For major Premier League clubs such as Manchester United, the need to find new revenue sources is set to become increasingly important in the coming years.
While broadcast rights have been on an incline for more than a decade, the most recent £6.7bn deal for domestic rights may have seemed like a big £1.7bn rise on the last cycle, but the devil is always in the detail, and the detail gives some clues as to the trajectory of broadcast rights.
The £5bn deal was across three years and for 200 games each campaign, the new deal is across four years and for 270 per season, that has diminished the value per game of the product.
While international rights are seen as having a little way left to travel upwards, the fact is that broadcasters cannot keep paying more when subscriptions are dwindling and challenges faced by such things as the rise of piracy via IPTV impact them so significantly.
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