About: Finance

23 Jun 2020

Finance

Financial governance
Payments to clubs
Distribution of revenue
Solidarity payments

Financial governance

In addition to Company Law, the Premier League has its own Rules relating to club finances, accounting and good governance.

The Premier League, Football League and UEFA each has its own regulations governing club finances. The most widely known FFP policies are probably UEFA’s. These pertain to the licensing system for teams who wish to take part in European club competitions.

The Premier League has a number of financial rules in place, including requirements for clubs to pay transfer fees, salaries and tax bills on time. They must also submit accounts annually, and disclose payments made to agents. You can read these regulations in full in the Premier League Handbook, primarily Section E: Club Finances.

Outside of these obligations it is up to individual clubs, who all have their own directors and senior executives, to make decisions over how they spend their income.

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Payments to clubs

The collective and central way in which the Premier League markets rights and distributes revenues to clubs supports them in their efforts to develop and acquire talented players as well as build and improve stadiums.

In its payments to clubs the Premier League is the most equitable of Europe's major leagues and makes a huge contribution to the entire football pyramid as well as a range of community programmes and good causes.

The Premier League’s value of payments of broadcast and central commercial revenues to clubs for the 2018/19 season are available below.

Download: 2018/19 Payments to Clubs (PDF 69k)

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Distribution of revenue

The Premier League's central revenues are distributed to clubs in the following manner:

UK broadcast revenues

50 per cent equally shared;
25 per cent shared based on how often a club’s matches are broadcast in the UK ("Facility Fees");
25 per cent shared based on where a club finish in the league table ("Merit Payments")

Central commercial revenues

Equally shared by clubs.

International broadcasting revenues

Until the 2019/20 season, these had been equally shared by clubs.

At the 2018 AGM, clubs agreed a new formula for sharing any future increase in international broadcast revenue from the 2019/20 season.

Clubs will continue to share the current levels of international revenue equally, but any increase will be distributed based on where they finish in the Premier League.

In 2017/18, the ratio between the maximum and minimum a Club received was 1.6:1 (the highest-earning club received 1.6 times the amount received by the lowest-earning club).

The new formula for sharing any future increase in international revenues caps the ratio at 1.8:1.

Should future revenues rise to the point where the cap is reached, any additional income will be distributed so that the 1.8:1 ratio is maintained.

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