Member

In response to the noble Lord, Lord Parkinson, and others, regarding Amendment 71 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Markham, let me be clear that the backstop process will apply only to revenue received by the leagues. This is already explicit in the Clause 56 definition of relevant revenue. It does not allow the regulator to include individual club revenue that is not relevant for distribution agreements, for example, from shirt sales. This amendment is therefore not necessary to ensure that; rather, this amendment would call into question the regulator’s powers under the backstop process. Although the process is about resolving distribution disputes between the leagues, not individual clubs, the money received by the leagues is ultimately distributed to their members clubs. This amendment would cast doubt on the regulator’s ability to effectively deploy the backstop, even when requested to do so as a last resort by the leagues and where it considers it cannot deliver its objectives.