The Premier League's investment in community football "could decrease next season" despite the furor over the "need for increased funding of grassroots facilities after the FA's failed attempt to sell Wembley," according to Matt Hughes of the LONDON TIMES. The formula used to calculate the extent of the Premier League's redistributive efforts is reportedly based on a percentage of its domestic rights deal (14.8%) rather than all of its TV revenue. The value of the U.K. contract will fall next season from the present £5.1B ($6.7B) over three years to £4.8B ($6.3B) for '19-22, "thereby reducing the fund available for handouts" by almost £15M ($19.6M) a season. The top flight "could opt to maintain existing grassroots funding" by increasing the percentage of the domestic rights given away or "including overseas revenue for the first time as that will rise significantly next season." There are, however, doubts within the Premier League "over whether the required number of 14 clubs would vote for such a change" given the impending departure of Richard Scudamore, who was instrumental in getting them to agree to the existing arrangements. The 14.8% of domestic TV rights put back into the game is broken down into 8% for the English Football League in parachute and solidarity payments and 6.8% for charities such as the Football Foundation and education projects including Primary Stars and the Girls Football Programme. Over the past three-year cycle, the Football Foundation has received £24M ($31.3M) a year to invest in community facilities (LONDON TIMES, 10/20).
