Premier League clubs are considering how to break the funding impasse with the EFL and could introduce a system used in the Eredivisie in The Netherlands
Peter Smith Stoke City reporter and Brian Dick Reach Football Correspondent
15:28, 18 Mar 2026
Hull City owner Acun Ilicali
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Hull City owner Acun Ilicali (Image: PA)
Hull City will hope their perspective on the funding argument between the EFL and the Premier League changes in a couple of months.
The Tigers sit fifth in the table and assuming their run of three defeats in four games remains the exception rather than the rule, they should be playing off for promotion in just a couple of months.
Success for Sergej Jakirovic’s men would give the club access to the riches on offer in top flight – whilst also presenting them with an immediate riddle of staying there and making it more than a one-year cash infusion.
As things stand the revenue cliff between the Championship and the Premier League is a cliff edge. Huge TV monies mean the team that finishes bottom of the top flight will receive around £100million, while the side that comes top of the second tier gets around a tenth, £10m.
That combined with parachute payments mean whoever goes down to the Championship usually goes straight back up, a la Burnley and Leeds United last season and potentially Ipswich Town and Southampton this.
Many Championship clubs feel the disparity in income is the biggest issue in the game, leading the EFL to demand a new financial arrangement, although talks on the ‘New Deal’ haven’t got anywhere for a couple of years.
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That would have seen about £880m shared over six seasons – and had been described as ‘a step in the right direction but not the answer’ by the EFL – but there was a disagreement about how it should be funded as some clubs argued ‘bigger members of the division’ should make a greater contribution.
The Government hopes that the new Independent Football Regulator can revive discussions or step in and impose a solution if there is no agreement.
Now The Guardian claims that ‘a number of mid-ranking Premier League clubs’ are putting forward a new option to break an impasse between the EFL and the Premier League.
Clubs are said to be currently making their case to the regulator that there should be a levy on Uefa income, as is the case in countries such as the Netherlands.
The Guardian writes: “The Premier League’s six clubs in the Champions League this season are poised to receive a combined total of more than £600m in broadcast income and prize money.
“Dutch clubs in Uefa competitions must pay five per cent of their group-stage prize money to teams in the league that did not qualify for Europe, a figure which drops to 3.75 per cent of revenue in the knockout stages. In addition, 15 per cent of the clubs’ Uefa revenue is distributed to teams in the second tier.
“A source at one established top flight club said, ‘We all want to do a deal with the EFL but why should it be solely funded by the Premier League’s TV money? If that’s the case then a disproportionate burden will fall on the smaller clubs, who in effect will be funding their direct rivals in the EFL. There is going to be a hell of a debate about how this is funded.’”
A plan for this kind of innovation is said to be 'in its infancy'.
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It would be a massive shock if anything is agreed quickly, or even while City remain in the Championship, accepting there are no guarantees of promotion. But a fairer distribution would work for Tigers if they remain an EFL club.