Leeds United set for major financial boost as PL poised to announce extended TV deal

Dave is a huge Leeds fan and ardent disciple of Bielsa ball. A career in print magazines that included editing PC Zone, launching PokerPlayer and redesigning The Big Issue has finally led Dave to writing about the love of his life, Leeds United. It’s been a tough 2020 but the single scariest moment was the first quarter of the game against Man City. Rodrigo will be the saviour this season.

Published on:

28 Apr 2021, 1:08 pm

Leeds United are poised to get an imminent and major financial boost, with Martyn Ziegler in The Times reporting that the Premier League is about to "pull off a coup" by extending the current TV deals with Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon and the BBC.

The current deal runs out in August 2022, and with the Coronavirus pandemic causing issues around the globe, there was worry that money could be hit.

A report in Leeds Live claimed that analysts had been expecting a 10-15% drop.

French clubs in particular have been hit hard after a huge TV rights deal collapsed there, leaving some clubs in crisis.

The current Premier League deal is worth a staggering £1.5bn-a-year and the Times report claims, "The new agreement, set to be for another two or — more likely — three years starting in August 2022, means that the league’s 20 clubs will see no drop in the annual revenue they have received from domestic broadcasters since 2019 and removes the risk of the rights values falling in an auction."

Ziegler claims the deal will need government approval but that ministers are expected to approve it.

That is a huge boost for Leeds United – as long as they can maintain their Premier League status for another year.

Here's to an exciting summer

Leeds got promoted to the Premier League in the nick of time.

You have to feel for the clubs who are in the Championship and below at the moment, with lack of matchday revenue hurting everyone.

The teams in the top-flight are inoculated to a certain extent but a drop in the huge revenues from the current TV deal could have caused a collapse.

Thankfully, the £1.5bn deal seems set to continue and 'coup' seems like the right word for this.

To maintain that level of spending despite the game being heavily disrupted – and the possibility of future issues because of Covid – is impressive.

It means that Leeds can plan for the future and know that the bulk of its money will continue to flow in.

That's important for the summer and beyond.

In other Leeds United news, View: Bielsa set to drop 27y/o in major team change – Predicted Leeds XI v Brighton

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