On Sunday, Leeds United will battle Southampton at Wembley with promotion to the Premier League at stake.
Both clubs are looking to make an immediate return to the top-flight, and join Championship champions Leicester City and runners-up Ipswich Town.
The Championship play-off final has often been described as the most lucrative game in the world, with the winner able to enjoy the treasures of football’s richest league.
But exactly how lucrative is it and how catastrophic could losing the final be?
What is the prize money for winning the Championship play-off final?
There is no direct and definitive prize for winning the final but promotion to the Premier League comes with many financial benefits.
Estimations vary, but Deloitte’s Sports Business Group say that the victorious club will see their revenue increase by at least £140million over the next three seasons.
This is because of the lucrative parachute payments that are handed out should a club be relegated back to the Championship, but if they avoid the drop in their first season, this figure could increase to over £305m.
This takes into account the projected increases in matchday, broadcast, and commercial revenue, with clubs receiving £31m in TV commercial payments for just being in the Premier League.
Interestingly, as Leeds, Southampton and Leicester were relegated last year, all three were still earning upwards of £100m this season thanks to the parachute payments.
As a result, the trio can expect to be on the lower side of those estimations, but Ipswich, who haven’t played in the Premier League since 2002, are expected to see their revenue go up by at least £200m.
What can happen to the losers?
As part of a gentlemen’s agreement, the loser in the final takes a share of the gate receipts, which usually comes to around £2m – a rather paltry prize in comparison to the winner.
In recent seasons, clubs that lose the play-off final have suffered financial ruin and relegation to the lower tiers in the years following, though this can also be attributed to mismanagement by the owners.
The most notably example is Derby County, who spent big on a promotion campaign only to be defeated at Wembley by Aston Villa in 2019. In 2021, they fell into administration and were subsequently relegated to League One.
Reading missed out on promotion after losing on penalties to Huddersfield Town in 2017. This season they finished 17th in League One, and are going through a long and arduous take-over process.
Finally, Huddersfield were relegated from the Premier League in 2019, narrowly lost the play-off final to Nottingham Forest in 2022, and this year were relegated to the third-tier.
When is the Championship play-off final?
Kick-off for the Wembley final is on Sunday, 26 May at 3pm – exactly 24 hours after the all-Manchester FA Cup final.
Leeds finished third in the Championship on 90 points and faced Norwich City in the play-off semi-final. After a drab, goalless draw in the first-leg, Daniel Farke’s side thrashed the Canaries 4-0 at Elland Road.
Southampton meanwhile were fourth on 87 points and came up against West Brom. Their first leg also ended 0-0 before the Saints secured a comfortable 3-1 win at St. Mary’s.