3. £897 million Deal Will Ensure The Rich Get Richer
A huge problem in most top European leagues since the turn of the century has been the financial dominance of an inpenetrable group of clubs. The 'Big Four' of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool has admittedly widened slightly to include Tottenham and Manchester City, yet it took billions of pounds worth of oil money for Man City to break that strangehold with a
title win in 2012, and even that was only on goal difference. Thanks to the huge sums of money Sky has poured into the Premier League, and more recently the Champions League, only those aforementioned six clubs have any real hope of finishing in the top four. Everton may claim to have a shot, and Southampton have started the season magnificently, but in reality it is something of a closed shop. The money BT Sport is throwing at the Champions League ensures the gap will only widen. £897 million over three seasons is
a sum even the cash-happy Sky baulked at, and will be music to the ears of the country's biggest clubs. The current deal, signed by both ITV and Sky, is worth less than half, at £400 million. Have BT over-paid?