Leading English Championship clubs are discussing a breakaway from the Football League over a £119m a year telly deal with Sky Sports.
The Sun reports that the deal which was negotiated last year has upset clubs such as Leeds, Aston Villa and Derby who are unhappy about the contract that sees 72 clubs share a similar amount of money as the team that finishes bottom of the EPL.
The dispute mirrors the situation in Scotland where Celtic matches can bring in audiences half the size of EPL matches although Celtic receive a payout of around £3m for winning the SPFL while the team finishing bottom of the EPL picks up over £100m in ‘prize money’ and £60m in parachute payments.
While those clubs are unhappy at having a cut of £119m a season the SPFL are believed to be closing in on a new deal worth around £30m a season.
Championship clubs refused to sign up to the new Sky deal and have until next week to agree otherwise the rebranded EFL will be without a telly deal going into next season.
There is no doubt that the three clubs mentioned bring in similar viewing figures as Bournemouth, Burnley and Cardiff but with Sky’s resources concentrated on the EPL the other English clubs are left with relative crumbs.
Championship clubs currently share £66m a season with each club assured of £2.3m, the current deal provides live coverage of 148 EFL matches.
