Proposed 'luxury tax' for breaking PSR rules would be a travesty for Toffees 

The 2023/2024 Premier League season has been an unsettled one for Everton Football Club following an unprecedented points deduction in November. 

The Toffees come unstuck 

At the time, the Toffees were handed a ten-point sanction which was reduced to six upon appeal. Still, the penalty plunged Everton into turmoil as the club dropped into 19th place in the league. 

Mercifully, Sean Dyche’s team responded impressively to this setback and quickly fought their way out of the relegation zone. However, the Toffees are not out of the woods yet as the club is set to learn their fate regarding an alleged second breach of the league's profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).

"We haven't heard anything... who knows what comes next - we'll have to wait and see" 😬

Everton boss Sean Dyche on another potential PSR points deduction 🔵📉 pic.twitter.com/Lz7r8zwb2s

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 4, 2024

With the club sitting only four points above the relegation zone after matchday 30, the consequences of a second points deduction could potentially lead to the Blues dropping into the second tier of English football for the first time since 1954. 

It is for these reasons that news of a newly proposed 'luxury tax' for PSR perpetrators instead of points deductions will be particularly galling for Everton fans as their Premier League status hangs by a thread owing to being on the receiving end of multiple sanctions. 

Going forward, it is believed that Premier League bosses rather favour large financial penalties which will then be redistributed among the teams that did not break PSR rules. 

Essentially, the new rule would allow clubs to lose more than £105 million over three seasons and not be in danger of dropping down the league. It would, for all intents and purposes, be open season for spending in the Premier League so long as the offenders didn’t mind paying a fine for doing so.

Concerningly, it doesn’t take much imagination to see how the removal of points sanctions could increase the gap between the so-called 'Big Six' and the rest of the league. 

The Independent went as far as saying that it would lead to ‘financial chaos’ in England’s top flight as the onus would no longer be on balancing the books with owners now allowed to use their own money to sign players.

💙💙💙 pic.twitter.com/Lby8daIzqC

— Jack Grealish (@JackGrealish) May 22, 2023

In short, this way of operating would be a far cry from how things are currently done. 

Living within one's means 

As things stand, clubs live and die by the size of their commercial partnerships which helps to keep PSR changes at bay. This is why most clubs in the league have a sponsorship with an online betting company - Everton included -  as gambling companies tend to offer the most lucrative endorsements to help prop up the books. 

You only need to look at this list of the best 50 online live casinos from casinoalpha which includes the likes of BetUK, LeoVegas, and Parimatch who all have deals with teams in the Premier League to get a better idea of how common and indeed widespread these advertising partnerships are.

However, clubs wouldn’t necessarily have to rely on negotiating a bumper deal anymore with the aforementioned top online casino operators if the Premier League lessened the punishment for spending more than a club generated. This is certainly a development to watch.

An unfair slight on one of English football's oldest institutions 

While any luxury tax might be an amendment that helps Everton build a better squad in the future, its introduction would still serve as a gross injustice for a club that has been used as a guinea pig in determining the prevailing mood around points deductions. 

With some of the biggest clubs in the country possibly set to evade punishment for apparent repeat offences over many years, it currently feels as if it is one rule for them and another for us as the Toffees dangle above the trap door to the Championship.