What is the EFL Championship playoff final actually worth? ‘Richest game in football’ explained

Sunderland triumphed in the EFL Championship playoff final in 2025 after defeating Sheffield United 2-1 at Wembley Stadium.

A dramatic finish saw Tom Watson score deep into added time of the second half to complete the Black Cats’ turnaround and send them back to the Premier League for the first time since the 2016/17 season.

The showpiece match, one of the most eagerly anticipated in the English football calendar, has long been dubbed ‘the richest game in football’.

The vast television and commercial fortunes on offer by gaining promotion to the Premier League are obviously considerable, and while the two automatically promoted teams gain their slice of that over a 46-game slog, the high stakes of a one-off, winner-takes-all encounter to join them carries huge allure. 

But does the EFL Championship playoff final really live up to its billing as the richest game in football?

MORE: How Watson snatched a dramatic playoff final victory

What is the EFL Championship playoff final actually worth?

Unlike the Premier League, final placings in the Championship are not a huge determining factor in competition income.

All of the 24 clubs receive £5million ($6.6m) in solidarity payments from the Premier League, with the EFL’s central income topping this up to £11m ($14.5m) annually.

The only differential in income for each club comes from facility fees that are paid each time a team is televised. Clubs chasing promotion or traditionally bigger clubs — 2024/25 champions Leeds United tick both of these boxes — will tend to do better from this, but the bottom line difference between clubs at the top and bottom remains negligible.

For the teams placed third to sixth, entry into the playoffs tops up the coffers nicely, with 12.5% of the gate receipts from the four semifinal matches split equally between the quartet. 

In the final, the two teams take 25% of the Wembley gate receipts each. In the event of a sell out, that leaves the losing finalist with a consolation pot of around £2m ($2.64m).

Lavish riches only start to flow once promotion is confirmed. According to EFL Analysis, clubs that aren’t already in receipt of parachute payments (more on those below) can expect a minimum 400% annual increase in revenue simply by competing in the Premier League.

Sheffield United finished bottom of the 2023/24 Premier League table and raked in £109.7m ($144.9m) from central television and commercial payments. Burnley in 19th and Luton Town in 18th claimed £110.1m ($145.5m) and £115.4m ($152.5m) respectively. Luton were the 2023 playoff winners.

Precisely how much a Championship playoff final win is worth to the victors depends upon a variety of factors, from their existing revenue base to where they finish in their Premier League campaign.

According to a report by the Mirror, estimates from financial researchers over how much a Championship playoff final win can be worth range from £300m ($396.3m) to £170m ($224.6m). Even at the lower end of that scale, this means the match makes good on its ‘richest game’ tag. Even the revamped FIFA Club World Cup and its lavish prize fund that guarantees the winner in the region of $125m, does not come particularly close.

How do Premier League parachute payments work?

If a newly promoted team survives a season in the Premier League, they are boosted by an additional financial bonus, depending on their final league position.

The Premier League distributes prize money for each team in the top flight at the end of the campaign. Nottingham Forest finished 17th in 2023/24 — the position immediately outside the relegation zone — and received a £6.8m ($9m) “merit payment”.

Clubs relegated back to the Championship are given ‘parachute payments’ to help them readjust to the radically different financial circumstances of England’s second tier when compared to its top flight. A year in the Premier League massively increases income but will also typically mean a huge spike in a club’s operating costs.

Parachute payments are drawn from the Premier League’s ‘Equal Share’ dividend of TV revenue, divided between the 20 top-flight clubs, alongside their individual fees for live matches.

Relegated sides receive an initial 55% share of what they would have picked up in their first season back in the Championship.

That figure drops to 45% in the second year, and to 20% in the third — but only if the team receiving the payments spends more than one season in the Premier League.

According to EFL Analysis, allowing for a range of variables, this amounts to approximately £41m ($54.15m), in year one, £35m ($46.2m) in year two and £15m ($19.8m) in year three.

Which teams have been promoted via the EFL Championship playoffs?