The dust has settled a little bit since the news of the substantial investment by Joshua Harris, David Blitzer and partners.
Since the investment was announced, Palace have featured in the most un-American of sporting contests – not one but two goal-less draws.
I wonder if the price paid would have fallen slightly after those results, even though we actually rose in the table.
Whether they gained or lost a pound or dollar here or there, it is hard to see the deal for the 2010 investors or the club as anything but fantastic news.
The timing and size of the deal is a reflection of what has been achieved in the last five years and the acknowledgement that if we are to progress, investment over and above the television money is needed.
Given that we are virtually guaranteed to be in the Premier League why is the extra television money not enough to fund the investment?
It is ironic that although the Premier League generates remarkable levels of income, that so many clubs have been unable to invest in significant stadium enhancements using that revenue.
Instead it is likely that the increased television revenue will find its way to the players and their agents, as it has done with every previous rise.
My point here is not to pick on individual players and say they are not worth the money they are paid. Except perhaps Jimmy Kebe but that is history now.
At this point in time, English clubs are already able to compete in the market for players – for everyone other than ‘galacticos’ at Barcelona, Real Madrid, Paris St Germain, Juventus and Bayern Munich, a Premier League club can outbid a continental European rival.
The state of the economy in southern Europe, the smaller size of the television deals and less significant overseas investment in clubs mean that the majority of Premier League clubs can already outspend all but a few others.
Knowing that the smart move for the Premier League would be to introduce some form of informal wage cap – to limit spend on salaries and force clubs to invest excess revenues in the infrastructure of their grounds, in their academies and in a contingency pot that could be used alongside the parachute payments to prevent financial disaster in the event of relegation.
Instead, we can guess the cycle of how the additional money will be spent and it will probably begin in this transfer window.
Clubs in danger of relegation will make significant signings to improve their squads for the difficult months ahead. Agents and selling clubs will make a premium because they know that the desperate buying club is playing for extra television revenue and their client deserves that premium because of the risk of playing in a lower division.
Come the summer, when the surviving clubs are enhancing their squads for next season, those same agents will note that another player in their stable signed in the January window for a salary ten or twenty percent higher than the going rate the previous summer, and that has set a new level for Premier League wages.
And so it will go on. The Premier League is a Ponzi (or Pyramid) scheme that would collapse if everyone stopped their Sky subscriptions.
Palace cannot stop this salary momentum on their own so any investment plans over and above the playing squad have to be funded separately.
The need for a bigger modernised stadium, beginning with a new Main Stand is self-evident. Ticket revenue from the additional capacity will give the new investors a return in due course.
The risk of any investment is that the current level of performance cannot be sustained, and that has to be a risk worth taking at the moment.
After some initial questionable buys – cue a surprise second Jimmy Kebe mention – the Palace 2010 board have invested wisely in the squad, and in a manager who seems to be the perfect fit. Internally, Palace are a good bet.
Externally, it seems some way off where there are seventeen clubs that are better run on and off the pitch. Several clubs that have traditionally been bigger than us –such as Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Sunderland – are a mess.
Bournemouth are a good side but cannot complete long term. Norwich City, West Bromwich Albion and Swansea City are well run clubs but no longer better run clubs than Palace, and are arguably at a disadvantage to us in signing overseas players.
Clubs in the Championship with a bigger fan base than ours – such as Leeds United, Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest – all appear to have issues that preclude them competing as strong Premier League sides for years to come.
Despite the likely payroll hole that the new television money will disappear into, it does look like a good time to invest in the Palace.
