Premier League inks lucrative domestic television contract

The Premier League was founded because of television revenues and, well, it's continuing to grow because of them.

To the tune of £5.136 billion over three seasons.

It's entirely, mind-numbingly insane. And a 70% increase over the last domestic deal.

It means that the last-place club in the Premier League come two seasons' time will earn nearly £100 million from television revenue.

But the package also includes some Friday night fixtures to be broadcast by Sky. It's something that's sure to ruffle more than a few feathers in England with fans decrying the death of football. I've already seen more than a few people talk about canceling their season tickets because of it which would be… kind of silly. We all know that Villa wouldn't get flexed into the slot too often.

Regardless of how you look at it though, it's a huge amount of money — and that doesn't even include international revenues. The American deal should skyrocket again as NBC continues to pull in solid ratings while other international markets will also see their deals rise in value.

Simply put, it's going to be a hell of a lot of money for the league.

And fundamentally, whether or not we like to admit it, it's extremely beneficial for Aston Villa if they can stay up these next couple of years.

Ideally, it makes the club more interesting to potential buyers. Villa — and every other club in the league — will see a significant revenue increase for 2016/17, perhaps lessening the financial blow of a prospective owner that wants to come in and take Randy Lerner up on the club.

But perhaps more importantly — especially with FIFA's Financial Fair Play in tact — it gives the club a better chance of competing again, sooner rather than later.

We've heard a lot about how new CEO Tom Fox wants to maximize revenue streams and, well, this is going to add to that.

And while, yes, everyone from Chelsea to Burnley will be adding money to their wallets, I'm a firm believer that it's going to create a more competitive, level league in a weird, roundabout way.

For me, there is a saturation point at which the "big" clubs can't really get any better. Sure, they might be able to bring in an extra player or two but in the grand scheme of things, a signing like Juan Cuadrado is unlikely to prove to be that big of a difference one way or another for Chelsea.

But you come down to a club like Villa — or say, West Ham United, who have shown the benefits of TV revenue this year in order to compete at the top end of the table — and that extra £30-40 million makes a huge, huge difference. You're talking enough money, with wages, to bring in three players the calibre of Christian Benteke every single season, simply down to the increase in domestic television rights. It's huge.

Villa have to obviously stay up for a few years and that's going to be a challenge. Not to mention that every other "small" club in the Premier League is going to be feeling the exact same way when those dates come around.

But fundamentally, it gives the club a ray of hope.

Now, Paul, over to you. Keep this club up. Please.