Championship play-off final: How much is winning Premier League promotion decider worth?
Every season clubs in the second-tier of English football try desperately to reach the promised land of the Premier League.
It is not just the sporting glory that motivates them either. Securing passage into the top-flight also comes with lavish financial reward, with the Championship play-off final regularly being dubbed the most lucrative game in football.
But just how much will this year's showpiece event to Wembley? 90min takes a look...
2022/23 Championship play-off dates
The 46-game Championship season ends on Monday 8 May. The Championship play-off final will later follow at Wembley on Saturday 27 May.
Burnley and Sheffield United sealed their spots in first and second respectively with games to spare but the play-off picture will, as ever, pit four teams against each other in a nail-biting lottery mixing form and luck.
Championship play-off semi-finals
The exact date of the Championship play-off semi-finals will be confirmed once the regular season has concluded. The first match of these two-legged affairs usually commences a week after the 46-game campaign has concluded, which would be across the weekend of 13-14 May 2023.
Championship play-off final
- 27 May 2023 - Semi-final 1 winner vs Semi-final 2 winner
How much does the Championship play-off winner earn
There is no denying that winning the Championship play-off final can net a club hundreds of millions of pounds. However, putting an exact figure on the game's worth can be challenging.
Back in 2020, football-finance experts Deloitte estimated that the 2020 iteration was worth an increase of around £130m in revenue, should the winning team manage to avoid relegation the following campaign.
Three years later, the 2023 final is set to be worth even more. This is due to a small increase in both UK-based and overseas broadcasting revenue for the 2022/23 season, meaning the Premier League champions will earn £176m in prize money.
Read more on the play-off hunt across the EFL
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This increase will cascade down the table, rewarding any newly-promoted team that succeed more handsomely than previously.
However, even if the play-off winner does not fare well, they are still guaranteed a much bigger share of the broadcast revenue pie than they would receive in the Championship.
Each Championship club is entitled to around £2.5m from TV revenue whereas that figure balloons to a baseline of £77m in the Premier League, plus in the region of £11m for each match selected for live coverage.
Parachute payments
Another reason that the Championship play-off final is so lucrative is parachute payments. These fees are paid to a relegated club over three seasons.
As per the Premier League website, this: "....allows clubs to invest in their teams, and wider operations, in the knowledge that should they be relegated they have provisions in place to re-adjust their finances."
Parachute payments extend the benefits of reaching the Premier League for longer if a team goes straight back down to the second tier.
READ MORE: What are Premier League parachute payments?