Sports
PSR is not perfect, but the Premier League’s shock therapy has had an effect
An air of desperation hung over a handful of Premier League clubs last summer. Accounting years were drawing to a close across the top division of English football and the pressure was on to book profits before it was too late. Player sales were a must if a profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) breach was to be avoided before June 30.
Newcastle United’s business back then was a microcosm of the chaos. They reluctantly agreed to sell Yankuba Minteh, their then teenage winger, to Brighton & Hove Albion for £30million before sanctioning the exit of Elliot Anderson, the homegrown forward, to Nottingham Forest for £35m.
“We had no other option,” their head coach Eddie Howe told reporters in October about those two departures. “We couldn’t breach PSR, couldn’t face a points deduction, and the only two deals we had on the table at that time were the two deals we did.”
Newcastle, who had spent £320million in the first two and a half years under their Saudi Arabian owners, did not want to sell either Minteh or Anderson. Nor, you suspect, did they want to pay Forest £20m for Odysseas Vlachodimos, a third-choice goalkeeper yet to feature for them in the Premier League under Howe. Anderson’s sale, though, was reliant on Forest, who had breached PSR last season and were close to the line again, getting something in return, so Newcastle had nowhere to turn.
Newcastle did not want to lose Minteh to Brighton (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Others were at it, too, with Aston Villa, Everton, Chelsea and Leicester City all concocting their own mutually beneficial deals to chase compliance. Close to £200million, most of it “pure profit”, was collectively banked by those six clubs in June’s final weeks and Tuesday brought confirmation that the trading had been worth it.
A 14-day assessment period of 2023-24 accounts and PSR calculations had not raised red flags within the Premier League and, unlike last January, when Everton and Forest were both charged, there was no cause for disciplinary action to be triggered.
Leicester’s case remains more complex than others, with the Premier League still believing they are on the hook for at least one charge amid the legal challenges back and forth, but 2024, the year of the asterisk, has left its mark.
The three PSR charges heard last season — two for Everton and one for Forest — resulted in a combined 12 points being deducted, the kind of shock therapy that was difficult to ignore.
It may never be known just how close Newcastle and others came to going beyond their spending threshold last season. Clubs’ 2023-24 accounts, which are due to be filed by the end of March, will give us clues, but the absence of transparency in the PSR process makes it difficult to offer fully informed analysis.
Clubs instead have to be judged by their actions and those madcap days of late June revealed anxieties ultimately born out of the penalties handed to Everton and Forest a few months earlier. That jolted the whole of the Premier League, heightening motivation to find quick profits in the transfer market once the season had concluded.
Howe admitted as much — Newcastle had no wish to sell Minteh or Anderson. Certainly not both. But, as Howe, the front-facing figure in that organisation, accepts, there was “no other option” but to accept £65million in transfer fees for the duo if a PSR breach was to be avoided.
Were Chelsea as close to the edge? That is unclear but their compliance owed as much to the sale of two hotels which are part of the wider site at their Stamford Bridge stadium to other companies owned by BlueCo, Chelsea’s parent company, as it did the late sale of defender Ian Maatsen to Villa for £37.5million. Others did not have the luxury of property deals enhancing the numbers.
Maatsen’s transfer to Villa helped Chelsea comply with PSR, but not as much as the sale of two hotels (Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
PSR continues to have its vocal opponents, such as Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris, who told the Financial Times in June that the regulations were inhibitive and “not good for football”, but last season served the warning that overspending would still carry a sporting cost. Everton and Forest became the bad boys nobody wanted to emulate.
That was obvious with the sudden business done in June, and the wariness has been extended into this season.
Manchester United, traditionally one of English football’s strongest financial forces, have made it clear they have little scope to strengthen new head coach Ruben Amorim’s hand after their heavy losses of recent times. Newcastle also remain bound by financial constraints, with only about £60million spent this season. Villa’s net spend for the season, meanwhile, stood at about £26million going into the current winter transfer window.
