Premiership prize pot up to £2.7bn following new TV deal

Nick Harris
Friday 19 January 2007 01:00 GMT
0Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Premier League confirmed yesterday that it has sold its next set of overseas television rights for £625m, double the previous amount.

The new contracts, which cover 208 countries from 2007 to 2010 inclusive, will increase the League's total prize pot to £2.725bn over the next three seasons, guaranteeing the Premiership's winners £50m in those years from central funds alone. Even the club which finishes bottom of the Premiership will earn £27m from next season. In the current three-year rights cycle, which finishes at the end of this season, the champions earn around £30m from the League, and the bottom club around £17m.

Richard Scudamore, the Premier League's chief executive, is expected to give more details about the overseas deals today from Mumbai, India, where he is also due to announce League plans to invest some of the new cash in football projects in deprived areas around the world. One such project will promote youth football in a poor suburb of Mumbai. Others will be located in similar places where the League can bestow charity and raise its brand awareness simultaneously. The League will invest "millions" in the projects, according to a spokesperson, but no detail has been provided yet.

Overseas rights earned the League £310m for the 2004-07 seasons, and a memo to League clubs last month revealed that figure would surpass £600m next time. One of the reasons for the growth is that the League previously sold overseas rights via a broker. This time it has negotiated directly with broadcasters around the world, meaning a hike in its own earnings at a time when Premiership football is still growing in popularity anyway. The conclusion of the deals has pushed the figure to £625m.

"By focusing on the quality of the game, their players and their grounds, [Premiership] clubs have produced a competition that people want to watch - both at matches and at home," Scudamore said.

The League's £2.725bn prize pot for the next three years is made up of £1.7bn from domestic rights sold to Sky and Setanta, £400m from highlights for broadcast on the internet and mobile phones, plus the overseas rights money.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

0Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in