IF anyone thought the last day of the Premier League season had little riding on it, the owners of clubs across the country will have felt a lot differently.

With the exception of Arsenal’s battle with Tottenham for the fourth Champions League spot, on the face of it the 18 other teams seemingly had nothing other than pride to play for in their 38th game.

Both Newcastle and Sunderland’s players had achieved their short term goal of safeguarding their top-flight futures before the last weekend after depressing seasons. Yet more rested on the final Sunday’s results than many would have thought.

Both Mike Ashley and Ellis Short, the wealthy owners of the North-East’s leading two, had understandably been hoping for an end of season victory which could have boosted their financial arm.

When Norwich City surprised the rest of the division by winning at Manchester City, the Canaries climbed five places in the standings, which was worth an extra £3.8m to their bank balance.

And, in losing to Arsenal, Newcastle slipped from 16th to 13th, costing Ashley £2.27m which would have been even more had they beaten the Gunners to finish 12th.

Newcastle finished higher in the Premier League payments table than their true league position. In receiving £45.169m this season, they were the 13th highest earners. But that tally is approaching £9m short of the £54.235m pulled in 12 months ago for finishing fifth.

That amount – along with the rest of the division’s prize money – was made up of £13.8m in domestic television income, £18.93m of foreign television income, a fee depending on the number of times their match was screened live and prize money worth £755,881 per place.

Sunderland’s £43.456m was reflective of their final placing of fourth bottom.

Only Queens Park Rangers, Reading and Wigan earned less than the Black Cats, who raking in around £900,000 more last year.

The figures are staggering, but will increase next season when the value of overseas TV rights increases from £1.437bn to more than £2bn regardless, largely, of how many times a team appears on the box.

That will only further boost the spending power of clubs, which is illustrated by the fact that bottom club QPR still earned £39.752m despite dropping back down in to the Championship.

When the new £5.5bn TV deals starts, the champions can expect to earn closer to £100m which is a significant hike from the £60.814m Manchester United received on winning the title this time around.

What the broadcasting payments table also shows is how the Premier League’s biggest clubs continue to hold the power when it comes to having their games screened.

The champions had 25 Premier League games showed live, with Liverpool and Arsenal on 22 times and Manchester City just one behind.

Chelsea, who progressed to the final of the Europa League so had a number of matches switched to a Sunday like Newcastle, were only broadcast 16 times; the same number as Alan Pardew’s Magpies.

Sunderland were on TV on 14 occasions.

The huge sums of money on offer are a further reminder why the English league – watched by millions all over the year – remains the richest league in the world.