Today’s Championship play-off final offers huge rewards to the winner as either Luton Town or Coventry City will complete their fairytale rise from the ashes by reaching the Premier League.
Often dubbed ‘the richest game in football’, the play-off final is worth huge swathes of money to the winner as they get to join the elite, 20-team cash cow that is the Premier League.
It’s only nine years since Luton were playing non-league football but their incredible rise since reaching rock bottom has seen them punch above their weight by besting plenty of clubs with much bigger budgets and Wembley success would lead to the incredible sight of heavyweights such as Man City, Arsenal and Manchester United heading to the famously modest Kenilworth Road.
Meanwhile, Coventry have essentially been to hell and back since slipping out of the top flight 22 years ago but, finally playing in their own city once more and having recently got rid of the millstone of Sisu ownership from around their neck, the Sky Blues are looking to complete a five-year ascent from League Two to the promised land.
But how much is the Championship play-off final actually worth to the clubs involved?
How much will the winners get for being promoted to the Premier League?
Ahead of the 2020 Championship play-off final, Deloitte reported that the victorious club could earn anywhere between £135m and £265m, depending on whether or not they could avoid immediate relegation from the Premier League.
What TV money will the winning club receive in the Premier League?
Official figures for the 2020-21 season showed that broadcast revenue incredibly totalled more than £2.5bn and was distributed among the 20 clubs in the Premier League.
Of that, each club was guaranteed at least £31.4m in equal share payments, £47.5m in international TV money and £5.9m in central commercial payments: a baseline of roughly £84.8m per team, regardless of position. In fact, Norwich City, who finished bottom of the league in that campaign, were handed just over £101.5m.
By comparison, Championships clubs only receive around £8m in TV rights income for a season spent in the second tier.
What other payments are there?
On top of this, clubs are given merit payments based on where they finish in the Premier League. For the 2022/23 campaign, the sliding scale will see the champions receive roughly £44m and the bottom-placed team around £2.2m. The team finishing 17th, and just avoiding relegation, is set to receive around £8.8m, as well as staying in the top tier to cash in again next term.
