Richard Masters reveals Premier League’s plan to share net media revenues with EFL

In a historic move, the Premier League has agreed to merge net media revenues with the EFL in a new financial settlement, revealed by its CEO Richard Masters to MPs. Heralded as part of the ‘New Deal For Football’, this arrangement will cover financial distribution, cost controls, calendar issues, and work permits. Masters and EFL chairman Rick Parry spoke to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee and hoped to roll out an agreement before the next season. One area of contention is parachute payments, which the EFL wants to eliminate. Masters said his league would like to include merit-based payments to Championship clubs but also insisted that supporting relegated clubs was still necessary in some form. The Premier League has offered an additional £125 million per year in funding to the EFL.

The committee asked Masters whether he supported the notion of an independent regulator. He replied, “We totally accept the regulator is happening, we want to make it work. So on that basis I think the answer is obviously getting to a ‘yes’.”