Parachute payments could be drastically cut after Premier League clubs came to an agreement for a new way to filter cash into the Championship.
As it stands, relegated teams receive three payments that are divided as an equal share of broadcast revenue paid to Premier League clubs to help mitigate the huge drop in revenue that fails to cover the wage bills accumulated.
It means they can gamble on spending big to force their way back to the promised land also fuelling unsustainability across the Championship as other sides are forced to match their ambitions to have the best possible opportunity for promotion.
According to the Times, funding to clubs in the Championship will be allocated depending on where each side finishes in the league table as a sliding system. It is similar to how money is currently distributed in the Premier League.
The plan, called "A New Deal For Football", also cuts back on parachute payments which will "greatly reduce" the £44million handed to clubs who are relegated from the Premier League in their first season. The initiative is to help prevent clubs spending beyond their means and creates a fairer playing field across the league.
The finer details have yet to be finalised but the 20 Premier League clubs had a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the idea and there was overriding support for the new plan that also impacts funding for infrastructure across the EFL. It means the Premier League would provide funding to help with stadium and training ground improvements with the idea to stop clubs spending the extra money on players and wages.
Finally, there are some Premier League clubs who want Championship clubs to play Under-23 English talent for a certain number of appearances when they head out on loan. Although that won't sit well with manager Nigel Pearson who has previously shared his frustration that loan deals often come with a stipulation to grant players a set number of minutes.
Bristol City are just one of a handful of clubs in the Championship who haven't received parachute payments in the past alongside Luton, Millwall, Preston and Rotherham, leading to owner Steve Lansdown sharing his frustrations at the lack of unfair advantage for their league rivals.
He told The Times back in February: "Fans always like to see a name coming in but we can’t really afford that. If you’ve been in the Championship for a long time like we have, without ever having featured in the promised land, the problem is you don’t have those parachute payments.
"The Championship has effectively got to become Premier League 2 and a better distribution of the monies down through the pyramid would improve things.
“The parachute payments don’t really help. Stoke is a good example, a very well-run club. They’ve had the parachute payments, they spent it and haven’t made it [back up], so they’re having to readjust quite a lot. You’ve had the Boltons in the past that have got it wrong and gone all the way down. It’s more controlling expenditure when you come down. Parachute payments create an unfair playing field.”
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