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\t\tReading owner Rob Couhig\u00a0is considering radical measures to raise funds\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tWednesday 31 December 2025 6:30 am
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tTuesday 30 December 2025 10:23 am\n\t<\/p>\n
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\t\tReading owner Rob Couhig\u00a0is considering radical measures to raise funds\t<\/p>\n
Reading owner Rob Couhig\u00a0is considering radical measures including downgrading the club\u2019s Academy or selling the training ground to increase the funding he can make available to the first team.<\/p>\n
The American, who paid around \u00a325m to buy the League One club from Dai Yongge\u00a0at the end of last season, has been an outspoken critic of the EFL\u2019s limited financial regulations and has called for a hard salary cap underpinned by a luxury tax to be introduced to promote greater sustainability.<\/p>\n
With little appetite for such dramatic changes in the rest of the EFL Couhig\u00a0is exploring<\/a> how Reading could be run on a more efficient basis, beginning with a review of its cost base.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reading currently operate\u00a0a Category One Academy despite their financial problems, which has produced the likes of Michael Olise, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Danny Namaso\u00a0in recent years.\u00a0A final decision is unlikely to be made until the end of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ashes to hit Aussie contracts<\/p>\n Every professional cricketer in Australia \u2013 male and female \u2013 will share the financial pain suffered by Cricket Australia as a result of two of the first four Ashes Test matches<\/a> finishing in just two days, with the governing body set to lose around \u00a310m in revenue due to missing gate receipts and hospitality income.<\/p>\n Under the terms of a new Memorandum of Understanding introduced this year all players with professional contracts are entitled to a share of 27.5 per cent of the Board\u2019s revenue, with a further 2.5 per cent available depending on performances.<\/p>\n Ironically\u00a0the Revenue Share Model clause was introduced at the behest of poacher-turned-gamekeeper Todd Greenberg, a much-respected administrator who was previously CEO of the Australia Cricketers\u2019 Association before becoming chief executive of Cricket Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tFinancial stability before glory: Why professional sport must grow up<\/a><\/p>\n \tEFL and Premier League get parity<\/p>\n The EFL have secured in increase in football\u2019s increasingly lucrative data deal in a move maintains\u00a0their financial parity with the Premier League.<\/p>\n The top-flight clubs had been seeking a greater share of revenue<\/a> accrued\u00a0from a joint deal with Football DataCo, but City AM has learned that under the terms of a new deal both the EFL and Premier League will receive \u00a342m-a-year, with around \u00a316m going to the Scottish Professional Football League.<\/p>\n The Premier League clubs\u2019 argument was based on claiming that they are responsible for\u00a0generating the majority of\u00a0the associated betting revenue from data sales that funds the deal, but with the contract also involving analytics and fixture schedules the EFL have succeeded in maintaining\u00a0parity. \u00a0<\/p>\n Football DataCo\u2019s\u00a0payments to the clubs are funded by their\u00a0own\u00a0four-year contract\u00a0with Genius Sports as their official data provider. Under the terms of that\u00a0deal Genius capture and distribute live data \u2013 such as expected goals and shots on target \u2013 for more than 4,000 games a season, which is then sold to hundreds of betting companies and broadcasters all over the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n Key tennis vote looms\u00a0<\/p>\n For all the furore caused by Nick Kyrgios and Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s Battle of the Sexes<\/a> last weekend, the most significant moves towards bringing the two parts of the sport closer together are taking place off the court.<\/p>\n The Women\u2019s Tennis Association Board is preparing to vote next year on whether to merge their commercial operations with the ATP Tour\u00a0after the ATP Board gave their approval in\u00a0principle last month.<\/p>\n Details regarding\u00a0revenue splits, the composition of a new board and leadership team have yet to be agreed, with the WTA hoping that a new record sponsorship\u00a0deal with Mercedes-Benz <\/a>which begins on 1 January will strengthen their negotiating position.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n