Those three clubs could have spent more but learnt last season that punishments would then be unavoidable down the road.
It would not be fitting to congratulate the Premier League on strong governance when 115 charges of financial wrongdoing still hang over four-in-a-row title winners Manchester City and Leicester’s case remains unresolved, but last season served notice that rules had to be adhered to. Points deductions would be in the post to any club not complying.
“The Premier League submits that the only proper sanction is a sporting sanction in the form of a deduction of points,” it argued in Everton’s first PSR hearing, which brought an initial 10-point penalty, later cut to six on appeal. That exact sentence was repeated when Forest faced an independent commission.
PSR has its inconsistencies and imperfections, and might well lead to more scrambled, incoherent transfer business before financial years are out at the end of every June.
But the past 12 months — and no fresh charges this week — have made it clear to clubs that it is a sanction to be taken seriously.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
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CM Punk appeared on “Friday Night SmackDown” ready to take on any challenger that was ready to step to him after winning the Undisputed WWE Championship against Sami Zayn.
Punk entered the ring in Oklahoma City and called back to the “Monday Night Raw” after WrestleMania 42 when he told Cody Rhodes he’d be ready to deliver if a championship opportunity fell “out of the sky.”
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Cody Rhodes and CM Punk face off during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images)
“When championship opportunities fall out of the sky, CM Punk catches them,” he said.
Punk named potential SmackDown superstars he’d think might come for the title, including Gunther, Finn Balor, Royce Keys, Damian Priest and Trick Williams. He even said that Zayn could come back around and get his rematch if he wanted. He didn’t mention Rhodes’ name, but the “American Nightmare” came out uncalled and marched his way down to the ring.
“I don’t think you and I can run away from each other anymore,” Punk told Rhodes.
Cody Rhodes looks on during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., on July 10, 2026. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images)
Rhodes agreed and mentioned that Punk would want a match with him, just “say when.” It was a quick retort from Punk, who said, “when.” SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis, who was in the ring for the segment, booked the match for SummerSlam.
Punk will defend the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam, which takes place Aug. 1 and 2 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
First, however, Punk and Rhodes will be involved in a tag team match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in New York City next week. Aldis made the match after Gunther demanded that Aldis put him in a match against Punk. Gunther was hoping it would be for the championship. Instead, Gunther will tag with Zayn.
Gunther didn’t take too kindly to that and attacked Aldis. Rhodes came back out to break up the calamity. He wanted to take on Gunther after the show went off air but Gunther walked away.
Gunther makes his entrance during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., on July 10, 2026. (Rich Wade/WWE via Getty Images)
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Punk definitely has his hands full as he moves to SmackDown to become a fighting champion.
World Cup tourists are coming to L.A. for the soccer, but they’re staying for the $21 smoothies and Double-Doubles.
As the last Los Angeles FIFA World Cup event ended Friday, soccer fans were eating like locals and famous chains from the region were cashing in.
In the weeks that L.A. has hosted the World Cup, international soccer enthusiasts have flocked to big brands from the area, often in large groups wearing their countries’ jerseys.
It is a phenomenon seen at many of the host cities. In Dallas, giant gas station Buc-ee’s is the main attraction. For people visiting New Jersey, deli shops have been a hot ticket. In L.A., the place to be between matches was Erewhon.
Thirsty international sports fans gathered for pictures outside different Erewhons, wandered their aisles smiling, and, of course, picked up pricey smoothies.
While Erewhon would not comment on its business, mobility data company Arity, which uses phone data to track consumers, said Erewhon visits at the outlets around SoFi Stadium were quadruple what they were a week earlier on June 12, the day of the U.S. national soccer team’s opening match there.
Arity looked at what stores people visited within a 10-mile radius of SoFi that day and also found surges in visitors to nearby El Pollo Loco and Trader Joe’s.
Locals have spotted groups of people in Korea jerseys huddled together, trying to decide what to order at In-N-Out.
