Unused Prem parachute payments could soften financial blow to lower league clubs if season KO’d by coronavirus

I’M a staunch advocate of the season finishing for the integrity of football.

But what if my aunt turns out to be my uncle and  the doomsday merchants are right?

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PA:Press Association

That we cannot get this season completed, at best settling for the 2020-21  campaign starting at some point. What then?

Straight out of the gate, the idea that broadcasters can get their money back is a non-starter.  That’s killing the golden goose.

Sky have been paying £1.1billion to generate £4.5bn per year in subscriptions, which  has been bloody  marvellous for them until we got to this point.

But what of the clubs? What about promotion and relegation? What about the loss of opportunity and integrity?

The main concern is the loss of short-term money and the upsides in being  promoted. Let’s put that through the sniff test.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in meritocracy and ambition but people are really seeing how fragile sporting institutions are right now. Maybe  here’s a dose of reality.

A non-league club trying to get into the Football League is really about cachet that comes at a cost — wage bills go up, often exceeding increased gate and TV  monies.

Moving from League Two to League One  brings an extra £2-3million in wage increases, with only £500,000 more TV and solidarity money. It doesn’t offer much cause for optimism but I guess it’s a step towards the Holy Grail.

Promotion from League One doubles a wage bill, swallowing increased TV  revenue, but clubs are then in the Championship with a whiff of the Premier League — and  that  stirs the loins.

Promotion from the Championship? Now that is Utopia!

The income ratchets up by over £100m and catapults clubs into profitability and sustainability for the foreseeable future.

Anyone in the mix for this will understandably greet a null-and-voided season with outrage.

If you distil those noises about missing out on potential success it is plainly about the loss of potential money.

There are exceptions, of course.

Liverpool fans looking at a first — and much- deserved —  Premier League title will be left barking at the moon if it is taken from them.

Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds would be equally apoplectic if they were to miss out on a return to the Premier League after 16 years away. The same could be said for other  promotion chasers.

The one thing that will ease some of the pain and deals  with the elephant in the room is compensation.

The Premier League pays three teams a total of £180m in year one parachute payments — but  won’t without relegation.

If half of that went into the EFL that’s £90m to cover the loss of  revenue at each club. There’ll be even more to go around  if the PFA don’t demand the £27m that would  inflate their already bulging coffers.

That would make £117m.

Giving each Championship club £1.5m would cover their lost revenue — and you could add a further £36m to be shared between the top six.

It if was weighted towards the top two,  Leeds could get another £10m.

Perhaps that would be scant consolation for owner Andrea Radrizzani but it would be better than nothing.

There could be £750,000 provided to each League One club to cover their losses, with £10m split  for the top six. In League Two, £250,000 per club with  £4m for the top six. The non-league clubs could share the final £5m.

There’s your £117m. And that’s before suggesting the Premier League’s bottom three — who would each be getting £100m rather than the reduced £60m for going down — could cough up £20m each, adding another £60m.

This is far from perfect. It would be a nightmare for  various sets of supporters, from Liverpool to Leeds, Coventry to Crewe.

But it would represent a blueprint in meltdown and if Sky provide decent content they may not have to cry into their American-owned coffee cups by retaining  subscribers.

What this tells you is there is more than one way to skin a cat. If wage reductions aren’t forthcoming, the game is still awash with cash to solve the problem.

SIMON JORDAN’S Final Word is on  talkSPORT on Sunday from 5-8pm.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk