The UK’s Labour party would take action to ensure five per cent of the proceeds from the lucrative television rights deals of football’s English Premier League are invested into grassroots sport in the event of it forming a government after May’s General Election.
Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham, the former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said the policy would grant £400m (€559.6m/$592) to the next generation of sports talent in the UK over the course of the next parliament, which is expected to run until May 2020.
The Premier League currently invests £168m into grassroots sports out of the £5bn it has taken from television rights deals spanning 2013-14 to 2015-16. The league awarded live domestic rights over three years, from 2016-17 to 2018-19, to UK pay-television broadcasters Sky and BT Sport for a total of £5.14bn.
At a meeting of the Premier League clubs last month it was decided that a minimum of 20 per cent of the UK domestic rights income would be distributed to the lower leagues and grassroots sport – a 40 per cent increase on the current redistribution arrangement.
Burnham believes this does not go far enough and accused incumbent Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron of failing to harness the huge television rights windfall afforded to Premier League teams during his time in office.
“The last Labour government secured a commitment from the Premier League that five per cent of all TV income should be invested in the grassroots,” Burnham said, according to the Press Association news agency. “Since then, TV rights have soared by over 160 per cent, but David Cameron has failed to make sure that the game's elite honours its obligations to the next generation coming through.
“Football at grassroots is struggling and, in many cities, Premier League stadia loom over run-down changing rooms and overgrown pitches. The gap between top and bottom in our national sport has never been wider. Premier League clubs only have permission to sell their rights collectively if they can demonstrate that it is in the wider public interest. That is why a Labour government will take action to ensure that every penny the Premier League owes is paid in full, unlocking an estimated £400m for the grassroots in the next parliament.”
In response to Labour’s pledge, a Premier League spokesman said: “The success of the Premier League benefits the development of the English game outside of the top flight. Significant investment has flowed through all levels of the game from the grassroots upwards, and well in excess of the five per cent of domestic live broadcast revenues agreed in 2005.
“Only last month Premier League clubs committed to investing at least £1bn outside of the league from 2016-2019. That will mean even more investment in grass-roots football. Currently we invest £56m per season in this important work and Premier League football will generate over £1.2bn in tax revenue for the Treasury this year alone.”