Newcastle’s prize money nearly £50m

NEWCASTLE United banked almost £41million in parachute payments last season – taking their prize money for the campaign up to £48million.

It is a stark indication of why securing promotion back to the Premier League for next season was so crucial.

In figures released by the Premier League, the exact amount banked by Newcastle has been confirmed. They received £19.416million of the domestic Premier League TV money – an “equal share” – and £21.5million of the overseas TV deal, taking the exact amount to £40,915,922.

Newcastle banked just £7.1million for winning the Championship, which distributes money equally among all of its clubs – regardless of where they finish. There is also a £100,000 bonus for every home game screened on TV and £70,000 for every away game that’s on TV. But it’s clear that the parachute payment was key to funding the club last season.

It was this amount that allowed the club to run with one of the highest wage bills in the division and to invest to see through Rafa Benitez’s wholesale revamp of the squad ahead of the Championship campaign.

The parachute payment system is certainly lucrative for those clubs who are relegated from the top flight.

Newcastle would have been due to pocket another £31million if they had not gone up at the end of last season.

And they would have been eligible for another £16.3million in the third year following relegation from the top flight.

But even though that amount helps clubs who have gone down, there’s no doubt that the club would have been facing some very difficult and potentially gamechanging decisions if they hadn’t gone up.

Newcastle’s £41million is less than half of the £93.7million that Sunderland received for finishing bottom of the Premier League.