It was reiterated by ntl today that it doesn't want to walk away from the 20-year venture to produce and run Football League clubs' internet web sites.
But club chairmen must decide in the next month whether to accept ntl's new business plan.
An ntl spokesman said today: "The need to restructure the deal was first brought to the League ' s attention on 12 June when Premium TV went to the League and said we need to sort this out.
"The reason we made that approach to David Burns is that the deal, as it stands, is uncommercial. David and the chairman Keith Harris have both said the same on the record so they must have understood the need to deal with the problem.
"We appreciate the League has had a lot on its plate following the ITV Digital saga but if they had dealt with it quickly then the issue of this £5m payment on Friday would not be an issue now.
"That's not a major problem as if we can come to an arrangement now we are confident that the League will make even more money in the future from this deal.
"Under the new business plan the League will earn less in the short term but more in the long term. Those predictions are based on very conservative forecasts of what the market will be like in five or 10 years' time."
Football League spokesman John Nagle said: "Since outline proposals were presented to the Football League on 12 June much detailed work has been conducted between the League and ntl to arrive at the proposals sent to clubs yesterday.
"The aim remains to make the joint venture a viable proposition. What should not be forgotten is that clubs are owed £5m for their contribution to the venture over the last six months. But ntl have not yet satisfactorily explained why they have not paid us what is owed."
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