Premier League clubs to receive millions of pounds in advanced payments

The 2019-20 Premier League season has been postponed indefinitely

Premier League clubs will receive millions of pounds in advanced payments related to league positioning and television fees in an effort to ease their cash-flow problems.

The 20 clubs agreed to the funding to cope with the lack of income because of the coronavirus crisis, with payments expected to be in the region of £20m.

The partial release of "merit payments" is prize money that clubs would have received, while "facility fees" relate to how many matches each club had shown on live TV matches.

Clubs will also receive part of their funding for next season in the summer months.

The arrangement for this season's advanced payments, which was first reported by The Times, was decided by the clubs at last week's shareholder meeting.

Premier League football has been postponed indefinitely because of the spread of the coronavirus.

There will need to be adjustments made to these payments at the end of the season based on what the final table looks like.

BBC Sport has been told the amount of money being released has been carefully decided, based on balancing the cash-flow problems clubs are experiencing with the worst-case scenario of broadcasters demanding money back if the remaining fixtures are not played.

Sports streaming provider DAZN has told the Premier League it will be deferring its most recent payments for overseas rights until it receives clarity on when or if the season will resume.

DAZN has the rights to show Premier League action in Japan, Canada, Spain and Brazil.

The Premier League is understood to be facing potential financial losses of £762m in broadcast revenue if the season cannot resume.

Insiders have stressed that the release of merit payments should not be seen as an indication of an idea to end the season where it is now, and that the decision has been made to help clubs through this crisis.

Typically clubs receive some funding at the beginning of a new season.

It is understood the intention is still to pay clubs part of this funding for next season during the summer months, to again help tide clubs over during this period when they have no other money coming in.