Man United’s league TV payments break the £60m barrier

NEW Premier League champions Manchester United have become the first club in the competition’s history to earn more than £60m during the season from TV payments.

Figures just released by the Premier League show that it paid the club £60.4m in payments from the league, including a “merit payment” of just over £15.1m for topping the table.

The agreement between the 20 Premier League clubs shows that 50% of all the money generated from broadcast reveneus is shared equally between them. A further 25% is based on the club’s final position in the league and the remaining 25% is paid in facility fees every time its matches appear on TV.

Rival Manchester City, who finished third in the league, received more than £55.5m in payments this year, while bottom club Blackpool received £39.1m. Liverpool received £55.1m, Everton £49.6m, Bolton £42.7m, Blackburn £42.1m and Wigan £41.4m.

Premier League bosses argued that the ratio of income distribution between the top and bottom clubs (1.54:1) was more equitable than in comparable European competitions such as La Liga (20:1), Serie A (10:1) and Bundesliga (2:1).

Chief executive Richard Scudamore said: “We believe the way we distribute broadcast income plays a part in allowing each club to compete at the highest level.”