The Money Trail: From Viewers to Football Clubs

5 days ago

Yesterday, I watched Chelsea vs Sunderland, Man United vs Brighton, and Brentford vs Liverpool all on DSTV SuperSport here in Nigeria, West Africa. The match had some shocking results with Chelsea losing at Stamford Bridge and Liverpool losing their fourth straight league match.

As I enjoyed the games in my local viewing center with football bants going around, someone asked us to stop banting because we aren’t known in England where these clubs are playing. I interjected that they might not know us individually, but our money funds those clubs.

We might be yelling at the TV screen and look as mere spectator but we are actually shareholders in a multi-billion pound deal.

I will be diving deep into the hidden economics of global fandom in football. How my DSTV subscription keeps the likes of Bukayo Saka on Arsenal’s payroll and keep Arsenal afloat.

The connection is as simple as below

When you subscribe to DSTV, you pay to access sports channels mainly SuperSport in Nigeria, which owns the broadcast rights to the English Premier League (EPL) in most of Africa.

SuperSport, in turn, pays huge sums of money every few years to the Premier League for those rights.

That money is pooled with what broadcasters from other regions like Sky Sports, NBC sports, Canal+, beIN, viaplay, and Setanta pay ¹ .

Together, these rights fees form one of the biggest revenue streams in world football.

The last broadcast cycle rights (2022-2025) saw the EPL earn 10.4 billion pounds globally from TV rights alone. It was also the first time that international TV rights have surpassed domestic deals, generating £5.3bn compared to £5.1bn for domestic rights ².

SuperSport is the second largest Premier League broadcaster globally and they paid over £500m to acquire the rights for 2022-2025 cycle ³.
This money is sourced from the viewers through their subscription and ads.

How the Money is Shared

Source

The EPL distributes the broadcasting revenue by allocating a certain percentage equally to its member clubs, facility fees, and merit payments.

Facility fee is the number of times a club match is shown on live TV
Merit payment is based on where the club finished in the league.

Domestic broadcast revenue sharing

50% equal share: 50% of the domestic broadcast revenue is shared equally among all 20 clubs
Merit payment: 25% of the domestic broadcast revenue is shared based on final league position
Facility fee: 25% of the domestic broadcast revenue is shared based on the number of times the club appears on live TV⁴

International broadcast revenue sharing

Equal share: revenue is allocated up to a predefined amount and shared equally. The predefined amount is set at the level of previous cycle revenue.
Merit payment: Any excess above the predefined amount is distributed based on each club final league position. The new formula for sharing any future increase in international revenues caps the ratio at 1.8:1. This means the maximum that a club can receive in excess payment is 1.8 times the amount received by the lowest-earning club ⁵.

So, when millions of fans across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and beyond watch EPL games every weekend on DSTV, you are not just a spectator but a shareholder in this multi-billion-dollar broadcasting rights deal.
It means the fee paid to the local viewing center reflects in the club. It pays their bills, and I can scream at the top of my lung and bant.

The impact of Africa viewership on club earnings

A top match like Manchester United vs Liverpool on super Sunday can generate millions in ad revenue for broadcasters, reinforcing their willingness to pay increased rights fees. A 2% increase in Africa viewership could translate into additional £10-£20 million increase in the rights revenue.

Source

Arsenal football revenue for year 2024 was £613.5 million with broadcasting revenue being £262.3 million followed by commercial revenue of £218.3 million ⁶. That is 42.75% of the club revenue coming from broadcasting. Now you understand how your subscription fee, your local viewing station fee pays European clubs bills especially in the English Premier League.

According to Deloitte’s 2025 Football Money League, 9 EPL clubs dominate the top 20 list with broadcasting as the dominant category ⁷.

This shows that viewership isn’t for spectating purpose but it is a participatory role. Your viewership sustains infrastructural investments, payroll, youth development, and transfer activities.

A league without viewership means decreased broadcasting rights fee which affects the member clubs financial strength.

Africa alone accounts for over 150 million active viewers of Premier League games, and SuperSport’s partnership makes that possible.

When broadcasters have more numbers, they get more subscribers and get more people to pay for ads, the EPL can increase broadcasting rights fee.

This is why even if you have never been to London to watch an Arsenal match or bought an authentic Arsenal jersey, your consistent DSTV viewership helps keep club revenue high.

When You Watch EPL on DSTV. You are not just a passive viewer. You are part of global audience that influence

How much broadcasters pay
How much clubs earn
How much the club players and staff earn

Your monthly subscription or viewership keeps football’s global economy spinning from Africa to England.