Member Article

Championship clubs gun for £60 million prize

The Football League Championship Play-Off Final on 28 May will again represent the biggest financial prize in world football. The Sport Business Group at professional services firm Deloitte have analysed the benefit of being promoted to the Premiership and found that it is worth at least £35m of additional revenue to the three promoted clubs, meaning that Sunderland FC will benefit significantly from their recent wins and definite promotion.

Paul Rawnsley, Director of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, commented: “The financial prize for promotion to the Premiership will be around £60m. Premiership football will provide Sunderland, Birmingham City and the third promoted club with at least £35m of additional revenue for the 2007/08 season. In addition, even if the club is relegated after one year in the top flight, parachute payments worth over £10m per season will be received for two more seasons.”

The main driver of this additional revenue comes from the Premier League’s new domestic and overseas broadcasting deals which commence from 2007/08. The new deals will add a further £20m to the promotion prize fund compared to the £40m available to last season’s winners.

Alex Byars, senior consultant in the Sports Business Group comments: “The immediate revenue boost can provide promoted clubs with the finances to bridge the gap between Championship and Premiership revenues. Excluding the biggest five or six clubs, most of the other Premiership clubs will be relatively evenly matched in financial terms in 2007/08. Carrying the winning mentality from the Championship, whilst raising the club’s operations to a Premiership level, is likely to determine whether or not the promoted clubs stay up.”

After the end of the season, the 16th edition of the Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance will be published, providing analysis of football’s finances in England and around Europe.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .