EFL outlines TV money, parachutes

Football finance is the real story underneath the EFL table. Promotion races, relegation fights, even transfer plans end up running through the same question — who gets the TV money, and how unevenly? The fresh explainer making the rounds this weekend did not reveal a brand-new rule. But it did lay out, in one place, how the current system works in 2026 — and why parachute payments remain one of the most controversial features in English football. (footballtransfers.com) ### What money are we talking about? The EFL’s domestic rights deal with Sky Sports is worth £935 million over five years starting in 2024/25. That package massively expanded live coverage — more than 1,000 EFL, cup, and play-off matches per season — and made (footballtransfers.com)national reach. (efl.com) ### Why does the Championship get so much more? Because the split is not designed to be equal. The FootballTransfers breakdown puts the annual EFL pot at roughly €266 million once Sky, international rights, and ITV are bundled together. Of that, about €150 million goes to the Championship, €35 million to League One, and €25 million to League Two, with the rest tied to other distributions and rights streams. (footballtransfers.com) ### What does that mean per club? The same explainer estimates a centralized payment of about €9.2 million for each Championship club from the TV deal, before extra live-match fees. Championship sides also get a Premier League solidarity payment worth about €3(footballtransfers.com)t is the core gap. (footballtransfers.com) ### What are parachute payments, exactly? They are separate from ordinary EFL distributions. When a club drops out of the Premier League, it can keep receiving a slice of Premier League central money to soften the revenue crash. The current structure runs for (footballtransfers.com)n. If the club goes straight back up, the payments stop. (thefsa.org.uk) ### How big is that in practice? Big enough to dwarf normal Championship income. FootballTransfers projects first-year parachute support at roughly €55 million to €60 million. Recent pound-denominated estimates elsewhere put the three-year pattern around £48 million, £39 million, and £17 million, depending on the season’s equal-share value. Either way, a relegated club can land in the Championship with resources that ordinary rivals cannot match. (footballtransfers.com) ### Why do people call them “trampoline payments”? Because critics think they do more than cushion the fall. The Football Supporters’ Association briefing says Championship clubs without parachutes get around £8 million in solidarity, while research it cites f(footballtransfers.com)k rather than simply survive the drop. (thefsa.org.uk) ### Why hasn’t the system changed? Because the logic cuts both ways. Premier League clubs argue relegated teams need protection after building wage bills around top-flight revenue. The EFL and supporter groups argue the current model creates a cliff edge for everybody else and encourages reckless spending in pursuit of promotion. So the fight is (thefsa.org.uk)tive balance across the pyramid. (thefsa.org.uk) ### What is the bottom line? The latest explainer matters because it makes the imbalance visible. In the EFL, “TV money” is not one pot shared neatly across 72 clubs. It is a ladder — and parachute payments sit on a much higher rung. Until that changes, the Championship will keep looking less like a level division and more like a financial sorting machine. (footballtransfers.com)