Premier League’s bottom club to earn a huge £100m next year
Top-flight clubs agree plan to stick with current formula for sharing TV cash that has made this season so exciting
THE Premier League’s bottom club next year will pocket a cool £100million.
The 20 top-flight clubs yesterday confirmed they plan to stick with the current formula for sharing TV cash.
Many believe that has contributed to this exciting and unpredictable season.
But the huge bonanza for failure looks like coming a year too late for Randy Lerner’s Aston Villa.
Thanks to media rights deals worth more than £8billion over the next three years, the 2016-17 champions can expect to receive £160m, compared with about £100m for this season’s winners.
The way the Premier League stops big clubs taking too much of the broadcasting income is credited with making it more competitive than, for example, Spain’s La Liga.
Manchester City have demanded a different split of the £3bn in overseas rights under the new deal — the 20 clubs currently receive an equal share.
But their arguments have been dismissed by the clubs, with the vast majority happy to keep the same arrangement.
But surprise packages like leaders Leicester and West Ham will not be allowed to blow all the extra cash on player wages in a bid to give the big boys another scare.
That is because the clubs are set to vote through a new set of short-term cost controls at their AGM in June.
During the current three-year period, clubs which started with a wage bill of £54m or more per season are allowed to use the TV money to increase that by only £4m a season.
But clubs can boost salaries by more than £4m if the money comes from extra commercial or matchday income.
The precise terms of the new agreement will be disclosed soon ahead of the summer vote when the proposals are expected to be adopted by the necessary two thirds of clubs.
Discussions continue between the Premier League and the FA about revamping the FA Cup to ease the fixture burden.
But FA chairman Greg Dyke has other priorities before he steps down in the summer.
Dyke can expect a tough time at today’s FA Board meeting as he bids to push through plans to reduce the influence of officials from the grass-roots game on the governing body.