Chelsea’s EPL title success earned it £99M ($151M) in total prize money per official figures -- "the most ever earned by a single club in one season from central funds," according to Nick Harris of the London DAILY MAIL. The precise sum was £98,999,554, made up of £24.9M ($38M) "merit" cash for finishing top of the table, £19.98M ($30.6M) "facility fees" for being in so many live TV games, plus equal shares of the domestic TV deal -- nearly £22M ($33M) -- overseas TV deals (£27.8M) ($42M) and commercial income from the league's sponsors, such as Barclays (£4.4M) ($6.7M). Man City was second in the table and is second in the cash league with £98.5M ($150.9), but ManU is the next highest earner (£96.8M) ($148M) despite finishing fourth because it was live on TV more than third-placed Arsenal, which is fourth in the money table with £96.5M (147M). The 20 clubs involved in the '14-15 season will split £1.6B ($2.4B) in league cash for the campaign, from Chelsea at the top down to the lowest earners, QPR, which takes £64.9M ($99.4M) "for finishing rock bottom." This "is the biggest sum ever earned by a bottom-placed club." The merit money is split depending on finishing position, with QPR getting £1.2M ($1.8M) finishing in 20th place, "and the clubs above getting that sum multiplied by the number of places they finished above QPR," up to Chelsea’s merit money of £24.8M ($38M) for first place (DAILY MAIL, 6/2). In a separate piece, Harris wrote the payments "always provoke debates about whether the spread of money is fair." Chelsea earned just 1.53 times as much as QPR and "this is the smallest -- and fairest -- ratio in any major league." Even in Germany, seen as a model league of fairness, "the ratio is closer to two to one, or in other words the top club gets twice the bottom club’s money from central funds." Chelsea would have earned nearly £34M ($52M) more "if prize money was based on points." ManU would have earned more than £140M ($214M) "if prize money was based on popularity" (DAILY MAIL, 6/3).
 |
| Source: EPL |
