JPFL, clubs haggle over home games, broadcast issues

THE JAMAICA Premier League (JPL) is at a crossroads with stakeholders working assiduously to overcome challenges they were confronted with this season, because of a broadcast deal, which has approximately doubled the number of televised matches.

According to Sunday Gleaner sources, teams have several contentious issues. Still, they are working with Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL), which manages the league, to find amicable solutions to ease their anxieties.

Among the problems home teams are faced with are having to travel to a specific venue for the broadcast of matches, host teams travelling costs and teams unwilling to give up their prescribed home venues because of the perceived advantages.

It is understood that the situation peaked earlier this season with Harbour View, Cavalier and Dunbeholden playing in the Concacaf Champions Cup. Fixtures to facilitate the broadcast rights on the weekend were done on Thursdays, with meetings having several powwows as teams hassle over moving from their prescribed home venues.

Things have eased somewhat, but there is still lingering discontent, with teams being more insistent on playing at their home base, especially with the preliminary stage of the competition coming towards the conclusion and the fight to either advance to the top six or to avoid relegation intensifies.

General managers of Arnett Gardens and Waterhouse, Peter Thelwell and Kerry-Ann Robinson, respectively; Chairman of Harbour View Carvel Stewart and Chief Executive Officer of the PFJL Owen Hill all admit to the challenges but agree that solutions must be worked out for the broadcast, which they acknowledge is for the JPL’s betterment.

Tricky situation

According to Hill, they are faced with a tricky situation because of the broadcast rights and the inadequacies of the pitches that participate in the JPL. He argued that while teams seek their best interest, the PFJL must negotiate collectively to benefit all.

“We have commercial contracts stipulating the number of games that are to be televised. For us to get those numbers, it would mean that economy of scale would need to happen and that means a doubleheader on Sundays and a doubleheader on Mondays.

“Now if a club decides that they are unwilling to participate in a doubleheader, on a Sunday or a Monday, it becomes more difficult to achieve the commercial objective that they ultimately are the benefactors of,” Hill said.

The issues go beyond just playing on their turf; however, as home teams that host television matches and now must travel to another venue, incur additional costs. These include renting suitable vehicles and food for players and other staff.

Sources state this is especially burdensome on host teams that must cover long distances to facilitate television coverage, with the PFJL providing a stipend for expenses for the hosts. The stipend, it is understood, is $300,000 but Hill, Stewart, Thelwell or Robinson did not confirm this.

Earlier this season, Arnett Gardens protested travelling to Montego Bay to play a home match. That arrangement was eventually scrapped, and they played the match at their Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex base, with only one game being televised that Monday night.

“We resisted because we would be forgoing not only our home advantage, but the possible revenue that we would have gotten at the gate. We heavily rely on that revenue to help with operational costs, so we resisted it.

“If I am going to Montego Bay and I am going to use a good enough size bus, like a coach that would give the team legroom, that’s more than $200,000 for the transportation alone. There are other expenses also,” Thelwell said.

He, however, concedes that with the Anthony Spaulding Complex being one of the limited venues that can accommodate night matches, Arnett benefit immensely, with many of the televised games broadcast from the facility.

Waterhouse and Harbour View also acknowledge that they benefit from the current arrangement. The Harbour View Mini Stadium and Drewsland Mini Stadium where both teams play are being upgraded.

“When we host games, they did give us some funding. It covers the travelling expenses. At Stadium East, there was an agreement, so when we hosted, the league thankfully took a lot of the pressure off the clubs this season and as such, we were only responsible for the stretcher-bearers, ambulance and PA system and match announcers,” Robinson said.

She admitted that while Waterhouse readily accepted playing their home matches away from Drewsland in the earlier rounds, the stance was changed for the final stage of the preliminary round.

“We had a technical meeting and we decided that we wanted to take some of the pressure off the team for this round, because, in the first round, we gave up the opportunity of hosting our games at home, and of such we decided that we prefer to play at home for this round,” she said.

While stating their concerns, the clubs expressed delight in the PFJL’s league management. They state that the competition has seen vast improvement in a short time through the efforts of the PFJL.

“I know the PFJL is doing a good job. I mean, they have moved the football up a few notches. The league, the look, the field, everything has improved over the years, even the amount of revenue share that we get from the league has increased tremendously,” Thelwell said.

Robinson added: “I just want to big up the management of the PFJL. I think they are doing an excellent job.”

job.nelson@gleanerjm.com