasing a short term redemption when he was given some sage correctional advice by Beard a few episodes back only for them to ramp it way up . The spitting thing I find really off putting , which I guess is the point. I think they have done a good enough job to give a back story as to why Nate may act the way he is and it not because he is a deep rooted irredeeamable arsehole.
I hope by the time we are all done we get the nice guy Nate back who is more confident and wise.
Just maybe with lightly bruised nuts from a Dani punt.
I knew that would pay off somehow.
I don’t think Nate has gone to see Doctor Sharon yet. Perhaps Nate might seek her out if he finds he has burned some bridges at AFC Richmond?
Maybe I’m just trying to figure out ways to keep Sarah Niles in the cast. I think she’s been brilliant this season.
The Akufo pitch to Sam was very well done, but I couldn’t help but to wonder how much tawdry compromise and corruption might well follow from such a grand ambition - and how Sam might end up feeling about that, given his stance on Dubai Air earlier this season.
And I wonder if Keeley and Roy will still be an item at the end of the next episode. Maybe season 2 finishes with a lot of cliffhangers to keep people on the edge of their seats for season 3?
Can’t wait for next Friday.
Oh, one other thing that doesn’t sit well with me. There is no way in the world that a seasoned journalist like Trent Crimm would reveal his anonymous source. And definitely not over text. If that comes out, his career would be fucked.
The recap in The New York Times mentioned that.
I’m not sure whether that was just a narrative shortcut to get Ted the information about Nate, or if it was meant to show Trent’s opinions of Ted’s and Nate’s character. Definitely it’s strange that Trent would reveal his source.
It’s also interesting how Nate spent the whole episode complaining about not getting credit, and then ended it as an anonymous source.
Things are setting up for a pretty dark finale. Probably they’ll win the last match for promotion, but there will be personal problems for everyone. I don’t much like Nate this season, but I’m worried about a scenario where things completely collapse for him. He could burn his bridges at Richmond and also get double-crossed by Rupert. Given the focus on mental health during the season, Nate could have a breakdown.
One prediction I will make: before the end of the series, we’ll see Ted do his Wichita State celebration dance from the premier with the Richmond players.