4 Jun 2009Sunderland accounts show wealth gap between Premier League and Championship

Football Clubs News | Football Finance News | Football Sponsors/ Sponsorship and Media

Recent accounts published by Sunderland show the extent of the financial differences of a club being in the English Premier League instead of the Championship, it has been argued.

Sunderland recently announced that their losses diminished from £13.6 million when in the Championship to just £2.2 million over the 2007/08 season – their first year back in the top flight.

Meanwhile, the club's football sponsorship revenue doubled, TV revenue increased and gate receipts also swelled by more than 50 per cent.

Football finance expert Professor Tom Cannon, of Buckingham Business School, has indicated that there is no longer a financial gap between the top two divisions, it is now a "chasm".

He said: "It is incredibly simple. If you're in the Premier League you pocket at least £30 million more in television money.

"Then there is the additional sponsorship income and the additional gate money. A club's income can increase threefold moving from the Championship into the Premier League."

Ellis Short recently took over as the owner of Sunderland, buying the shares he did not already have in the club from the Niall Quinn consortium.

Written by Paul Roberts

© Copyright