A new report, released Thursday morning, has proposed what its authors call a \u201cground-breaking\u201d solution to financial issues afflicting English football.<\/p>\n
Fair Game, a campaign group which lobbies for better governance in the sport, issued proposals it believes could and should end the ongoing deadlock among football\u2019s authorities regarding how money is distributed throughout the English pyramid. The report is titled: \u2018The Four Pot Solution: Redrawing Football\u2019s Finances\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n The discussion has been ongoing between the Premier League and the EFL since 2021, with no end in sight. The recently established Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has \u2018backstop\u2019 powers to \u201cintervene in the distribution of revenue as a last resort\u201d<\/a>, though IFR chair David Kogan has repeatedly stated his preference for the leagues to resolve the matter between themselves.\u00a0It is a preference shared by those leagues.<\/p>\n Kogan reiterated the view at last month\u2019s Financial Times Business of Football Summit, even as he outlined<\/a> how a significant proportion of clubs in the English pyramid would not survive a single month if their current owners were to pull the plug on funding.<\/p>\n \u2018The Four Pot Solution\u2019 is wide-ranging, the result of a year\u2019s work and covers 18 separate but linked sections over 89 pages. In lieu of those at the negotiating table offering up possible new distribution methods, at least publicly, Fair Game believes the report \u201cprovides the football authorities with a ready-made solution to the problems within our national game\u201d.<\/p>\n Moreover, it appeals directly to the IFR, highlighting that, without reforms to the sharing of English football\u2019s bounty, \u201cthe IFR will not be able to meet its statutory objectives on financial soundness, systemic resilience, or heritage protection\u201d.<\/p>\n Fair Game\u2019s solution boils down to three main recommendations: introduce a four-pot distribution model; reduce the parachute payments currently paid to recently relegated Premier League clubs; and rebalance the distribution of English football\u2019s TV money across the country\u2019s top six levels (being the Premier League, the EFL and the two tiers of the National League).<\/p>\n The four-pot model<\/p>\n The report proposes a reduction in the 20 Premier League clubs\u2019 share of the competition\u2019s annual revenue from the sale of TV broadcasting rights. Fair Game puts the sum total of those now at \u00a33.2billion, and calls for a reduction in the top division\u2019s share from the current 83 per cent to 75 per cent.<\/p>\n Premier League clubs\u2019 TV money distributions actually fell slightly in 2024-25, though an increase is expected this season as a new deal cycle begins. Fair Game proposes a significantly larger reduction than last year\u2019s \u00a315million; the report lays out the case for Premier League clubs to receive \u00a32.4bn annually, a more than \u00a3400m drop on last season and a return to the level disbursed in 2016-17.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Doing so would, per the proposals, enable a \u201cmore stable pyramid\u201d by reducing the cliff-edge of relegation to the Championship and bringing clubs in the National League into the distribution fold. Fair Game\u2019s solution would provide the 72 clubs of England\u2019s fifth and sixth tiers with a combined \u00a3161.4m annually. They receive nothing from the existing distribution model.<\/p>\n With overall divisional distributions sorted out, money would then be allocated according to those four pots: reward funding, ring-fenced funding, universal core funding and a mandatory escrow account. It marks a sharp departure from the current model, where clubs receive funding from one pot and can use it as they please.<\/p>\n Reward funding would be available only to those clubs who meet sustainability criteria, such as wage control, fan engagement and a reduced reliance on owners\u2019 money.<\/p>\n Getting wage inflation under control is key to improving the finances of clubs, particularly in the Championship where in 2023-24 exactly half of the division\u2019s teams spent more than 100 per cent of income on salaries. Fair Game\u2019s solution is to try and incentivise clubs rather than impose legally fraught caps.<\/p>\n Ring-fenced funding would be for exclusive use on long-term projects, while the \u2018universal core\u2019 pot would ensure non-playing staff were paid and essential stadium maintenance works carried out.<\/p>\n Last but far from least, the escrow pot would seek to ensure all clubs could meet at least one year of liabilities, going hand in hand with that reduced reliance on owners. In response to the argument escrow accounts are too burdensome, Fair Game propose a three to five-year implementation period.<\/p>\n A reduction in parachute payments<\/p>\n