‘Battle lines are drawn’ - Premier League and EFL at loggerheads with regulator inbound - finance expert
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Ben Palmer
Fri 29 August 2025 20:55, UK
The Premier League and the EFL have not been able to agree on a new revenue redistribution deal ahead of the English football regulator’s introduction.
That is according to football finance expert Dan Plumley, who told Football Insider exclusively that the EFL are holding out for a record-breaking deal, despite a sizeable offer from the Premier League.
Currently, teams in the football league lose £450million a season, which averages out to around £6m per club [Parliament].
This puts the onus on owners to keep football clubs afloat.
Sheffield Wednesday are currently in a horrendous financial position, whilst Morecambe were saved from the brink of extinction by the Panjab Warriors in August.
The EFL are holding out for a 25% split of the Premier League‘s revenue after rejecting an offer approved by CEO Richard Masters, worth 19% [The Athletic].
Karren Brady, West Ham‘s vice chairman, revealed that the deal had been rebuffed in a speech at the House of Lords, shortly before a bill passed confirming that an English football regulator will be arriving soon.
The favourite for the position, David Kogan, said in May that there was an 18-month window for a resolution to be reached between the two governing bodies [The Guardian].
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This article contains exclusive comment from Dan Plumley, a football finance expert and senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Plumley explained what the regulator’s role will be in terms of finding a deal between the two governing bodies.
He said: “This has been one of the driving factors behind the independent regulator.
We’ve not seen some of the figures recently, but 25% has always been the marker.
“That will be higher than we’ve ever seen in English football, in terms of a distribution back down to the football league.
“That’s going to be where the battle lines are drawn, even moving forward into the regulator and what that becomes, because the regulator will still want to act as a backstop for that one.
“It will want the leagues to sort it out themselves.”
Dejphon Chansiri will need to sell Sheffield Wednesday before November, or face the possibility of the regulator intervening in his ownership at Hillsborough.
The Owls were placed under a transfer embargo after wages went unpaid to both players and staff.
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The Thai businessman has been reluctant to part ways with the club, despite universal disdain and a near-empty Hillsborough.
Fans are protesting his ownership by not attending matches, and that was on show in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup victory over Leeds United, when less than 8,000 supporters turned up to see their team beat the Premier League side on penalties.