A pyramid is a structure. Structures need foundations.

English football generates extraordinary wealth at the top. The Premier League's current broadcast and commercial cycle is reported at around £12.25bn, up about 17% on the one before it.

Source: SportsPro

Premier League revenue: TV rights, sponsorship and IMG Productions. SportsPro, 2024-11-22.

Secondary source. Accessed 2026-09-05.

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Nobody sensible thinks that is a problem in itself. The problem is the shape of what happens next.

Money leaves the Premier League in four directions: to its own twenty clubs, to clubs recently relegated from it, to the rest of the English Football League, and to a set of grassroots and community programmes. Three of those four stop at the bottom of the EFL. The fourth reaches further down, but only as a fund clubs have to apply to.

Underneath the EFL sit 996 clubs, allocated by The FA across 48 divisions, 19 leagues and six steps for the 2026-27 season.

Source: The Football Association

The FA releases National League System club allocations for Steps 1-6 in 2026-27 season. The Football Association, 2026-05-14.

Primary source. Accessed 2026-09-05.

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They are the base the whole structure stands on. They are also, in distribution terms, outside it.

In July 2026 the Premier League's clubs unanimously approved a proposal worth up to £1.5bn over about a decade, to be offered to the EFL. Read the league's own statement and you will find no mention of the National League, or of anything below it.

Source: Premier League

Premier League statement on strategic partnership with EFL. Premier League, 2026-07-30.

Primary source. Accessed 2026-09-05.

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That is not a conspiracy. The EFL negotiates for its 72 members, and 996 clubs have nobody in the room. It is simply what happens when the future of a pyramid is settled by two of its parts.

We are not arguing that the Premier League is the enemy, and we are not asking for anyone to be poorer. We are arguing that a fixed, indexed, published percentage, reaching every level, is a better structure than a discretionary settlement that can be renegotiated, delayed, or switched off — and that the people who run a Step 4 club should be able to plan a season on something firmer than a cup run.