Sunderland’s final position in the Premier League will directly impact how much they earn from the league
As part of our On The Whistle video feature, Phil asked fans last week for talking points they'd like to see discussed with the club currently in a prolonged break from fixtures.
The video Q&A is now available on our YouTube page, while Phil will also be producing more detailed written accompaniments in a series here on the Sunderland Echo website. In this edition he answers a question asked by one supporter: What's to play for financially between now and the end of the season for Sunderland?
In the Championship, your final position in the table has little financial impact unless you win promotion or find yourself relegated to League One.
The way the Premier League distributes it revenues is very different, however, and represents a significant subplot for Sunderland in the final seven games of the campaign. Heading into their clash with Spurs on Sunday, there of course remains much for Sunderland to play for. A first top-half finish since 2011 would represent a major achievement for all involved, and there is still an outside chance of qualifying for European competition. Finishing strongly would also give Sunderland's revenues a welcome boost heading into a crucially important summer transfer window.
The Premier League distributes its revenues to clubs on a 50-25-25 basis, with half handed out evenly amongst clubs regardless of finishing position. Last season, this was a payment of around £98.9 million. A quarter is then distributed as 'facility fees', and varies from club to club based on how often their fixtures were picked for live TV broadcast. Liverpool earned the most from facility fees last season with a payment of £24.9 million, while Southampton earning the least with a payment of £9.7 million. Sunderland have been shown on TV less than many of their rivals this season and so can probably expect their facility fee payment to come in towards the lower end of that scale, but having their next three games broadcast will nudge them up the table.
The final quarter is dependent on where clubs finish in the final table, and this is where Sunderland still have much to play. Consider that Spurs finished 17th in the Premier League last season, which earned them a merit payment of £14.4 million. Manchester United finished two places above them in 15th, and earned a merit payment of £15.9 million. From there, the prize quickly grows. Crystal Palace earned £23.8 million for their 12th place finish, while Brentford's top-half finish earned them an impressive £29.1 million. So the difference between seven places was as much as £15 million last season, giving Sunderland an additional incentive to finish with a flourish. Brighton earned £34.5 million for finishing 8th in the final table, a sum that would represent a significant boost to Sunderland's revenues. The figures of course vary from campaign to campaign dependent on the TV deals in place both in the UK and abroad, but aren't anticipated to change too much this time around.
While we may not be talking about completely transformative sums that would fundamentally alter Sunderland's transfer spending power, remember that new Premier League financial rules coming into place this summer limit clubs to spending 85% of their revenues on their first team costs. As Sunderland rebuild their commercial revenues to keep pace with their rivals, any additional boost to their balance sheet is a welcome one.
There remains much for Sunderland to play for from a sporting perspective, but you can be sure that the financial incentive for a strong run between now and the end of the campaign is something they are also well aware of.
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