Francois said "My worry is that at some point demand collapses. The risk of a sudden dramatic drop is huge if you weaken the main product (the national leagues)"

He added "If you change to this new model with a World Cup every two year and games have to be moved from the weekend to midweek and you have a shorter overall season and some players might not be available at some point, you weaken your core product."

Julian said “Even the online streamers have experimented with weekly releases. Netflix has done it before. There is experimentation across the board and there’s not one single right way to do this. Both models will hold value over time.”

Alice said “If DMGT attempted to buy the Telegraph it would definitely trigger competition and media plurality investigations, but that wouldn’t necessarily mean it would be blocked. With the long-term structural decline of the newspaper market, whether a deal should be blocked is not as clearcut as it used to be.”

She added “I can’t see them looking to buy the Telegraph in the short term. But strategically, in the medium term, given the market, I could see it happening.”

Douglas said “There’s a ‘Game of Thrones’ drama taking place. But the key story behind it is this profound strategic rethinking of the company.”

Claire said “There’s a lot of overlap. The impetus to put together MailOnline with the main titles is driven by costs. It has to be done.”

She added “These types of assets have been systemically condemned by the City, which is never going to get this story again. It’s better off being privately managed. He’s doing what’s necessary now, which is to put these titles on a sensible footing as cash flow machines for his family.”

Gareth said “The economics of the game are fantastic”. But he added there were only so many battles that EA could pick with football bodies. “You don’t want to be in a position where all of a sudden you’re beginning to unpick [naming] arrangements."

Francois said “This, and a couple of other notable licenses, including NENT in Scandinavia, Poland and Netherlands, and Telekom Srbija, more than make up for the drop in China."

Julian said “I don’t think sports makes sense for a lot of the online digital platforms." He added that he “wouldn’t read too much” into the discovery of SportsKit as an indication that Apple is preparing such a move. This software could be used to deliver things like the latest scores to fans instead of live streamed matches.

Claire said said the allegations were a severe blow to Afiniti’s stated ambitions for a US listing. “It would certainly compromise, fatally, plans for an initial public offering."

Karen said "I think Nick Read sounds too confident with regard to the UK. There is a bit more acknowledgement to balance investment and returns, but I think that the appetite for consolidation is still quite weak.

"It is hard to think how Three UK is going to thrive or even survive without such a deal, but I don't think it is there for the taking in any stretch of the imagination."

Karen believes Vodafone's heavy debts are a key reason that it is eyeing merger opportunities for Vantage Towers, the mobile masts operator that was carved out of the business in a move that could pave the way for Vodafone to sell down its 82pc stake.