Clubs no longer reliant on fans

LONDON: The Premier League’s broadcast deal is so great that half the clubs would have made a pre-tax profit even if they played in empty grounds.

BBC research has shown just how much the record £8.3 billion (RM43 billion) of TV revenue has boosted the coffers of top-flight teams.

So great are the figures that 10 clubs in the 2016-17 campaign — the first benefiting from the current broadcast deal — would have recorded pre-tax profits even with matchday incomes stripped away.

Furthermore, matchday income represented less than 20p in every £1 that 18 Premier League clubs earned during that campaign.

Dr Rob Wilson, a sport finance specialist at Sheffield Hallam University, told BBC Sport: “That is when the focus really went toward generating TV money rather than matchday ticket receipts.

“When you get a £120 million payout from the Premier League for kicking a ball around, you can play in an empty stadium if you need to.

“From a revenue generation perspective, clubs do not rely anymore on matchday ticket income.”

Football Supporters’ Federation chair Malcolm Clarke said: “I’d say (match-going fans) are the most important element.

“Players and managers come and go, but we are always there.

“How boring would it be to watch a Premier League game in an empty stadium?”