The Premier League’s new £1.5bn proposal to the EFL has been held in discussion with England’s new Independent Football Regulator over securing the financial future of the English football pyramid.
The Premier League has confirmed it has agreed a new funding deal to distribute additional funds to the English Football League’s (EFL) Championship, League One and League Two teams.
Premier League clubs unanimously agreed to the new proposal which would see a reported £1.5bn of additional funds sent down to the lower-leagues of English football, on top of the £1.6bn the league sends to the EFL every three years.
Sky News believes the new deal will span across 10 years with the Premier League paying the EFL £150m per year. As part of the reported deal, some of the funds will be stored in case clubs fall into a financial crisis, as well as for club infrastructure.
The proposal is now subject to the approval of the EFL Board of Directors after holding talks with the Premier League before the English top-flight agreed to the “new deal for football”.
“The long-term proposal, which would start in season 2026/27, will now be formally offered to the EFL for discussion with its clubs,” said the Premier League in a statement.
“The Premier League already has long-term funding commitments to invest a record £1.6billion every three years into the wider game and communities.
“The Premier League remains committed to finding a football-led solution and looks forward to continuing discussions with the EFL on progressing this proposal.”
As part of the deal, Premier League clubs have reportedly increased the levy attached to transfer fees to 6% from 4% in order to cover the extra costs sent to the EFL.
In a statement following the announcement of the Premier League’s proposal, the EFL said it will review it in full detail in order to align with “the long-term interest of the 72 clubs”.
“The EFL notes the Premier League’s position following its meeting with Clubs earlier today (30 July), and now looks forward to receiving its formal proposal for consideration,” said the EFL statement. “This follows constructive discussions involving the EFL, Premier League and Independent Football Regulator over recent months.
“The EFL Board will then review the full detail of the proposal, including its potential benefits, implications and alignment with the long-term interests of our 72 clubs, ahead of further dialogue with the Premier League. The proposal will then be discussed in detail with our Member Clubs to determine next steps. No further comment will be made at this time.”
The Independent Football Regulator’s role
As revealed in the EFL’s statement, the newly formed Independent Football Regulator (IFR) had influence in discussion with both English football organisations over the distribution of funds deal.
Before the IFR was established in 2025, the Premier League and EFL could not come to an agreement on a deal.
In March 2024, the deadline to secure a deal was up and both organisations could not come to an agreement. Premier League clubs did not pass a majority vote of distributing £836m as part of a six-year deal to the EFL, which was being proposed at the time.
Both leagues were warned the IFR could intervene if an agreement could not be met before the March 2024 deadline as discussions continued to stall in December 2023.
Now with the IFR in effect, led by Chairman David Kogan, one of the regulator’s first objectives was to ensure a new deal is agreed upon in order to protect the financial sustainability of the lower-league teams’ futures.
The EFL’s Chairman Rick Parry has been lobbying the IFR to scrap parachute payments to relegated Premier League clubs in favour of using those funds to be distributed across the EFL.
The IFR highlighted it under its ‘State of the Game’ review in January, with the findings set to be revealed in late 2026.
The Premier League has argued in favour of keeping parachute payments in order to help maintain financial sustainability for relegated clubs, as well as keeping them liquid for future investment.
