Sponsorship

Since 1993, the Premier League has been sponsored. The sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. The list below details who the sponsors have been and what they called the competition:

• 1993–2001: Carling (FA Carling Premiership)

• 2001–2004: Barclaycard (Barclaycard Premiership)

• 2004–2010: Barclays (Barclays Premiership (2004-2007) then Barclays Premier League (2007-2010))

Finances

The Premiership boasts some of the best players in the world, including many from outside England. The Premier League is the most lucrative football league in the world, with total club revenues of over £1.3 billion in 2004–05 according to Deloitte, more than 40% above its nearest competitor, Italy's Serie A.[15] Revenues will increase substantially by the 2007–08 season, when new media rights deals start (see below). Based on January 2007 exchange rates, £1.3 billion converts to annual league revenue of about US$2.51 billion. This figure is the fourth highest for any sports league worldwide, behind the annual revenues of the three most popular North American major sports leagues (the National Football League, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association), but slightly ahead of the National Hockey League. Considering that the Premier League has only 20 clubs (compared to 32 in the NFL and 30 in the other major North American leagues), and depending on exchange rates and what is defined as revenue, the Premier League's average per-team revenues are very close to, and could be ranked ahead of, the NBA's.

It should be noted that according to Deloitte's so-called "Football Money League," even the most lucrative English football club (Manchester United) currently lags somewhat behind the world's richest club (Spanish club Real Madrid) in total club revenues. However, although there is considerable disparity in Premier League club revenues by American standards, the league's 20 clubs do distribute their league revenues far more equally compared to clubs in the other European leagues. For this reason, Deloitte currently lists eight Premier League clubs in the top 20 of the "Money League." No other league has more than four clubs in this table, and while La Liga rivals Real Madrid and F.C. Barcelona are currently ranked #1 and #2, no other Spanish clubs are listed in the top 20.

The 2005–06 average attendance of 33,875 for league matches is the fourth highest of any domestic professional sports league in the world, ahead of Serie A and La Liga, but behind the German Bundesliga. This represents an increase of over 60% from the average attendance of 21,126 recorded in the league's first season (1992-93).[16] However, during the 1992-93 season the capacities of most stadiums were reduced as clubs replaced terraces with seats in order to meet the Taylor Report's 1994-95 deadline for all-seater stadiums.[17][18] The 2005-06 figure is lower than the Premier League's record average attendance of 35,464, set during the 2002-03 season.[19]

With the new three year deal Sky will pay £1.314 billion for 92 games and Setanta £392 million for 46 games. Foreign TV rights will produce £625 million in revenue whilst Internet and Mobile Phone revenue will be £400 million. The top club in Premiership will receive £50m (including prize money as well as TV revenue) compared to £30.4 million with the current deal. £50m is comparable to what each NFL club receives from its league's TV contracts (the NFL shares its TV revenues equally). The bottom club will receive £26.8 million under the new deal. The new deals will, by a significant margin, provide the Premier League with the second richest set of television contracts negotiated by any sports league in the world (whether measured on a gross or per-club basis), behind only the NFL. Unlike the Premier League, these high TV contracts stem from the NFL's team specific sponsorships - with mandatory player promotion in TV, print and radio, as well as several live appearances each year.

The figures in the preceding paragraph are for the TV rights to domestic matches only, and do not include revenues earned by clubs for participating in European competitions, most notably the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup. The former competition can be highly lucrative for clubs, especially if they advance to the latter stages of the tournament. 2005 champions Liverpool received a £20.5 million share of UEFA's television revenue for winning the competition. Arsenal received about £22.4 million from UEFA the following season despite finishing runners-up in the tournament (due to the large revenues generated by the English television market, they actually received more money than winners F.C. Barcelona). Liverpool have reached the final again in 2007 and stand to benefit from UEFA's new, more lucrative deal. However, they will receive a smaller share of the increased total revenue this time around because two other Premier League clubs (Chelsea and Manchester United) also made it to the semi-finals and will receive significant shares of their own (£8 million each plus TV market pool shares and bonuses). [2] [3]