Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore said that clubs "can look forward to a bigger financial pot from the outcome of eagerly awaited television rights renegotiations," insisting that they "would not waste it on another spiral of excessive spending," according to Roger Blitz of the FINANCIAL TIMES.
Man City, crowned champions on Sunday, brought to a close a season in which the league’s 20 clubs "have enjoyed the fruits of a vastly improved three-year deal" with broadcasters worth £5.5B ($9.3B).
Winning the league "has soared in value." Liverpool, which finished second, will earn more than £90M ($152M). Last season’s champions, ManU, earned £60.8M, "roughly the same amount this season’s bottom club" -- Cardiff City, Fulham or Norwich City -- will make.
Next year’s rights renegotiations for '16-17 onward "will see the pie grow again as the league’s profile across 175 countries climbs." Scudamore: "I sit here not complacent but optimistic that we’ve still got very significant growth potential yet to realize."
Scudamore is "very encouraged" by the size of the league’s overseas TV audience. He said the U.S. has had "a breakthrough moment," while audiences in India -- a market dominated by cricket -- "are up almost a third." The "lingering impression is of a season in which the Premier League has become a very large commercial operation." The season "began against a backdrop of fan protests at ticket prices." It ends with the Premier League reporting stadium occupancy at 95.8%, a record (FT, 5/9).
