The Premier League distributes its broadcasting income more evenly than most major leagues, and the arrangement explains a good deal about why its bottom half can compete at all.
The distribution has three parts
A substantial portion of domestic rights income is divided equally among all clubs, so every side begins the season with the same guaranteed base payment.
A second portion is paid according to final league position, and a third according to how often a club's matches are selected for live broadcast.
The merit and facility payments introduce a gap, but they sit on top of a large flat sum rather than replacing it, which limits how wide the total spread becomes.
Overseas rights changed the shape
International broadcasting income grew into a major line of its own, and for a long period it was distributed entirely equally among the clubs.
That equality became contentious as the sum grew, and a portion of the growth is now linked to finishing position rather than shared flat.
The change widened the gap between top and bottom without approaching the concentration seen where clubs negotiate individually.
Why the compression matters competitively
A newly promoted club receives broadcasting income of the same order as an established one, which allows it to compete for players it could not otherwise approach.
That is why English clubs outside the traditional group can sign established internationals, and why transfer fees across the division sit at levels other leagues cannot match.
It also raises the cost of relegation sharply, because the income being lost is large relative to what the division below offers.
Collective selling is the enabling mechanism
The league sells rights on behalf of all clubs together rather than allowing each to negotiate its own deal, which is what makes an equal share possible.
Individual selling concentrates income on the clubs broadcasters most want to show, and leagues that used it historically developed much steeper internal hierarchies.
Collective selling also raises the total value, because a package containing every match is worth more than the sum of its parts to a broadcaster.
What the money does not equalise
Commercial revenue, matchday income and European prize money remain unequal and are the main drivers of the gap at the top of the table.
Broadcasting parity therefore compresses the middle of the division without dissolving the elite group, whose advantage comes from elsewhere.
The practical effect is a league where the twentieth-best team is unusually strong and the second-best is not unusually close to the first.