England’s richest football clubs "won a battle over their domestic rivals to receive a greater share" of the £3B ($4B) the Premier League receives from overseas TV broadcasting deals, according to Murad Ahmed of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Since the Premier League’s founding 25 years ago, revenues from int'l broadcast contracts "have been split evenly across each of its 20 clubs." As the value of Premier League deals "boomed," the wealth was "spread across the teams, helping to make it one of the most competitive leagues in Europe." On Thursday, the owners of the 20 Premier League clubs agreed to change the model, "accepting a demand from the wealthiest six teams" -- ManU, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham -- that overseas money should be distributed on "merit" or performance in the division instead. The Premier League said that from the '19-20 season, "a new formula had been agreed" to share future int'l broadcast revenues according to where a team finishes in the league (FT, 6/7). In London, David Conn reported from '19-20, the first season of new TV deals currently being concluded, the current level of revenue from int'l TV rights sales, £3.3B ($4.4B), will "still be shared equally between all 20 clubs." Any increase on that level, which EPL Exec Chair Richard Scudamore is "understood to be confident of securing," will then be distributed according to where a club has finished in the league. So the “big six,” confident of "finishing in the higher places every season for the foreseeable future," will for the first time be paid more of the int'l TV rights revenues on that basis. Part of the compromise reached "is that the difference this makes to the earnings of the top clubs will be capped" (GUARDIAN, 6/7).
TIME FOR A CHANGE: REUTERS' Simon Evans reported under the new formula, the maximum a club can receive is "1.8 times the amount received by the lowest earning club," the EPL said in a statement. Scudamore said that the league’s revenue sharing "remained the most equitable in Europe but it was time to amend an agreement" dating back to '92. He said, "Back then, the clubs put in place a revenue-sharing system that was right for the time and has served the league well, enabling them to invest and improve in all areas" (REUTERS, 6/7).
