Premier League targets November vote on EFL funding deal

The Premier League is aiming to put a landmark financial distribution deal to a vote this month despite being yet to reach agreement with its own clubs about their respective financial commitments.

Sky News has learnt that Richard Masters, the Premier League chief executive, informed the 20 top-flight clubs this week that he wants to put the proposed £915m 'New Deal' for English football to a ballot at its next shareholder meeting on 21 November.

The proposed vote comes at a delicate time for the Premier League and its clubs, with legislation to establish an independent English football regulator expected to be included in next week's King's Speech.

Under the 'New Deal', key details of which were revealed by Sky News in September, the 72 English Football League (EFL) clubs would receive a total of £915m over a six-year period.

A source close to the Premier League said on Wednesday that the negotiations between it and the EFL were progressing well and that there was a mutual desire to conclude them rapidly.

Some executives have expressed disquiet, however, over the absence of conditions attached to the funding, while also pointing to the absence of an internal agreement about how the financing would be split between the 20 clubs, which include Aston Villa, Burnley, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur.

Talks between the Premier League and EFL have dragged on for months, despite intense political pressure, prompting concerns that the new regulator will have a draconian agenda.

Under a blueprint outlined to Premier League clubs earlier this autumn, the New Deal would run for six years, commencing immediately with an £88m handout to the English Football League (EFL) in the first year, rising to £190m in the 2028-29 season, the final 12 months of the period.

The seasons in between would see payments of £101m, £174m, £178m and £184m.

Ministers have pledged to establish an independent watchdog which would issue licences to every club operating in the top five tiers of English football.

Sky News previously reported that the proposal for a bespoke licensing regime floated by the government has created distinct unease among a number of Premier League clubs, some of which believe that the New Deal should remain unsigned until there is greater clarity about how the regulator will operate.

Some EFL clubs - whose ranks include Leicester City, Fleetwood Town and Sunderland - are also said to have been alarmed by some of the regulatory proposals.

The funding for lower-league clubs would be in addition to existing annual solidarity payments of £110m and further funds earmarked for youth development.

In June, MPs on the culture, media and sport select committee said the Premier League and EFL should urgently reach agreement on the provision of funding throughout the English football pyramid, or have a settlement imposed on them by the new regulator.

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"Unless the football authorities get their act together soon on agreeing a fairer share of revenue, we risk more clubs collapsing, with the devastating impact that can have on local communities," Dame Caroline Dinenage, the committee chair, said.

In a white paper published earlier this year, the government said: "The current distribution of revenue is not sufficient, contributing to problems of financial unsustainability and having a destabilising effect on the football pyramid.

"Therefore, there remains a clear need to reform financial distributions in English football."

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The white paper highlighted a £4bn chasm between the combined revenues of Premier League clubs and those of Championship clubs in the 2020-21 season.

The impetus for a new regulator came after the collapse of the European Super League project in 2021, with public and political outrage over the participation of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Spurs.

The Premier League declined to comment on Wednesday.