The new television deal is a wonderful thing indeed. Chelsea have earned an absolutely extraordinary amount of money from the Premier League this season, and although they're only third in the earnings chart at £94 million (Liverpool managed £98 million thanks to having more televised games than anyone else, while champions Manchester City were at £97 million) that's still far more cash than they've earned from the competition beforehand.

To give a sense of scale to the figures I just cited, here are the top five earners in the Premier League last year:

Manchester United: £61 million Manchester City: £58 million Arsenal: £57 million Tottenham Hotspur: £56 million Chelsea: £55 million

20th-placed Cardiff City earned more this season than Manchester United did for finishing in first place last year. Essentially, the new deal has given basically everyone the equivalent of Champions League qualification -- Chelsea alone saw Premier League revenues jump by £39 million, a 71 percent rise over 2012/13. If anyone's doubting the financial health of either the club (and we've gone into detail about this before) or the league, these figures should comprehensively demolish any worries about the future.