I DON’T expect I was the only person who was taken aback at the sheer size of the latest Premier League television rights deal.

While a huge increase on the last auction was on the cards, nobody thought it would be the figure unveiled on Tuesday.

Together, Sky and BT paid a quite staggering £5.136 billion to broadcast 168 live games from 2016 to 2019.

That’s up from £3.018bn between 2013 and 2016, which in turn was a significant hike on the £1.773bn from 2010 to 2013.

It is difficult to comprehend such figures, especially when the latest agreement equates to more than £10m for each match.

This is a phenomenal deal for the Premier League. They have an incredibly popular product and they are making the most money out of it.

That’s how business works. In that regard, chief executive Richard Scudamore is right to say they are not “a charity”.

Similarly, Sky and BT wouldn’t have shelled out such enormous sums if there wasn’t an audience, both in the UK and across the globe.

But let’s not pretend this is good for the national game. It is anything but.

Under the new deal, the rich clubs will continue to get richer, the players and agents will be paid more and transfer fees will escalate. The rest will continue to feed off the scraps.

Virtually none of this money will filter down to improve the quality of facilities or coaching in the lower leagues, at grassroots or junior level.

Scudamore points to the £56m pumped into grassroots football every year but this is a drop in the ocean and well short of their pledge, made at the league’s inception in 1992, to invest five per cent of TV rights into the grassroots game. Players have sold for more.

Nobody is arguing the Premier League doesn’t have a right to cash in on their success, but they could do so much more to support the game they champion.