With Record Premier League TV Rights Deal Comes Increased Promotion Pressure For Bolton Wanderers

Yesterday, the Premier League announced a groundbreaking TV rights deal with BSkyB and BT that was worth an astonishing £3.018 billion ($4.69 billion). In the past few years, Premier League TV rights money could be worth as little as £45 million per year to clubs not named Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, etc. With the new deal, that money could skyrocket to £65 million and unless Bolton Wanderers get promoted at season's end, they'll only see a tiny fraction of that.

When clubs are dumped out of the Premier League, the amount of money they lose from the absence of TV presence is enough to make them go into shell-shock. In order to ease the pain, the Premier League provides parachute payments to recently downed clubs. For the clubs that went down following the 2009/2010 season, the Prem paid out a title of £48 million over four years for each club.

It's no secret that Bolton's financial state isn't great and the TV rights are essential for the club to prosper in the long term. Despite the fact that the Trotters have cut the wage bill by a huge percentage thanks to players being out of contract, taking lower wage deals, and relegation clauses, the club are still likely to take a financial at season's end.

However, Bolton are one of the favorites (along with Leicester City) to win the Championship according to a number of bookies and the club is already outpacing season ticket sales from last season. Despite losing a few of our legendary players, the team is already getting geared up for the promotion party.