GM football fans. Route One here, the only football newsletter that will keep the door open for you - even if you walk a little slow.

Today’s briefing is a ~3.5 min read:

1. Broadcast boom-bust 📺

2. R1 Transfer Index 🧐

3. On this day… Babel was the first to be fined for Tweeting 🐣

BROADCAST BOOM-BUST 📺

The short of it: The Premier League is not as lucrative as it once was, according to the Financial Times. 

Who would’ve thought, ay? The Best League In The World hits a roadblock. 

Well, it turns out every European league is facing the same problem… 

The Premier League is way ahead because… 

• It has cracked the U.S. market, raking in £333m. Cha-ching! 

• Germany, Italy and France have agreed to cut costs between 5 and 20%… according to Football Benchmark.

Here’s the craziest part. If you finish last in the Premier League, you earn more than every club in the top 5 leagues - except Real Madrid and Barcelona…

But revenues are still falling which - over time - could endanger smaller English clubs.

The bigger picture: it means that England’s “3 o’clock blackout” might be repealed as the Premier League looks to sell more games.

It’s not the perfect solution, but it might be the only one available.

R1 TRANSFER INDEX 📈

There’s been one cash transfer so far. Let’s be real - it’s been a yawn-fest.

And the R1 Transfer Index - a one-of-a-kind metric - agrees:

Yup, that’s FFP for you. Everyone’s scared to put their hand in their pocket in case they find themselves battling relegation.

But there are some what-ifs to get excited about:

• Michael Olise ➡️ Manchester United (!!)

• Karim Benzema/Roberto Firmino (loan) ➡️ Chelsea

• Kosta Nedeljkovic (Red Star Belgrade) ➡️ Villa… deal agreed £7.8m ✅

• Alexander Isak ➡️ Arsenal… unlikely but eessh if it does

• Sergio Reguilón (loan) ➡️ Brentford

ON THIS DAY… IN 2011 🗓️

After losing to a bad officiating decision, players react in one of three ways:

a) Slip in a subtle quip at the referee in the post-match interview.

b) Shove the camera as it pans across their face.

c) Sarcastically clap in the referee’s direction at the final whistle.

But, in 2011, Liverpool’s Ryan Babel chose option D…

… showing off his creative side by doctoring an image of the ref in the opposition’s shirt…

Babel tweeted this photo of Howard Webb with the caption “And they call him one of the best referees. That’s a joke.”

It followed Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester United when…

• Webb awarded a first-minute penalty after a slight touch on Dimitar Berbatov - aka The Iceman.

• Webb showed Stevie G a red card.

Babel was fined £10,000 to mark himself as the first footballer ever to be fined for comments made over Twitter.

If you ask us, it was worth every penny.

P.s. Does anyone have Babel’s number? We’re looking to hire…

EXTRA-TIME ⏱️

The 115 charges against Manchester will be put before a judge. The chief executive of the Premier League, Richard Masters, has confirmed that a date has been agreed - but didn’t share exactly when.

Jose Mourinho was sacked by Roma yesterday. Here’s a heartwarming clip from his time at the club.

Everton fan Julie Clarke made a statement in Parliament yesterday. As the Premier League’s chief exec spoke in the Culture, Media and Sport committee meeting, Clarke was photographed behind him wearing an Everton T-shirt.

Clarence Seedorf is the only player in history to win the Champions League with three different clubs. If you’ve ever doubted how good he was, this clip in the Champions League might settle the debate.

The first group stage games are in full swing at AFCON. It’s safe to say… Cameroon had a nightmare in defence leading to this goal.

MEME 😆