LONDON (AP) — The Premier League is relying on global eyeballs watching games to drive up the clubs' wealth.

For the first time since the competition began 30 years ago, more cash will be generated from overseas broadcasters for the next three seasons than from domestic stations.

Clubs were informed by the league at a meeting of top executives on Thursday that it projects a total of £5.3 billion ($7.2 billion) will be generated from foreign rights once deals are concluded, up from £4.1 billion in the current three-season cycle.

The windfall surpasses the £5.1 billion being generated for the domestic rights after the uncertainty caused by the pandemic saw the league last year strike an agreement to roll over the existing deals with Sky, BT Sport and Amazon Prime Video through 2025.

The huge demand internationally to show the Premier League - and the willingness to commit more cash than ever to buy its the rights - was clear with the windfall secured from the United States.

NBC, which like Sky is owned by Comcast, has agreed to pay more than $2.7 billion to continue showing the world's richest soccer competition — almost trebling the value of U.S. broadcast rights.

The league's total broadcast and sponsorship revenue is set to reach £10.5 billion, up from £9.2 billion in the three-year cycle of agreements that expire at the end of this season.

Club chiefs were also told at a central London hotel that the Premier League is set to earn £120 million from commercial deals in the next three seasons, and more could be earned from selling digital collectables in the form of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens.

The financial bonanza means the champions in 2023 will earn £170 million, up from 163 million pounds for the first-place team this season. The team that gets relegated in last place will earn £106 million compared to £96 million from the current cut of television and prize money.

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