Finance guru: Sunderland set for ‘huge’ bonus amid £85m reveal
A new breakthrough in negotiations over the distribution of Premier League television rights could see Sunderland and the EFL pocket £85million a year.
That is the view of finance expert Dr Dan Plumley, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the ongoing negotiations in the so-called ‘New Deal for Football’.
The English Football League, Premier League and Football Association continue to negotiate over the financial distribution in England after their face-to-face meeting last week.
Currently, the Premier League distributes 16 per cent of its TV rights to the EFL to be shared out among the Championship, League One and League Two.
The EFL are demanding an increase to 25 per cent in the latest round of talks, but the Daily Mail reported on Friday (13 January) that the Premier League have offered an increase to 19 per cent.
While it wasn’t the desired figure, Plumley believes the small increase will bring ‘huge’ financial rewards to Sunderland as well as the other 71 clubs forming the EFL.
“The current distribution is 14-16 per cent to the Championship – if that is increased to 19 per cent then it increases to an £85million uplift for the EFL,” he told Football Insider.
“That figure is calculated using the total amount of money distributed by the Premier League television deals, and the finances for parachutes and solidarity payments.
“It then depends on how the EFL decides to distribute that between the clubs.
“If it was divided equally between the 72 clubs, for example, it provides an uplift of £1.2million per season for every club.
“I don’t expect it to be an equal distribution, but it shows the huge financial benefits that will be shared around.
“My guess would be that it works on a similar basis to the current system, where the Championship gets a larger cut, while League One and League Two share an equal distribution.“
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