{"id":167988,"date":"2025-08-23T01:57:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T01:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/167988\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T01:57:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T01:57:16","slug":"kieran-maguire-issues-12bn-prediction-as-newcastle-united-and-pifs-stance-on-controversial-plan-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/167988\/","title":{"rendered":"Kieran Maguire issues \u00a312bn prediction as Newcastle United and PIF’s stance on controversial plan explained"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Newcastle United are entering their busiest season in recent memory following qualification for the new-look Champions League.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fans rejoiced in May after the screen at St James\u2019 Park<\/a> confirmed that the biggest European nights would be returning to Tyneside for the 2025\/26 campaign, but very few realised what it meant for the schedule at the time.<\/p>\n

This season marks the first time that Newcastle United<\/a> will be playing in the new format of the Champions League<\/a>, which has seen the traditional group phase scrapped and a league phase introduced.<\/p>\n

The changes mean that Newcastle will play eight games in the Champions League this season, so their total number of fixtures could exceed 60 if they put in a good run in the cup competitions.<\/p>\n

Bruno Guimaraes called for new signings at Newcastle in May<\/a>, and while four senior players have arrived, there will still be concerns after the last two seasons with injury. The rising number of fixtures each season is becoming more of a talking point, and the Premier League will eventually need to do something.<\/p>\n

Discussing ideas, Geordie Boot Boys<\/strong> spoke to finance expert Kieran Maguire to learn which options would be the most financially feasible for Newcastle.<\/p>\n

\"YasirPhoto by Marc Atkins\/Getty ImagesPIF may not be happy with scrapping a cup competition, says Kieran Maguire<\/p>\n

In March, Newcastle beat Liverpool at Wembley Stadium<\/a> to win the Carabao Cup, their first domestic trophy since 1955. Amid the celebrations, Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan told fans the Carabao Cup would not be the last trophy they won.<\/p>\n

However, it is common knowledge that the competition is the least reputable in the trio, including the FA Cup and Premier League, and the fact that games are played in midweek makes schedules even more congested.<\/p>\n

In 2020, UEFA president Alexander Ceferin called for the Carabao Cup to be scrapped to help relieve issues with fixture congestion. However, Maguire does not believe PIF would be open to that idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cNewcastle are in a strange position as far as the makeup of English football is concerned,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou only have to look at the impact that winning the League Cup had for them. That is certainly in play as far as the carving up of the calendar is concerned. It\u2019s one of the things that could be sacrificed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut with the League Cup, Newcastle\u2019s owners can say they have now delivered a senior trophy. If you get rid of it, you\u2019re reducing the number of trophies available. The Big Six all want to win trophies, and six into three doesn\u2019t go in terms of the FA Cup and the Premier League \u2013 there aren\u2019t enough trophies to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

A smaller Premier League would benefit Newcastle United financially<\/p>\n

The Premier League has had 20 teams for almost the entirety of its history. However, it initially started with 22.<\/p>\n

It was decided that the Premier League would be reduced to 20 teams from the 1994\/95 season to reduce fixture congestion and improve match quality. With other competitions growing, it begs the question of whether the Premier League should follow in the footsteps of the Bundesliga and become an 18-team league.<\/p>\n

Newcastle are the beneficiary of the current TV deal that the Premier League receives, with the Magpies getting a handy slice of the pie. However, they would receive much more if the number of teams were to be reduced, with the Premier League\u2019s \u00a312bn broadcast deal from the current rights cycle.<\/p>\n

The same revenue would be shared around a smaller league, so Newcastle would automatically be given a bigger cheque. <\/p>\n

\u201cNewcastle are where Man City were 12 years ago,\u201d Maguire added. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor City, winning the FA Cup was the initial statement. For Newcastle fans \u2013 and perhaps the owners as well \u2013 they will have a more sympathetic approach to the current size of the Premier League and the future of the League Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was a 16 or 18-club competition, Newcastle might be better off from one perspective. That\u2019s because the TV deal would be unaffected, so you\u2019d be sharing the same amount of revenue between fewer clubs. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere would be no loss in value. I can assure you of that. The broadcasters aren\u2019t interested in Burnley vs Wolves.\u00a0 Those kinds of games have no impact in negotiations with broadcasters.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the financial benefits are no doubt mouthwatering for Newcastle, Premier League CEO Richard Masters has confirmed that he will not consider reducing the number of teams to 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newcastle United are entering their busiest season in recent memory following qualification for the new-look Champions League. Fans…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":167989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[96325,96326,221,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-167988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-kieran-maguire","9":"tag-pif","10":"tag-soccer","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115075602375169138","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}