Some complained on social media that international tourists at Trader Joe’s were buying up all the mini canvas tote bags.
Soon after the Belgium vs. Spain quarterfinal ended Friday, the In-N-Out near SoFi had a long line of soccer fans stretching out the door in bright red and yellow and black jerseys and matching striped hats and scarves.
One of the workers said he had to explain “spread” and “animal style” to foreign football fans.
“I didn’t know this place existed,” a fan from Romania said while waiting in line.
Los Angeles and other cities and states that have hosted the event need the soccer fans to spend money to make the event worth all the time, effort and money it requires.
A rosy 2024 report projected the World Cup could bring more than $800 million to the L.A. region as 180,000 people converge on the area to sleep, eat and spend.
There were early concerns people weren’t turning up for the event because of the high ticket prices and the difficulty of obtaining visas for citizens of some countries.
However, at least for some L.A. hotels, there was a surge of last-minute visitors which pushed up occupancy and room rates.
While sports fans are not in the region to shop, they do make time for it.
World Cup customer spending is also apparent in beer sales. Andrew Heritage, the chief economist at the Beer Institute said beer purchases at entertainment and attractions in L.A. – outside of World Cup spaces – were up around 10% from normal.
“That tells me that fans in the L.A. area have decided to extend their stay and take in all the other things that the area has to offer, rather than just the match itself,” he said.
On social media, the purpose of these shoppers is clear: grab a quick souvenir or local specialty and take a selfie.
The data from Arity suggests that fans are very efficient when they spend at local spots, diving in, getting what they want and getting out as soon as possible, said Jeff Schlitt, a director at the company.
“Normally you’re there for an hour. They’re going to be there for 15, 18 minutes,” he said. “Why is that? Because they were purpose-driven shoppers.”
For some travelers, the more popular American chains aren’t unfamiliar. But some of the native L.A. fare still comes as a surprise.
As one Belgium-Spain matchgoer from the Netherlands stood taking a picture of the In-N-Out sign after the game, he said he’d never had a burger like the one he’d just tried.
“We only have McDonald’s and Burger King,” he said. “It’s way better.”
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The face of baseball will not be at Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
Shohei Ohtani was scratched from his start on Friday as the Los Angeles Dodgers said he will also miss the Midsummer Classic with what the team called left knee irritation.
Ohtani, for obvious reasons, has become an All-Star Game fixture. He has earned the honor in each of the past five seasons and made his first start in 2021.
Starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers warms up before the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 03, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The two-way phenom is on his way to winning his fifth MVP award in his last six seasons as he is hitting .290 with a .939 OPS and pitching to a minuscule 1.79 ERA, the second-lowest in the sport among pitchers with 80-plus innings. His OPS is also the seventh-best mark in the league.
The Dodgers said Ohtani will be the team’s designated hitter up until the break, but he will “have some interventions on his knee to put him in the best position for the second half of the season.”
Ohtani dealt with knee issues earlier in the season.
It is certainly a big hit for the game as the other face of the sport, Aaron Judge, will miss the game due to a fractured rib that has kept him out since late May.
Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers gets ready in the on deck circle against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 01, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) (Norm Hall/Getty Images)
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Ohtani hit 99 home runs combined in 2024 and 2025, leading the National League with a 1.025 OPS in that span. Ohtani did not pitch in 2024 after elbow surgery but returned to the bump last year and owned a 2.87 ERA and 11.9 K/9, a figure he also put up in 2022 that led the American League.
The “Japanese Babe Ruth” is the only player in MLB history to have 300-plus plate appearances and 40-plus innings in six separate seasons (Ruth only did it twice and never stole 50 bases), and he has more than excelled at both.
Shohei Ohtani pitches for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on May 13, 2026. (Gary A. Vasquez/Imagn Images)
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Ohtani is not hitting like he has in the past, but certainly the best pitching performance of his career will make up for it. He “only” has 20 homers and 56 RBI this season.
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