Yesterday, the Premier League released the value of the central payments to clubs, and despite suffering relegation with our 20th placed position in the table, on a financial front West Bromwich Albion didn’t do too badly.
That’s what football is about these days isn’t…money?
Each seasonal payment begins with the Equal Share, which for each club last season amounts to £34,812,558.
International Television deals and Central Commercial deals are all lumped into one pot and are equally shared between all sides in the top flight in a given season as well.
For 2017/18 that saw overseas television rights generate £40,771,108 for the club and that was boosted by an additional £4,838,892 from the commercial pot.
That’s not where the money ended though.
West Brom were screened live by domestic television companies a total of ten times, and that generated £12,312,666 in facility fees. It was a joint lowest return, with Swansea City and Huddersfield Town and Watford also picking up the same sum.
Our bottom-placed finish also entitled us to an additional £1,931,268 in merit money.
Source: PremierLeague.com – click if graphic doesn’t appear correctly for you and is unreadable.
With Mark Jenkins previously talking about how close to the line we were sailing financially with a greater transfer spend and wage growth that saw us on the limit under various Premier League Financial Fair Play rules, the task facing the club in 2018/19 is clear.
We don’t need to look far across the Midlands to find a current example of the financial meltdown that could affect one club should they not attain promotion this season and sadly I don’t think we are in much of a position to point fingers.
Yes, we will receive Parachute Payments on a sliding scale each season we stay out of the Premier League for the next couple of years, but Championship Financial Fair Play rules are far more stringent than their top-flight counterparts and the club will probably have to take a decision or two with finances in mind and not necessarily promotion at the first time of asking.
A return of £94,666,492 million for failure just shows how money hungry the Premier League is and that becomes the focus for clubs these days, even if it doesn’t for fans.
It’s why some sides celebrate Europe like they’ve won the title, or consider fourth place a success.
In Mark Jenkins we trust and until our setup for next season is known, for everything else I can’t help but feel it’s keep everything crossed.
