Premier League Clubs USA $3.61 Billion Richer This Season
Struggling with financial rewards despite title victory: Analyzing minimal prize money boost for Liverpool following championship win
When the 2025-2029 TV deal kicks in for the Premier League, Sky Sports and TNT Sport will dish out a whopping $15.39 billion for the broadcast rights. This represents a 4% hike compared to the current agreement, and the number of matches available for viewers will also surge. However, this season's earnings are still calculated according to the previous deal's terms.
In the current season, each of the 380 matches will be spread across Sky Sports (128 live matches, increasing to 215 next season), TNT Sports (52), and Amazon Prime Video (20). British viewers can catch 200 out of these matches. For each match shown, the teams receive prize money from the Premier League. In the last season, the total amount disbursed was £2.848 billion. As the new deal doesn't take effect until the summer, this year's prize fund will remain for the 2024-25 English Championship.
The prize money is divided into three segments: domestic, international, and commercial. The domestic segment includes earnings from British broadcasters, while the international segment includes earnings from all overseas broadcasters. The commercial segment represents the league's earnings from advertisers. These three segments are distributed as follows:
- Domestic: £1.334 billion
- International: £1.351 billion
- Commercial: £164 million
Clubs earn money based on three indicators: base payments (equal for all), prize money (dependent on their position in the league table), and distributions for the number of matches shown live. Each team receives:
- Base payments from the domestic part: £624 million
- Payments for the number of matches shown (domestic part): £354.7 million
- Payments for position in the league table (domestic part): £354.7 million
- Base payments from the international part: £1.114 million. Each team receives £55.7 million.
- Payments for position in the league table (international part): £237 million
- Base payments from the commercial part: all £164 million. Each team receives £8.2 million.
These funds are distributed proportionally based on the conditions met. For instance, the last team in the league earns approximately £2.8 million, while the first earns around £56.4 million. British TV money is also distributed intricately: all clubs are guaranteed to earn £9.3 million per 10 TV matches (a non-retractable sum, even if there are fewer broadcasts, clubs will still receive at least £9.3 million). Each additional match shown brings the club approximately £0.837 million.
Using this method, we can calculate Liverpool's prize money for the championship.
Liverpool Set for $5 Million More from the PL
According to our website Sport's calculations, Liverpool's domestic championship prize money will be as follows:
- £31.2 million - equal payments from the domestic part
- £33.8 million - payments for first place from the domestic part
- £55.7 million - equal payments from the international part
- £22.6 million - payments for first place from the international part
- £8.2 million - the PL's commercial part.
What remains is to calculate the income from British TV. The PL releases the schedule for matches selected for broadcast in England each month. Successful performances by teams often lead to more interest from broadcasters.
For example, Liverpool, with only one match against Southampton not selected for broadcast from February 16th, is a perfect illustration. From early April until the final round, all their matches will be broadcast live on Sky Sports. This is because viewers wanted to see the title chase and the reactions of the rivals.
According to our website Sport's analysis, out of the 37 available matches (not including the final round where all games are played simultaneously), 29 of Liverpool's matches were selected for TV. This should bring the team around $25.2 million.
In total, the PL should transfer around $176.7 million to the English champion this summer (or slightly less than €208 million at the current exchange rate). Last year, the team received £171 million, while the first-placed Manchester City earned £175.9 million.
This is only the centralized payments from the PL. Liverpool will undoubtedly receive bonuses from their own sponsors, as well as income from tickets, merchandise, goods, and other deals. However, this information will only be available at the end of the year. In the meantime, we can still estimate earnings from other tournaments.
Liverpool bags Over €300M Across All Tournaments
Despite losing in the first round of the 2024/25 Champions League playoffs against Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool's Champions League run earned the team €98.13M. In comparison, Arsenal, which reached the semifinals, will earn at least €117.93 million.
The club also participated in English national cups, but these tournaments are much less profitable. Teams earn tens of times more from ticket revenues than prize money. Liverpool's loss in the League Cup final to Newcastle brought in just £50,000. In the 2024/25 FA Cup, the club progressed one round before being eliminated by Plymouth, earning another £115,000.
In total, Liverpool earned £260.27M (€306.26M) from sports results in the 2024/25 season. This isn't the highest earnings for English clubs this season. Arsenal will likely surpass the champions with its Champions League earnings, while Chelsea and Manchester City will be higher due to their participation in the Club World Cup. Exact figures will be published in the summer.
Despite not setting a record for prize money in its 20th championship, Liverpool's season was exceptional. The board is ready to allocate a record transfer budget this summer to secure its 21st championship, which would make it the most successful club in English history. This is remarkable, considering few believed that replacing Jürgen Klopp with Arne Slot would be so perfect a year ago.
- European leagues, such as the Premier League, continue to see significant financial growth, with the upcoming TV deal set to bring in a staggering $15.39 billion over the next five years.
- In the current season, clubs in the Premier League have seen their earnings increase due to the increased number of matches being broadcast, with Liverpool alone expected to receive an additional $5 million from the league's centralized payments.
- As international broadcasters continue to invest in sports, English clubs like Liverpool are poised to benefit significantly, with an estimated $176.7 million set to be transferred to the English champion this summer from centralized payouts alone.
