Appalling decision purely to benifit the so called top teams. Not a thought for the teams that supported many of their players as they developed. This is part of a continuing creep by the EPL to Americanise football. Next will be a reduction in promotion and relegation you can see that coming down the line.
Being knocked out of a lucurative cup by a lower tier team is a big inconvenice for these rich owners.
Greed greed greed
The EPL has become a poor league over recent years. Look how dismal it was for Saints last year and our board spent a fair bit (badly). Nobody has a right to survival, particularly when you play as shit as our team did, but the league has to be competitive.
I'd like to think our board had the minerals to oppose this but I bet they don't. They won't want to rock the boat with promotion still a possibility.
However football fans are useless. Leeds charge us £47 for an away ticket, clearly outrageous profiteering and should be boycotted by Saints fans. What happens pretty much sold out. They'll be a lot of noise about this but in the end nothing will happen the EFL will roll over.
The Championship should set up in opposition to the Premier league, negotiate their own TV contract incuding matches on BBC/ITV. There won't be the money initially but I guaratee that over time the competitive nature of the league will make it more attractive.