Premier League’s announcement to hand Everton a 10-point deduction for breaching Profit and Sustainability rules has once again awakened the debate between the “top-six” and the rest of the league.
While the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea continue to avoid strict punishments, clubs outside top-six are being made an example of, as Everton’s statement indicated.
The fury of these clubs could be about to increase if a new rule comes into effect.
The Telegraph reports that the Premier League is in the process of introducing a new way of allocating prize money to its clubs.
Currently, the ratio in which the money is divided stands at 1.6:1.
That means, last year Manchester City, the table toppers, took home nearly £161 million while bottom club Southampton made £100 million by being in the Premier League.
Under the new rules, the ratio could be increased to 1.8:1, which means more money for the teams finishing at or near the top of the league and less trickling down.
This rule would increase the gulf between clubs who already make more money due to their size and commercial revenue as they will take a bigger share of competition revenue as well.
The report states that the reasoning behind this change is the increase in league revenue along with the Consumer Prices Index.
A high rate of inflation has been pegged as being favourable for smaller clubs so this is being brought to address those “swings and roundabouts”, as per the report.
For United, this move will be beneficial but the increasing wealth gap, and the tendency to widen it further, wouldn’t bode well for the league.
The concentration of resources and victories at the top of the table hurts the marketability of the league in the long run, as French and German leagues can attest to.