PICTURE this. You’re a billionaire, raking in £9.2bn for a deal running until 2022.

Organisations beneath yours are struggling, however.

Their existence has been threatened by the Covid-19 pandemic and they need a share of £11m to survive until the end of March.

For just 0.12 per cent of the mega-deal your company has just secured, giving out that £11m could help save the futures of dozens of organisations.

Would you do it?

That’s the equation the Premier League is currently facing.

Their wealth has grown meteorically since BT Sport entered a bidding war with Sky Sports – and now Amazon Prime Video has joined in.

Dripping in cash thanks to their current £5bn domestic broadcasting deal, added to £4.2bn coming in from overseas media, the Premier League is hopeful of bettering that in the next three-year cycle.

Clearly, the Premier League is not exactly facing hard times.

The trouble is, numerous clubs in the National League umbrella are.

Dover Athletic cannot fulfil fixtures any more. Other clubs, including Wealdstone and King’s Lynn, have voted to null and void the season.

And all this because of a mix-up over the promise of £11m in a rescue package from the Government’s Winter Survival Fund.

The National League say the £11m was promised as grants.

The Government insist the £11m took the form of loans, with grants only available for clubs who can prove immediate financial distress.

As you can see, this is a giant mess.

Currently, a National League-backed petition to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is aimed at securing the 66 member clubs a “sustainable lifeline”.

However, it has only received 8,708 signatures at the time of writing, with 10,000 needed to provoke a government response and 100,000 required to debate the issue in Parliament.

But the National League is not exactly a stranger to broadcasting deals itself.

In December, BT Sport paid a reported £110m to show live games running to the end of the 2023/24 season.

While the National League pays a central fee to its member clubs, the amount is clearly not enough to sustain clubs through the pandemic when no fans can attend matches.

Lack of footfall at games is the main reason clubs are facing financial difficulty, with many budgets formed on the basis of ticket sales.

Over the last year, clubs throughout the National League System have undertaken reviews of their spending to tighten the purse strings amid the coronavirus pandemic.

While teams in Steps 3 to 6 can apply for grants of up to £27,000 to help tide them over, the National League clubs cannot.

They argue they would not have started the season had the loan situation been made clearer – and they have already had grants up to £84,000 before January.

This is where the Premier League could step in – if they wanted to.

Last September, they set up the Matchday Support Fund to help football restart following the first national lockdown.

The fund donated £5,545,500 to 1,090 clubs to help offset the financial repercussions brought on by the virus.

While that is the correct path to go down, they have the opportunity to do much more.

With just 0.12 per cent of the £9.2bn broadcasting revenue – even though Premier League clubs receive a share, reducing expendable funds – they could solve everything in a heartbeat.

They have already, under much persuasion, stepped in to save EFL clubs from money issues to continue their seasons.

With broadcasting money filtered down through the leagues to help clubs right down to grassroots, some would argue the English football pyramid had never been stronger before the pandemic.

But every pyramid must have a base, and the foundations are beginning to shake.

Fans have stated the Premier League might not be in the healthy position it is now without the excellent organisation within the lower leagues.

By collecting billions in cash, it is time for the Premier League to give a little back.

Not only would their public image improve, but the livelihoods of the people who support, work for and play for these clubs – hubs in their societies, no less – would also be secured.

There is also a case for Premier League footballers to chip in – some of whom earn around £375,000 per week.

For example, if every squad member at Southampton donated £5,000 to local National League club Eastleigh, it would go a long, long way.

There is a lot that could be done, if there was the willpower.

Do those at the top of the game simply not care what happens to the National League?

Whatever your view, things will shortly come to a head when the National League unveils the result of their vote concerning how best to proceed with the season.

Will it be null and voided? Will it be saved?

One thing is for certain. The billionaire that is the Premier League should already have stepped in and done the right thing.

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