Aaah… the rich keep getting richer. It was recently announced that the Premier League will continue to be sponsored by Barclays bank as the company has extended its contract with the football league for an additional three years. The new deal will see the league continue to be named after the bank up until the year 2016.

It was reported that the new extension will be worth 40 million pounds to the league each year. The deal runs from 2013 up until 2016 with the current contract running out after the completion of the upcoming 2012/13 football season. The Premier League will be getting quite a large increase since the current deal sees the bank paying 27.5 million pounds a year.

Barclays started sponsoring the Premier League back in 2001 and it has exclusive marketing rights throughout the world. The league also got quite an increase in its domestic television broadcasting rights this year as the payments were jacked up by a total of 70 per cent. It’s estimated that 650 million homes around the world tune in to watch games on a regular basis.

On a side note, it appears banking and football have quite a bit in common since Barclays said it’s searching for a new boss after Bob Diamond, former chief executive and Chelsea supporter, resigned after an interest rate-rigging scandal.