Newcastle United banked almost £41million in parachute payments this season – taking their prize money for the campaign up to £48million, a stark indication of why promotion back to the Premier League was so crucial.
In figures released by the Premier League, the exact amount banked by Newcastle has been confirmed. They received £19.416million of the domestic Premier League TV money – an “equal share” – and £21.5million of the overseas TV deal, taking the exact amount to £40,915,922.
Newcastle banked just £7.1million for winning the Championship , which distributes money equally among all of its clubs – regardless of where they finish. There is also a £100,000 bonus for every home game screened on TV and £70,000 for every away game that’s on TV.
But it’s clear that the parachute payment was key to funding the club last season.
It was this amount that allowed the club to run with one of the highest wage bills in the division and to invest to see through Rafa Benitez’s wholesale revamp of the squad ahead of the Championship campaign.
The parachute payment system is certainly lucrative for clubs who are relegated from the top flight. Newcastle would have been due to pocket another £31million if they had not gone up this season – and would have been eligible for another £16.3million in the third year after relegation.
But even though that amount helps clubs who have gone down, there’s no doubt that the club would have been facing some very difficult and potentially game-changing decisions if they hadn’t gone up. Newcastle’s £41million is less than half of the £93.7million that Sunderland received for finish rock bottom of the Premier League.