- In professional sport at a high level,
money's always relevant to a decision-making process,
especially one which is as personal as this.
- [Kieran] For a player in the Premier League,
the median salary is around about 2.6, 2.7 million
pounds a year, so clearly that's very significant.
- Would an agent consider it to be a negative stance
in a negotiation to admit his player was gay?
Yes.
- [Amal] That could translate to a deal not going through,
you know, losing sponsorship deals.
- I think there will be so much interest creating
whole new revenue stream for them.
- I think you would clean up on sponsorships.
- As far as Adidas is concerned,
there are no problems with having a gay man
as ambassador for our brand.
- It may be an issue if they are in a country
where it is illegal or frowned upon to be LGBTQI+.
- Football is kind of a money-making machine,
and anything that's gonna stop that machine
is gonna cause a problem.
(faint chanting)
(upbeat music)
- My name is Kieran Maguire from the University
of Liverpool, where I've been teaching football finance
for many years.
The earnings of a Premier League player
very much vary according to his position
in terms of attractiveness to the media, to broadcasters,
to commercial sponsors, commercial partners and so on.
The median salary is around about 2.6, 2.7 million
pounds a year, so clearly that's very significant.
You spread that over a seven year career,
and we're probably looking at 20 million pounds
for somebody that manages to stay in the Premier League.
During that period, he or his agent or his representatives
will be negotiating deals on behalf of the player
to try to maximise their earnings.
If you are a top level footballer who is engaging,
has a presence, then your earnings off the pitch
can often match those on the pitch.
- [Joleon] I remember growing up, you just wanted
to play football.
You didn't know what the, the kind of the perks were.
It was just the outcome was you were playing football,
wearing a kit in front of thousands of people.
It wasn't like, well, they give you this as well.
On top of that.
(upbeat music)
- [Kieran] If a player comes out as gay,
in terms of the impact on his earnings,
it could be that if there is a coordinated effort
at the date he decides to come out,
that he aligns himself with certain products,
it could be very lucrative for him.
The negative impact could be that the ability of the player
to sign new deals with some existing alpha male brands
would be diminished.
It could be that there will be hostility
in certain locations.
There are some agents and advisors who are more progressive,
who are looking after their client's long-term interests,
as opposed to the agent's short-term interests.
I would be very disappointed in any agent who took the view
that a short term hit to a player's earnings should take
precedence over the players' willingness to come out as gay.
To show that sexuality is a non-issue
in terms of being a professional athlete.
- It's difficult to second guess what an agent's
advice would be.
There's so many different personalities.
I think some agents will be advising players,
if they're even aware of it.
And you know, players don't necessarily confide
in their agents about things like this.
But if an agent was to be told about it,
I think again, you might have some agents that say,
"This is a great opportunity for us to trail blaze,
for us to make a brand."
Other agents will be more worried about the consequences
of, "What if I can't get you a move to this particular
country or that particular country?
What if we have to then move clubs and the manager
might be homophobic?"
- Take a theatrical agent and put him on acid,
or her own acid, and that's a football agent. (chuckles)
My name's Jon Smith, allegedly the first
of the super agents.
when I was at my zenith before I sold out,
I had 400 odd players, including Diego Maradona.
Our job as an agent, my job as an agent was to maximize
my client's interests, his financial interests.
Would an agent consider it to be a negative stance
in a negotiation to admit his player was gay?
Yes.
Because there are, not quite so many clubs in England,
but there are places around the world,
certainly in Eastern Europe and certainly in the Middle East
where it borders on criminal activity.
If you happen to be a football player and an agent
doing a deal, it's difficult, it really is difficult.
That's partly why most players who are gay,
probably haven't made it apparent publicly.
(upbeat music)
- The argument of, "Oh, it could stop transfers,
it could stop moves."
It's less about a group of clubs that you can no longer
go to, more just about is that particular
manager homophobic, or is that particular
captain homophobic?
But again, the reality is, nowadays that would be
quite public.
If that happened, if a move broke down for those reasons,
you would rather be the gay player than the player that had
the issue in the first place or the manager that had
the issue in the first place.
That would be career suicide.
- I fear that some football clubs might take profit
before pragmatism.
They would try to encourage the player from delaying
making that decision.
Potentially, they might look to move the player on
if they felt that it would damage the brand
of the club itself.
They would make it somebody else's issue.
Having said that, from what I see
of football chief executives,
they are more modern than that.
They are more up to date in terms of their thinking,
and it would only be one or two clubs who are likely
to have a less tolerant approach.
