Premier League 2010/11 - Football's Money League

With the season now over, the Premier League has revealed the club’s earnings. This season over £1bn was distributed to the 20 members. £60m went to the Champions, Manchester United and the lowest earners were Blackpool, who finished 19th.

The 20th place team, West Ham United earned £1.25m more than them due to additional facility fees, which pays out at least £485,000 each time a club is featured in a live match on Sky or ESPN. Clubs are guaranteed a minimum of £4.85m from facility fees. But can earn up to £12.61m from this part of the prize fund.

This season’s prize fund included money from the improved 2010 – 13 overseas TV deal, worth £1.437bn. This meant a payout of nearly £18m from overseas rights. This exceeded the £13.8m each club received from domestic TV, both of which are divided equally amongst the 20 competing clubs with a smaller share going to recently relegated clubs as a parachute payment.

Aside from this, each position in the league was worth £756,756, which is the amount West Ham United received. At the top of the table, Manchester United received £15.1m from this part of the prize fund.

The Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Scudamore, described the league’s prize money distribution as “…the most equitable of Europe’s major football leagues, rewards sporting success while also guaranteeing a significant amount of broadcast revenue to each club in order that they plan from one season to the next.”

It compares favourably with its rival, La Liga, where individual clubs negotiate their own TV rights. Real Madrid and Barcelona routinely earn 12.5 times more money than the smallest club, whereas Manchester United earned just 1.55 times Blackpool’s pay out.

Scudamore explained that the distribution of the “…income plays a part in allowing each club to compete at the highest level.”