THE GERMAN MODEL IS JUST A PIPE DREAM HERE
IF YOU want to know why Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani is so keen on forming Premier League 2, take a look at Germany’s last deal with Sky TV. The Bundesliga is comprised of two divisions and sells its rights as a single entity. The proceeds are then distributed between 36 clubs. Not evenly; the top flight – Bundesliga – still gets the lion’s share. But there is certainly more equality and fairness, thanks to a system that sees 70 per cent of the cash divided according to a five-year ranking system. This is boring, convoluted and impossible to explain without an ocean of words but the upshot is this: In 2017-18, the team which finished top of the Bundesliga – Bayern Munich – received €47m from an annual pot of €812m. The team that finished top of 2.Bundesliga – Fortuna Dusseldorf – got €13.7m. In England, where the rights to the Premier League and EFL are sold separately, things are very different. Thus Manchester City, who won the title, earned £156m from TV revenue. Wolves, who won the Championship, made just £2.3m. So did Radrizzani’s Leeds. In other words, Fortuna were paid 29 per cent of what Bayern made. Wolves had to make do with three per cent of City’s earnings. Remember, too, that Germany’s ranking system means a gradual tail-off in payouts from Bayern downwards, mitigating against a divisional gulf. In the Premier League, every team gets a wedge, with even bottom-placed West Brom pocketing £95m on their way through the trapdoor. The German system is patently fairer, and it is obvious the Championship would benefit from a similar arrangement. But it is also impossible to implement without cutting the rest of the EFL adrift, an unthinkable idea that would never be sanctioned by the FA. Germany, after all, has only regional divisions beneath the Bundesliga. More to the point, the Premier League’s current cache of 20 clubs are perfectly happy hogging their cash. They wouldn’t dream of taking a smaller slice of the pie, which is what the formation of Premier League 2 would entail. For all the threats, bluff and bluster, it is the pipe dream of a few disgruntled clubs and no more.