English Football League chairman Rick Parry believes Blackburn Rovers and their Championship rivals have been placed in a 'horrendous position' due to proposed cost controls in a new deal with the Premier League.
The Premier League and EFL remain in talks about a new deal to redistribute the wealth of football with the threat of an independent regulator looming. Both parties have been locked in talks and are trying to thrash out a deal which should benefit Rovers and their competitors.
Under the new terms, it's proposed the EFL would receive around 21 per cent of media revenue, though they were hoping for closer to a quarter. The new deal would see an extra £358million dripped into the Football League over the next three seasons.
If agreed, an initial £88m would be divvied up this season, with £101m next season and £169m in 2025/26. Those numbers would continue to grow over the course of a six-year agreement.
However, the Premier League wants to retain parachute payments for clubs that drop out of the top-flight. Another caveat is that Under-21 teams that are invited to play in the EFL Trophy are guaranteed more matches. 15 U21 sides are currently competing in the competition.
The biggest hurdle to overcome is a request that relegated Premier League clubs can continue to spend 85 per cent of their revenue, a higher rate than currentl Championship clubs. There is already a concern that the extra financial reward distorts the competition in the second tier.
EFL chief Parry is concerned by the potential impact that contrasting cost control measures could have on the integrity of the Championship. He feels clubs may have to choose between being competitive or sustainable.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say that the dilemma facing Championships clubs is that they pretty much have to decide whether they want to be sustainable or competitive,” Parry said at the ‘Power of Football’ event at the Conservative Party Conference. "The two are pretty much mutually exclusive, which is a pretty horrendous position to be in.”
“It’s going to be difficult to persuade 14 clubs in the Premier League to vote for major change and to support those lower down. They tend to forget sometimes where they’ve come from and, bluntly, where they’re likely to go back to relatively soon, but that’s the nature of the game.
“Nobody wants disproportionate intervention. Nobody wants to dumb down the Premier League, this is about making clubs sustainable, it’s not about putting them out of business.”
At this stage, no deal has been agreed. Discussions between the leaders of the Premier League and EFL have brokered this deal. The EFL has said it will now lead “targeted consultation with all EFL clubs in smaller groups” and wanted “a speedy and satisfactory conclusion to improve the financial health” of its clubs.
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