Kieran Maguire: Leeds set to land £90m windfall with signing spree on the cards
A prospective new Premier League broadcast deal could pocket Leeds United £90million and go towards an overseas signing spree.
That is the view of finance boffin Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the battle for United States television rights.
The Athletic reported on 19 October that NBC, Fox or ESPN could pay up to £2.2billion for the right to air the Premier League in the US.
Analyst Jack Genovese claims that a “nine-year” deal is possible when the auction begins later this year.
The current arrangement with NBC, which is worth £150m per season, expires at the close of 2021-22.
Football Insider revealed in May that Leeds earned £133m in broadcasting income for their first season back in the Premier League.
Maguire predicts that figure could be boosted by as much as £10m per term if the US rights auction rakes in maximum profit.
That extra cash would give the Whites an advantage over the majority of their European rivals in the transfer market, claims the spreadsheet wiz.
“We are talking £10m-a-season per club,” he told Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams.
“Although the distribution model has been changed, all the clubs are broadly going to get the same benefit from this.
“So this isn’t going to give certain Premier League clubs an advantage over one another.
“However, a club like Leeds would benefit in terms of its ability to recruit players from the rest of Europe.
“Apart from the hardy perennials in the Champions League, it will give Leeds an advantage over many of the other clubs in Europe.”
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