Aston Villa could see £75 million windfall at season's end

If everything went perfectly, Aston Villa could end the season with a cash influx of £74.5 million. Thanks to the new £5.5 billion broadcast deals into which the Premier League entered this year, clubs in the top flight will see a huge increase in the money they get this season. Included in the £74.5 million figure is the award clubs get depending on their finishing place, so that could drop by as much as £7.2 million for Villa (the difference between 11th and 17th place) to a slightly less amazing £67.3 million.

The numbers, provided in a Daily Mail piece, break down as follows:

The Facility fees for TV are based on £750,000 per live-broadcast match, with a minimum of £7.5 million per team. Villa may have had more than 10 such matches, but I can't find the schedule and I assume not. Who would intentionally subject people to them more than 10 times?

What's really astonishing about these numbers is that the broadcast fees, which are split evenly between the clubs, represent a 60% and 70% increase for domestic and overseas fees over last year respectively. As a result, whoever finishes bottom of the table this season will actually earn more than Manchester United did for winning the league last year.

Given the huge uptick in money and the conservative spending of the club recently, it's easy to see how Paul Lambert might be expecting to see more funds available for transfers this summer. And now that fans realize the full extent to which more money is being made, it might be an even worse idea to withhold them.

The downside, of course, is that 20 teams are getting this type of money, and as such it may inflate prices for players over the summer. Hopefully Villa–maybe with the help of new owners–will be able to compete for the services of top players. The new cash could be the best of all possible toys.