By Nick Harris
SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year
15 May 2012
Manchester City sealed the 2011-12 Premier League title in the most dramatic fashion on Sunday, and now know the precise financial reward for the season from Premier League central funds: £60,602,289.
The massive sums on offer for simply being a member of the Premier League are highlighted again below with the release of official figures detailing League TV and merit earnings for each club for the 2011-12 season.
Clubs have three main revenue streams: match day income (from tickets, corporate dining etcetera), media income (of which the payments listed are the largest but not the only part) and commercial income (from kit deals, sponsorship, merchandise, tours and so on).
The lowest-earning team in 2011-12 from central funds, Wolves, picked up £39,084,461 while City’s cross-town rivals, United, were the second best-paid team with £60,325,337. This is the second year the £60m barrier has been broken for the top-earning teams, after last year.
Every club got £13,788,093 as an equal share of domestic TV income, plus £18,764,644m as an equal share of foreign TV income. The Premier League’s income from overseas TV rights alone 2010-13 inclusive was £1.437bn (£439m a year). Rights are now up for auction for 2013-16.
In the central payments for 2011-12, facility fees – £485,000 per live TV match in the UK plus bits and pieces for net, phone and delayed rights – varied depending how many times each club featured in live matches, between a minimum of 10 times and a maximum of 26.
Each place in the table was worth £755,062 in prize money, with that amount going to the bottom club (Wolves) and 20 times that amount (£15,101,240) going to City.
The biggest winners and losers, year on year in terms of improved and decreased payments were Newcastle and Aston Villa respectively. Newcastle’s total money went up £7m from £47.2m to £54.2m, while Villa’s went down £7m from £49m to £42m. See table below for full details, and compare with previous seasons: Payments for 2010-11 / Payments for 2009-10
‘Parachute’ payments were made to seven former League clubs, with Birmingham, Blackpool and West Ham each getting £15,475,005 to assist their landings in the Championship. This money helped all three to make the play-offs, with Blackpool facing West Ham on Saturday for the right to return to the PL (Promised Land).
The ratio in central earnings between City at the top and Wolves at the bottom is 1.55 to 1.
