January 1 – The search is on again for a new head of the English Premier League after the sudden withdrawal of broadcasting executive Susanna Dinnage before she even started.
Dinnage was recently named as the new EPL chief executive in success to Richard Scudamore, making her arguably most powerful woman in world professional sport.
She was to leave her role as global president of Discovery’s Animal Planet as part of a new structure that would see the league have a separate CEO and non-executive chairman again, with the latter position yet to be filled.
But out of the blue, she has changed her mind.
“Despite her commitment to the Premier League in early November, Susanna Dinnage has now advised the Nominations Committee that she will not be taking up the position of Chief Executive,” read a brief Premier league statement.
“The Committee has reconvened its search and is talking to candidates.”
Dinnage reportedly had reflected on the role in recent weeks and informed the Premier League that she had decided that she wanted to stay in broadcasting. English media reports say she apparently had not given a precise start date as she had a long notice period to serve.
Dinnage had been described as the “outstanding choice” when selected as well as “a leading figure in the broadcasting industry, a proven business executive and a great developer of people.”
With Scudamore having actually left with a reported £5 million golden handshake after 19 years in the role, the search for his replacement now has to begin all over again. In the meantime the league will be led by acting chair, Claudia Arney and acting chief executive Richard Masters.
Although she is a Fulham season-ticket holder, Dinnage did not have experience within the football industry and her appointment highlighted the Premier League’s thinking in terms of choosing someone with a broadcasting background as distinct from someone within the game. In a disrupted, pirated and increasingly fragmented TV rights marketplace the next round of broadcast deals will be crucial for the Premier League which relies heavily on revenue from broadcast.
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