£6M TV BOOST TO TRANSFER KITTY
NEWCASTLE United have already banked an extra £6million from promotion to the Premier League after being picked for five TV games in the first two months of the season.
The cash adds to the financially lucrative return to the top flight – and should help Rafa Benitez’s summer transfer plans after Mike Ashley promised him “every penny” from promotion when they met in May.
The extra cash comes because clubs are rewarded for being shown on TV as part of the incredible top-flight TV deal.
The Premier League pay out a ‘facility fee’ every time a club is shown live on Sky – and last season that was worth around £1.2m for every game picked.
Every team is guaranteed a minimum of ten live matches but given United have got five in the first two months, they should easily exceed that and make it an even more lucrative season next year.
Given that United only took home £7.1m in prize money and TV money across the whole Championship-winning season, it is a stark indication of the financial chasm between the division that Newcastle just jumped out of and the one they are returning to.
United’s games against Spurs, Huddersfield, Brighton, Swansea and Liverpool have all been picked by Sky as the TV giant make the most of the return of a club whose absence from the top flight was considered one of the reasons for their dip in TV ratings last season.
The difference between the two divisions was emphasised by managing director Lee Charnley when the club’s accounts were revealed in April.
He said: “The biggest impact by far is the dramatic reduction in centrally-distributed income that comes with dropping down a division; the reality being our income in this area is forecast to fall by over £30m compared to 2015/16.
“To highlight the differences, our 16 live TV games last season earned us £12m in revenue.
“Contrast this with 2016/17 EFL live fees which, based on our current number of confirmed appearances (12 away and six home), will earn us a total of £720k.
“To illustrate further the cost of relegation, 2016/17 marks year one of the new Premier League TV deal and the team that finishes in 18th place this season is expected to receive in the region of £30m more revenue than we did for the same place finish last year.”
Given the club are now back in the Premier League, that difference has – thankfully – been eradicated.