There is a very strange twist of fate here for the Arsenal fans that are annoyed that the Gunners did not win the Premier League title this season, but it is a fact that will definitely keep our major shareholder Stan Kroenke very happy.
It has been revealed today that Arsenal’s prize money for finishing second to Leicester is actually 8 million MORE than Leicester, who finished top! The Foxes did earn 1.2 million more than Arsenal for their actual League position, but because of the bonuses paid for the amount of games shown on Pay TV the Gunners gained 8 million more than the Midland side. Leicester were only screened 15 times on live TV while Arsenal were nearly double that an amazing 27 games out of a possible 38.
So the final figures for this campaign show that Arsenal (or Stan Kroenke) actually gained £101m from the combined table placing plus the TV deal, while Claudio Ranieri’s side will take just £93.3m to the bank. And to rub it in more, Manchester City (£96.8m), Tottenham (£95m) and Manchester United (£96.3m) also earned more than the worthy Champions.
Here is the new League table based on the payouts received by each team…
1. Arsenal – £101m
2. Manchester City – £96.8m
3. Manchester United – £96.3m (if they finish fifth by either drawing or beating Bournemouth on Tuesday)
4. Tottenham – £95m
5. Leicester – £93m
6. Liverpool – £90.4m
7. Chelsea – £87.1m
8. West Ham – £85.6m
9. Southampton – £84.5m
10. Everton – £82.9m
11. Stoke City – £79m
12. Swansea City – £75.3m
13. Watford – £74.1m
14. West Brom – £73m
15. Newcastle United – £72.7m
16. Crystal Palace – £72.4m
17. Sunderland – £71.7m
18. Bournemouth – £70.4m (if they remain 16th by losing to Manchester United)
19. Norwich City – £66.7m
20. Aston Villa – £66.2m
So the fans maybe unhappy with us only finishing second, but why on earth would Stan Kroenke consider changing our manager when we finish top of the League that matters to Kroenke? It all comes down to the bottom line of the spreadsheet, and in that respect Arsenal are the Champions!
Darren