Kieran Maguire: Man City ‘delighted’ as Premier League talks revealed
Man City and the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ would be delighted if the FA Cup schedule was slimmed down to include fewer matches.
That is the opinion of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the proposed changes to the FA Cup if the competition’s rights are purchased by the Premier League.
As reported by SportBusiness, the Premier League has approached the FA over purchasing their competition’s international rights from the 2024/25 season onwards.
Should a deal be struck between the two organisations, the Premier League would have control over the competition’s schedule and format and a number of changes have been proposed.
The Times report that all replays could be scrapped and the competition’s final could be played on the same weekend as Premier League fixtures.
Maguire believes City would be in favour of the changes after playing a staggering 61 matches across all competitions in 2022/23.
“There is no doubt that all of the clubs in the Big Six would be delighted with a slimmed-down version of the FA Cup,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“They want to maximise revenues and although this domestic competition is held in high regard by fans, the financial benefits of winning it are very modest.
“Therefore, a slimmed-down version of the FA Cup with fewer fixtures would find favour in many Premier League boardrooms including Manchester City.
“A competition format with matches perhaps taking place during midweek could be favoured.“
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