One may think that the former Liverpool chief executive would be despondent after seeing the demise of Project Big Picture (PBP) – the plan for a smaller, 18-team Premier League to share a quarter of all TV revenue with the EFL, along with a £250m up-front payment.
The Premier League voted against pursuing the Liverpool and Manchester United-backed proposal at a meeting last week amid a major backlash by other top-flight clubs, fans and the government – who all portrayed PBP as a power-grab by the ‘big six’. However, it does appear to have brought the majority of EFL clubs closer together, emboldened Parry, focused minds and given fresh energy to the debate around the game’s future structure, scheduling and sustainability.
Already the motives behind the plan are becoming clearer. Two years ago, the big six won a greater share of overseas TV revenue as the Premier League finally compromised on the equitable distribution that had underpinned its approach since 1992. Many feared that concession was unlikely to stop them agitating for more, and so it has proved.
A key element of PBP is the idea that Premier League clubs will be able to sell eight matches direct to overseas viewers themselves. According to analysis by the Mail on Sunday, external, clubs could make as much as £125m for one match under such a system – twice as much as they can currently make per season from selling the rights of all 20 matches abroad.
Despite any prospect of a proper launch being wrecked by a leak to the Sunday Telegraph, external last weekend, those behind PBP seem satisfied that the issues they raised – including the need for a revised calendar before the likely expansion of the Champions League from 2024, and the need to bridge the financial chasm that has developed between the top tier and the rest – have now been formally adopted into a strategic review that the Premier League admitted has been given fresh urgency.
Indeed, they believe that if PBP had never happened, that review – which was meant to start in February but had lay dormant ever since – may not have been revived.
They feel the greater redistribution of broadcast revenue to the EFL, and the abolition of parachute payments, would finally give the 72 EFL clubs the stability they need. They believe that has been overlooked by the media and fans groups in the rush to condemn the governance reforms.
Having said that, there is also concern that some of the projections for overseas TV revenue included in the PBP plan may be over-optimistic, and that it may not result in as good a deal for the EFL, external as initially presumed.
Further, the perception of PBP as the product of “cooked-up backrooms deals” (as the government described it), has certainly been given greater context.
On Thursday, Parry revealed to his clubs that not only was Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck involved, and Premier League chief Richard Masters invited to the talks earlier this year, but Football Association chairman Greg Clarke had in fact “initiated” them, and even produced a discussion paper featuring ‘B teams’ and ‘Premier League 2’ as examples of reforms.
That enraged some in the EFL and perhaps in normal times there would be greater pressure on the position of Clarke, who has kept a remarkably low profile in recent months, despite the challenges facing the sport.
The architects of PBP are understood to be ready to work with the Premier League’s review process – but the league now knows that the owners of its two biggest clubs are unhappy with the status quo and expect changes.
As if that was not enough to contend with, additional pressure has been brought by the government’s threat of a fan-led review and calls for an independent regulator by a group backed by Gary Neville and former FA chairman David Bernstein.
The basis of their argument is that English football is too riven with self-interest for it to be able to bring about the changes it needs. And some believe the past few days has proved their point.
“A fan-led review must now happen as a matter of urgency,” Tracey Crouch, the former sports minister, told BBC Sport.
“The stand-off between the Premier League and the EFL requires independent mediation. PBP has exposed significant self-interest at the top of the game and the Premier League, despite its superior regulation, is no longer exempt from examination.
“Independent regulation is not a new idea but the past few weeks have quickened the pace towards it.”
The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the tensions and forces that have been bubbling beneath the surface of the English club game for years.
In doing so, it has accelerated the speed at which potential changes may arrive, and forced many to consider what they want football to look like going forward amid a shifting financial and media landscape. It may have been ugly at times, but at least football’s various factions now know where each other stand.