Premier League and EFL are $179M apart over five years on a funding deal
The Premier League has raised its proposed annual payment to the rest of English professional soccer to about $239 million. The EFL wants $275 million, and EFL Chair Rick Parry is said to believe $239 million is still not enough. The higher offer would still need a further vote of Premier League clubs.
This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Sports & Entertainment teams put it to work with Events & Onsite Capture.
Key facts, context, and what it means.
Key takeaways
Over five years the reported gap is $179 million, smaller than a single year's payment under the Premier League's $239 million-a-year offer.
An EFL yes on Friday would not finish the deal. The $239 million-a-year offer still needs its own vote of Premier League clubs.
Deal length looks like the easier term to move. The EFL wants five years, the Premier League first proposed ten, and it has signaled it will compromise.
Free workspace
Turn your Sports & Entertainment expertise into content.
Record interviews, organize footage, and write with AI on a free trial of the MarketScale platform for qualifying companies. No demo required, no credit card.
The Premier League has raised its offer to the rest of English professional soccer to about $239 million a year. The English Football League's board is set to meet again on Friday to decide whether to back the Premier League's latest proposal, according to Sky News.
On Monday, the chairs and CEOs of the Premier League, the EFL and the Independent Football Regulator met to try to finish the deal by the end of the week. Mark Kleinman of Sky News broke the story of the talks, and Sports Business Journal reported them on October 6 with all figures in U.S. dollars. The deal would distribute some of the Premier League's wealth to the rest of the English professional game.
The open question is narrow and close at hand. Can a gap that has already shrunk be closed before the clubs vote? For finance directors at EFL clubs, the answer sets how much shared money they can plan on and for how many seasons.
A gap smaller than one payment
Where the offer and the ask stand
Sky News (Mark Kleinman), via Sports Business Journal
By simple arithmetic, what remains between $239 million and $275 million is about $36 million a year. Over five years, the reported gap of $179 million is smaller than what the Premier League would pay in a single year under its current offer.
The two sides' positions remain apart. Sources described the EFL's $275 million figure as a non-starter, and EFL Chair Rick Parry is said to believe $239 million is still not enough. A small gap set against a big total still has to be bridged by people who have each called the other's number unacceptable.
Five years or ten
The second dispute is about length. The EFL wants the agreement to last only five years. The Premier League's original proposal ran for ten. Sources also said the Premier League would be prepared to compromise on length, which suggests duration is the softer of the two terms.
The EFL wants the deal to last only five years, while the Premier League's original proposal set out a 10-year agreement. A shorter term would bring the money back to the table sooner. A longer one would give clubs a fixed figure for a decade. For anyone whose budgets depend on lower-league club income, including sponsors and suppliers, the length could matter as much as the annual amount.
Two votes before anything is signed
The Premier League's move from about $199 million to about $239 million a year needs a further vote of Premier League clubs. Until that vote happens, $239 million is a figure the league has signaled, not one its clubs have approved.
The higher offer would require a further vote of Premier League clubs to approve it. On the EFL side, clubs hold a series of divisional meetings Thursday. The lower leagues' board then meets again Friday to decide whether to back the Premier League's latest proposal.
Sources
- English soccer officials aiming to hash out funding ... ↗ · Sports Business Journal
Featured companies
Your experts belong here
Every story in MarketScale Sports & Entertainment starts with a company putting its venue operators, production crews, and partnership teams on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.
Rights holders and partners back the operators they know, and coverage is how they get to know yours.
About the author
The MarketScale Newsroom reports on the companies, technologies, and trends shaping 16 B2B industries. It turns primary sources and expert commentary into clear, useful coverage for the people doing the work.
