Manchester United earned £65m from the Premier League’s international rights pot last season. In 2025-26, the figure will be significantly higher.
When it launched in 1992, the Premier League sought to sell itself to the world. Man United – whose marketing department claim to now have over a billion followers globally – were its most powerful marketing tool.
Back then, the league pulled in about £62m from the domestic TV deal, with that money then distributed among United and their peers in the form of prize money. The international portion of the rights – i.e. the money paid by broadcasters to air the Premier League in overseas markets – was negligible.
Fast forward to 2026 and the Premier League is a cultural behemoth, with a TV deal worth £1.7bn per season. That’s a 2,600 per cent increase. What is perhaps most remarkable, however, is that the majority of that figure comes from overseas. And for that, United can take a lion’s share of the credit.
For better or for worse, they were one of the first clubs to think of themselves as a brand. For years, their commercial income reflected that fact.
It meant that, while Blackburn, Arsenal and Chelsea punctuated their dominance, United were the ultimate power in the Premier League because they could sustain their spending on transfers and wages.
That advantage makes United’s fall from grace in recent years all the more unforgivable. Nonetheless, when they can get it right on the pitch sustainably, the Premier League have primed the pump nicely for them to be able to become a heavyweight once again.
Is the Premier League’s financial distribution system fair?
Do United deserve more cash for attracting viewers? Or should prize money be decided on the pitch?
Manchester United v Real Sociedad de Futbol - UEFA Europa League 2024/25 Round of 16 Second Leg
Photo by George Wood – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
Richard Masters, the Chief Executive Officer of the Premier League, after the Premier League match between Manchester City and Chelsea FC at Etihad Stadium on May 21, 2023 in Manchester, England.
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
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United could lead ‘Premflix’ revolution as Richard Masters announces new platform
Today, United in Focus was in attendance as Premier League CEO Richard Masters told the Financial Times Business of Football summit that the league is set to launch its first direct-to-consumer (D2C) streaming service in Singapore. That might seem like dull industry news for dull industry types, but stick with us.
Chances are, you’re already subscribed to a handful of D2C services. Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple TV, to name a handful. Essentially, the D2C model cuts out the middle man – broadcasters – and allows the rightsholder – the Premier League – to stream direct to the consumer.
The consensus within the football finance industry is that the D2C initiative in Singapore is a trial run with a view to a wider rollout further down the line.
We’re some way away from that, for now due to existing deals. The Premier League has only just started a new rights cycle, after all. But ‘Premflix’ is becoming a real possibility.
But if and when the league goes all in on D2C, it will change the way fans consume football. United also hope that, in the long run, it can supercharge plateauing TV income.
Last season, United earned £136m in prize money from the Premier League, all but £7.9m of which was sourced from TV pot.
As mentioned, £65m came from the overseas deals. Thanks to a new £450m TV deal in South America agreed last week, they are now guaranteed to earn more this season.
But the Red Devils want more.
One of the proposals United specifically included in the failed Project Big Picture and the European Super League projects was a provision to sell their own rights direct to the consumer. In layman’s terms, the Red Devils would launch their own streaming service and charge fans to watch.
The next best thing for United, most experts agree, would be going D2C via the Premier League.
“There have been very, very many negatives since the Glazer family acquired United in 2005,” University of Liverpool football finance lecturer Kieran Maguire says in exclusive conversation with United in Focus, “But one of the positives – from their perspective, at least – has been the focus on the club as a brand rather than a community asset.
“That approach has been adopted by the other clubs in the Premier League with great success too. United were the forebears here. It’s not uncommon for clubs like United to be able to bank on commercial income of £300m-plus every season now.
“Shirt sponsorship was about as far as it went back in the day. They have Disney-fied the United brand, which has helped the Premier League sell itself to overseas broadcasters.
“It means that, if United get it right, they can outbid almost anyone in the world.”
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The new £450m deal in South America meanwhile suggests that, while the Premier League is positioning itself to go D2C, there is still room for growth through traditional channels.
“It reflects the dominance of the Premier League,” says Maguire.
“For many broadcasters, it’s the only one they want. The Premier League have leveraged the brands of the super clubs like United to remarkable effect. They deserve credit for when, in 1992, they effectively gave away the international rights for nothing. Initially, they were more than happy to split the international revenues from broadcasting revenues evenly. They were spreading losses but leveraging the gains from the domestic deal.
“The Premier League’s domestic deal is now only worth 45 per cent of the total. Central distributions and international are the remainder. That’s the direction of travel.
“There’s pressure on the senior domestic broadcasters to trim their budgets. Comcast, who own Sky, aren’t making money. We’ve seen significant reductions in staff from the likes of Sky and the BBC too, so everyone is operating on a pretty tight budget. Therefore, that indicates limited growth opportunities, especially with the rising popularity as piracy alternatives. The Premier League is seen by many as having priced many people out.”
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