Going down would be costly because the income from the next television contract will increase by an average of 65 per cent for top-flight clubs, starting next season.

The upcoming television contract runs from 2003 to 2006.

But at that time there was no suggestion that it would pull out or wanted to arrange its own television contract.

The television contract was overlooked altogether.

You might throw in the bumper-size 1.7 billion television contract and the queue of foreign billionaire investors and say that the game has never had it better.