The Premier League's broadcast deal is so great that half the clubs would have made a pre-tax profit even if they played in empty grounds.
BBC research has shown just how much the record £8.3billion of TV revenue has boosted the coffers of top-flight teams.
So great are the figures that 10 clubs in the 2016-17 campaign - the first benefiting from the current broadcast deal - would have recorded pre-tax profits even with matchday incomes stripped away.
Furthermore, matchday income represented less than 20p in every £1 that 18 Premier League clubs earned during that campaign.
Dr Rob Wilson, a sport finance specialist at Sheffield Hallam University, told BBC Sport: 'That is when the focus really went toward generating TV money rather than matchday ticket receipts.
'The revenue structures of those clubs are fairly well there to stay now.
'When you get a £120m payout from the Premier League for kicking a ball around, you can play in an empty stadium if you need to.
'From a revenue generation perspective, clubs do not rely anymore on matchday ticket income.'
Football Supporters' Federation chair Malcolm Clarke said: 'I'd say (match-going fans) are the most important element.
'Players and managers come and go, but we are always there.
'The reason that they can get lucrative TV deals is because the product shows the crowd, the noise, the away fans and the atmosphere - it is all part of it.
'On one level they don't need the fans because they have got so much money from broadcasters, but at another level they do need fans to keep an attractive product.
'How boring would it be to watch a Premier League game in an empty stadium?'
numdlpr
0
victua! victua! rolling in the dough while the Nazi er BBC/SKY/FOX broadcast pipes in the crowd noise, with a dab of computer moonshot graphics to generate nutty Liverpool fans, singing the God awful they will always stand alone, or substitute any fan base victim. those behind the Tell Lie wouldn't be able to tell the difference. big budget big lie subversion of the beautiful game, the Ministry of Truth wins Everytime! so morose so impossible yet the power to do it is there to run a game on the unsuspecting for profit. bots are everywhere even gulp the under racist or racist peddling AFER so why not. fans are just ballast to be locked below while football heads for Davey Joneses locker. I feel the blackout felt pen tickling my fancy, that's right press send ok
Don-ManUTD
0
They should reduce match day prices then the stadiums wouldn't be half full it's a no brainier unless you brain is filled with greed
Tindeikuz
0
the most competitive league in the world
mrmerit7
1
This is turning into something else. I mean, football isn't worth even a crap without fans. This shouldn't be closely considerable!!!!
Africa3670932
3
they forgot we are the one paying TVs to watch them abroad... ..very expensive indeed in africa
Mista7
1
That's a huge boost for EPL financially. the question is can the funs refuse going to watch their club teams?
Mboy_Swag04
0
Just give free entrance to the fans....
No as a person that has season tickets people should pay because it’s not right for the club not to make money for people to come
albattar7272
3
Just give free entrance to the fans....
Ozoms
2
Even with all the revenue from TV broadcasters its still important that the fans come over to create that noisy atmosphere that creates the tension of football giving the players a little something to play for.
gatsman
4
this is a very dangerous event in the modern day premeire league s history. for me, fans are the most important part of the game and to say that premiere league teams do not need any revenue from ticket sales means that the fans on matchdays habe become irrelavent. im in South Africa and honest to God the reason i ve watched the premeire league was because of fans. Everron, bournemouth even teams like Southhampton have the best matches in the world. guess why. because of the fans. im worried that they will feel even less wanted and matchdays will become boring just like Serie A and La liga.
Mocca
0
So if there wasn't any TV money, then of course, it would be the gates every Saturday that would be relied upon. Maybe it's a win win as fans are priced out and lifestyle and circumstances of change whereby kick off times are scattered all over the place and people are working unsociable hours.
JacobJane
0
So why do clubs charge the punters so much?
bushlive
0
This shows that prices need to come down at some of them. Arsenal especially need to reduce prices by at least 30% considering it's the highest in the world.
osakalim
1
This is bad for the game as it basically means clubs can do what they want to their fans as they don't need them.
Dinnaloe
1
Money has rotted the core of premier league football and eventually it will pay the price. I¿m a Newcastle fan living in London and love Newcastle as a group of fans, it¿s not about the stadium or even the players nowadays - they¿ll all jump ship if they¿re offered more money. If you¿re arrogant enough to think you can ditch your loyalest customers / fans then you¿ll eventually pay the price - may not be for a good few years but it will happen. The premier league could honestly be dumped anywhere in the world if it wasn¿t for the British fans - just look at the French league - money and talent but no real support. The intensity and pace comes from the passion of the fans. I lay the blame firmly at Scudamores feet!
Carloer
0
Still sky high ticket prices, greed has no end.
leavessS
0
Problem is without the fans the results won't come consistently. Especially in the big games or underdog situations, the times when fans can play as big a role as anything. The gentrification of English football will eventually destroy English football.
resourced
0
Equally, we the fans are no longer reliant on owning a sky satellite dish to watch games. Quid pro quo.
Elizabethse
0
Football fans are so fickle unfortunately . The premier league is full of mercenaries who decide when they feel like playing ,while raking in the cash for their flash cars tattoos and rainbow bootlaces. Best solution would be a ballot for all fans local to their grounds for a free season. Then repeat the process. Sky& Bt have too many pundits also coining it in , with some being painfully boring to listen to . Just watch the highlights on match of the day . Football needs to go backwards to go forwards ,or you're forever being ripped off by the clubs who don't care about you
Samuleley
0
So why isn't it cheaper then? Simple question no one will answer
Movidas
0
I fear clubs will follow Liverpools approach. They have kept season tickets numbers artificially low to less than fifty per cent of capacity so they can sell more hotel ticket and a tour packages to day trippers and corporates. They do not care about the regular fan at all.
segeacion
0
There's no excuse then . Reduce prices and fill the stadiums, or is that anti business, it will be for the last drop squeezer American Owners. The fans are getting ripped off and the government is quite prepared to sit back and let it happen. Any government that helps the fans towards affordable football will win a hell of a lot of voters over.
Ludicrou
0
They couldn't care less about the fans.
Hanhaar
0
No fans no product no revenue...They seem to forget that...
Royruss
0
Reduce the price of the tickets then. Makes sense for everyone.
Nissan
0
Clubs only seem interested in corporates now anyway.
Mocca
0
Main reason Chelsea decided not to spend on new stadium with small increase in seats. It's no longer part of the business model.
Elizabethse
0
This is pretty scary in my opinion. Way too much money involved in tv- deals etcetera !
moments
0
If clubs can't fill the stadium the price must come down as a half empty stadium affects the teams.
Pinocchio
0
when the sky bubble bursts as it surely will so will the premier league bubble
moon09
0
Ok enough money coming in through tv rights, look after the fans by reducing ticket prices.
jaineelbhatt
1
But theres nothing more than fans.... There would be no football if there would be no fams
Cmon_CTID
2
Welcome to Emptyhad stadium
NATTY004
1
Yeah the viewership of EPL is more in comparison to other ... well planned and organised when comes financial stuffs.
feacklp
3
This sounds more and more like the explanation for the exorbitant ticket prices across EPL teams.
Okkywijaya
0
Yeah i agree, supporters clearly have a big part in tv deals, because supporters are the one that make the atmosphere in stadium awesome, without that kind atmosphere i doubt sponsor would give a big deal for broadcasting