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I was watching the season finale of 30 Rock last week. Jack takes a job with the Bush administration. He gets to his office on the first day to find an overhead water pipe leaking onto his desk. When he mentions the leaking pipe to his long-serving office-mate, he’s told “No, it’s not [leaking]. We’ve looked into it and it’s not.” When he brings it up again later, he’s told “It’s not leaking. Would you like to see the study?”
This is what popped into my mind when I read this story in the Telegraph about the closing gap between the Big-4 and the rest of the Premier League.
Premier League communications director Dan Johnson said: “The new broadcasting deals are closing the gap, because the biggest increases have been in the overseas contracts which are divided equally between the 20 clubs. Furthermore, the increase in money means a lot more to the smaller clubs because it is a much bigger percentage of their turnover.”
Never mind that the rest of the article points out that Man Utd received £78 million in TV payments, £50 million more than Derby. And that two years ago, the difference between top and bottom was £30 million. Or that Newcastle - superior to Middlesbrough by just one place and one point - received £5 million more than their north-east neighbours.
But don’t worry. The gap is closing - in real terms, on a per-capita basis, allowing for inflation, if you index it against the price of a loaf of bread - according to the Premier League’s study.
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Being a millionaire at a Billionaires Convention is probably a pretty lousy experience. So is being a very attractive lady at a party full of supermodels. Or a brighter-than-average student surrounded by Ph.D’s.