- [Paul] As important as football is,
and as important as it is to our livelihoods
and our business, an individual's human rights,
to be able to speak openly when they want to,
however they want to on a subject that they want to
should also be part of a balance and be respected as well.
(upbeat music)
- As a football agent, we do a number of different things.
It might seem that we just do the transfers
and move player from A to B,
but there's so much more that we do.
Many of the things off the field,
including commercial deals, including media relations.
Looking after the player on just a 360 basis, to be honest.
- In professional sport at a high level,
money's always relevant to a decision-making process,
especially one which is as personal as this.
I don't think the salary would be impacted
in a negative manner, no.
I do think it may be impacted negatively
in the world of sponsors.
Because in some quarters it will still be seen as offensive
to some people, and global brands have to be cognisant
of those marketplaces.
- [Georgie] I think there will be so much interest
from everybody across the footballing landscape,
but sport in general, creating, if that player wanted,
a whole new revenue stream for them.
If there's a player who wants to come out
and there's an agent saying, "No, you can't do it.
It's gonna be terrible.
You're gonna lose out on XYZ."
That's just ill advice.
- Attitude magazine, what wonderful people they are.
Them and Paddy Power sponsored my A-license.
I'm in the eighth tear, so what's gonna happen to someone
in the first tier?
- [Kieran] If an English player came out as gay
in the Premier League, I think there would be
a number of brands, who are progressive,
who would be very keen to engage with that player
to show support on a variety of levels.
Perhaps using them as an ambassador for the company.
(music continues)
- [Georgie] If I looked after a male player
who wanted to come out, it's important to really understand
whether it's a identity that they want to explore
in more depth.
If that's something that they wanted to do,
we'd work really closely with whoever's involved,
whether that be a brand, whether it be a club and make sure
that it's a really welcomed package.
(music continues)
- We would continue to support them
in their game of football, and we would work with them
given their comfort level on if they needed support
coming out, with our employee resource groups
and our LGBTQI+ community that we have internally
in our employee base, we have global purpose partners
and we have PR, so we would come together
as much as they would want us to.
We wouldn't create a marketing strategy about someone
coming out unless that was part of what they wanted
to be part of their story.
We want to be really careful that we would never infringe
on exploiting one's identity.
And we've seen a lot of positive reactions
to when players have come out.
Of course, we all know that there can be ecosystems
of digital reaction, or negative reaction,
and we would always support a player or a team
and stand in solidarity with them.
(music continues)
- If a player came out as gay and they also had image rights
deals overseas in territories where there is hostility
toward gay people, I suspect that those deals would be
terminated immediately.
But, I think there's one door closes, there will be other
doors that would be open because there are many companies
these days who are aware of corporate social responsibility
and want to be associated with being progressive,
and therefore, they will be more than happy to tie up
a deal as a replacement.
- Where there is legislation, or there are places
where it's illegal to be gay, we would always
work with a player and maintain their protection.
Disclosure is a very big topic in terms of coming out
as gay, queer, trans or non-binary,
and that disclosure should always be upon the individual.
And in areas where, you know, they need to be safe,
we would want to be a part of that continual protection
to keep them safe, to be able to continue to thrive
and play their sport.
(melancholic music)
- I think it will certainly be different
for that first player who comes out in the men's game,
because it hasn't been done before in the Premier League.
But I would advise them to use their voice because I think
the power behind that message is gonna transcend
across the world.
It's an opportunity to be a role model and shape the future.
Be able to show people that you can be gay
and play football too, which has certainly been something
that has held people back from doing something they love.
Speaking from the women's game, these players,
they know that they have an obligation to inspire
the next generation.
They know that they have a voice and they know
that people are listening.
And I think they really make the most of that,
and that's where I think the men's game
could really learn off it.
- [Liz] Make sure that you have lifelines,
make sure that you have that chosen family,
make sure that you feel solid in the sponsorships
that you promote that also promote you,
and ask for help and don't try to do it alone.
None of us are supposed to do those things alone,
but I really do believe that there is a freedom
in visibility and voice, and really being
your true whole self, and to a world-class athlete
or to a community athlete, you'll play better. (chuckles)
You'll be a better version of yourself.
And on their own terms, lastly, on their own terms.
It doesn't have to be time-based.
It should be on one's own terms,
always.
(crowd cheering)
- Society is in a place where it's tired of being lectured,
and rampant in its responses.
Some of which are sizeably hurtful and abusive,
and it's possibly just not the right time.
Now that's just me, and who am I to say.
If a player has a desire to make his sexuality public,
let him do it,
but just be prepared for the backlash.
- [Crowd] Chelsea rent boys, Chelsea rent boys,
Chelsea rent boys, Chelsea rent boys.