This job ad for a general manager at Arsenal Broadband Limited, reveals that ABL has 11 full-time staff and runs the club’s main website; its paid-for VOD site (£3.99 a month or £45 a year); its mobile VOD site (£1.50 a week) and the Arsenal TV channel, available via cable, satellite and digital in the UK and around the world. The main site is available in Chinese, Thai, Korean, Japanese and it has a US-facing homepage.

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The job spec reads like something from a major broadcast media company: the successful candidate will “develop and implement integrated digital marketing strategies across the full range of Club channels” and “identify new products and services as part of a broadening portfolio of revenue streams”. ITV sold its 50 percent stake in ABL to Kroenke in 2008 for £22.7 million, at the same time the broadcast sold its shares in LiverpoolFC.tv and Manchester United’s MUTV.

And this is not an isolated case: Manchester City has signed up Endemol to market its entirely free, highlights-laden site across the world. Every big club has its own paid-for VOD offering, whether its powered by digital providers like Perform or their own initiative.

As publishers look to charge for online content, one of the best tactics is to target specific interest communities and there are no more passionate people than football fans. But if Arsenal offers fans direct, undiluted access to highlights, interviews, news and maybe one day live action, why would fans pay for access to Time Online’s football zone? And how tempted is Arsenal to ban reporters from matches so it can publish coverage exclusively and maximise revenues?