The Cost Of The Playoff Final

As the curtains to the footballing season come to an end, it is almost time for a game that can change the future of a single club in an instant. The final main event of the season, the Championship playoff final labelled "the richest game in world football," is soon upon us. This one game has the ability to secure the future of a football club for years on years. Here is how this one game of football game means way more beyond the touchline.

The Premier League

Ultimately, the big prize for winning the playoff final at Wembley is securing your spot as one of the twenty clubs in the most prestigious League in the world of football, the Premier League. Upon winning that final, a club has automatically secured themselves at least 100 million pounds.

The Premier League is the biggest league in the world, and attracts viewers from every corner of the earth.

No matter who is playing, as long as it is a Premier League fixture, you can guarantee that millions of people will be watching it from anywhere across the world.

The Premier League is poised to announce a new £4.5bn TV rights deal with its existing partners Sky, BT and Amazon. (Source: Guardian) pic.twitter.com/8eZO8Eqihj

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) May 12, 2021

Although there are no official figures, it is reported from UK broadcast deals, each club in the Premier League receive £31.2 million per year, whilst also receiving extra money based on the amount of times your club is shown on TV. On top of that, clubs will receive merit payments from the deals, which differs depending on where you finished in the table.

Think that is all? If you get onto the international broadcasting deals, then clubs will each get £55 million, along with more merit payments, and extra money for commercial revenue.

Therefore, even if a club was to finish bottom of the league, then they would still be guaranteed a huge sum of money. Sheffield United finished bottom of the Premier League, and reportedly despite finishing bottom, they received roughly 110 million pounds from their UK and international broadcasting and commercial deals. It doesn't get much better than receiving 110 million pounds despite failing at surviving in the Premier League.

Along with this however, new TV deals are being made in the Championship, with clubs in the EFL starting to get there fair share of the profits, which will somewhat slim the gap between the financial power of a Premier League club and a football league club.

📝 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗘: The EFL have agreed a record domestic TV rights deal with Sky Sports over a 5-year period with over 1000 matches to be broadcast each season.

The deal is made up of guaranteed payments of £895m and £40m in marketing benefits.

(Source: Sky Sports) pic.twitter.com/qJQIhwlcO9

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) April 12, 2024

But what does happen if you go straight back down?

The main goal upon your first season in the Premier League is to survive, and maintain your status as a Premier League club. It is no easy feat however, and as seen in the past two years, all three newly promoted sides have failed to survive and go straight back down to the Championship.

Although, it isn't the end of the road if you were to get relegated. Of course no team would want to get relegated, it still doesn't ruin the future of your club. Despite being relegated from the Premier League, clubs are still somewhat rewarded, receiving Parachute payments.

Parachute Payments are given to clubs when they are relegated, as a way of helping the relegated clubs adapt to no longer having that Premier League budget. Upon relegation, clubs have to cut costs, as they no longer have all the revenue from TV deals and commercial deals, and they have to adjust to their new and slimmer budget.

People will lose their jobs, players will have their salaries halved, as well as other key staff, just so they can balance their books and keep them sustainable. The Premier League aims to help with that by paying each club yearly for three years after they are relegated.

Again, these parachute payments are not clear, but they are estimated to reach over 100 million pounds. Not bad for relegation.

To fans of English clubs stuck in the Championship or lower leagues, these payments may seem unfair, as receiving just over 100 million payments whilst already having a squad who just competed in the Premier League may seem a bit overkill. They aren't wrong, as clubs who are relegated will usually find themselves promoted the year, or at least in the top seven.

For example, Southampton finished 20th in the Premier League two years ago and were relegated to the Championship. They sold many players such as Romeo Lavia, Tino Livramento and James Ward-Prowse. Added onto that some more sales from the club, they gained themselves far north of 100 million pounds. If you add onto that there further 110 million pounds, maybe more, from their TV and commercial deals, you already get £200 millions. And then further Parachute Payments? It makes it seem like the League is decided before a ball has even been kicked. Unsurprisingly, Southampton did in fact get promoted straight back to the top flight, ironically through the playoffs.

Southampton beat Leeds in the Championship playoff final.

They’re heading straight back to the Premier League 🔴⚪ pic.twitter.com/Fi0KjRhmhE

— B/R Football (@brfootball) May 26, 2024

So, how much does it mean?

Even though this game is seen as the most expensive in world football, it doesn't necessarily make it the most watched. Fans all across the world would much rather watch the Champions League final, or any other major competition final, but it is no doubt that this game costs much more.

86,000 attended the last playoff final at Wembley which was between Southampton and Leeds, which was the most since 2014. According to Sky sports, the game was streamed to 186 countries across the world, with their own figures stating that the peak viewership in the UK was 3.6million people.

So, yes there may be far more watched games across football. However, do any other games come with such big lucrative deals that can financially secure the future of a club for years and years?

The Championship Playoff will remain as the richest game in world football, with new TV deals and the growing football economy only going to make it worth so much more.