It wasn't really needed but it provides further evidence that football genuinely peaked in the UK sometime in the first half of the last decade. Everything since has effectively been a plateau. Streaming probably accounts for most of that but the collapse in youth participation/ interest is probably now going to start to become the dominant factor.
They'll be bailed out again by increases to overseas rights for this next cycle but even that growth looks finite.
The clubs must be getting genuinely worried at this point. How do you sustain, let alone grow income in the 2030's in an environment where the next generation are significantly less hooked on the basic product? Almost every type of income is contingent on that cultural relevance.
Big clubs obviously have the theoretical potential to generate more from less, by selling their broadcast rights directly, or by jumping in to an alternative competition that involves less redistribution, but their ineptitude at the last attempt has probably closed that off indefinitely. A premier League streaming service might help but even that can't outrun basic demographics for long.
On the plus side: we carry fairly little debt and have more income potential than most, so we should be able to watch others sink around us first
