City CEO hits out at parachute payments

BRISTOL City CEO Richard Gould claims Premier League parachute payments are ruining fair competition in the Championship, effectively reducing the promotion race to just one spot.

Gould believes the money distributed to relegated clubs is damaging the quality of the Championship, and it will only get worse.

Teams who fall from the Premier League into the Championship are paid three sums of money over two or three seasons (depending on how long they’ve been in the top-flight) to help mitigate the huge drop in revenue which no longer covers the wage bills that have been accumulated.

Under the current system, clubs receive about £45m, £35m and then £15m (calculated as declining percentages of top-flight broadcast revenue) if they stay in the Championship and below for three seasons, which allows them to buy or retain top players and managers.

Bristol City’s total revenue in their most recently-published accounts for 2019/20 was £27.2m.

“The parachute payments are so significant that they are making the Championship an unfair competition,” Gould told the Daily Mail. “Three years’ parachute payments ruin the ability to compete of the other clubs.

“It is really difficult for the EFL and I know they want to try to grip it. It’s in the Premier League’s best interests to ensure the gulf financially is closed otherwise they risk having a relatively boring competition where it all becomes a bit too predictable.

“The longer it goes on with these parachute payments that are out of kilter with the commercial reality of the Championship, the Premier League will just become a closed shop.

“The door is almost shut now. It’s probably three or four inches ajar and we’ve got our foot wedged in to try to make sure it doesn’t get shut permanently.”