£265m windfall awaits Leeds United, Southampton, West Brom or Norwich — how it's broken down and paid — YEP 9/4/24

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By Will Jackson

Leeds United are competing to reach the Championship play-off final this month with one spot in the Premier League remaining

Leeds United currently find themselves competing to be involved in what has been dubbed the richest game in world football. The Whites missed out on automatic promotion over the course of the 46-game regular season and they must now emerge victorious in the dreaded play-offs if they are to play Premier League football next season.

They'll take on Norwich City in the first leg of their semi-final on Sunday, with a return leg at Elland Road due to be played next week, in the hope of reaching the play-off final at Wembley Stadium. If they get there, Leeds will be pitched against the winner of the other semi-final between Southampton and West Bromwich Albion in a winner takes all clash for the right to play in the top flight.

The Premier League is wealthiest league in the world and just playing in it can be extremely lucrative, with steep increases in revenue coming from all angles. As such, Leeds are determined to bounce back to the top flight at the first time of asking after last year's relegation and bring in the cash needed to re-establish themselves among English football's elite.

United's owners 49ers Enterprises are highly ambitious and they will have plans for both the club and Elland Road that depend on being promoted. But, how much money may actually be riding on the play-off final, which will be played at Wembley Stadium on May 26.

Well, in 2020, a Deloitte report suggested that the winner of the play-off final will stand to pick up between £135 million and £265m, depending on whether or not the team can survive and avoid relegation in its first season in the top flight.

That season, the figures published on the Premier League's official channels showed a broadcast revenue total of more than £2.5 billion was distributed among the club's competing in the division. Of that, all 20 clubs received an equal share payment of £31.4m, an international TV payment of £47.5m and a central commercial sum of £5.9m.

That works out at around £84.8m before merit payments and facility fees are taken into account. Merit payments, based on the final table, last season ranged from £3.1m to £62.3m, with each Premier League place being worth £3.1m. That's not to mention the facility fees on top, which are thought to be just over £1m a game.

Parachute payments paid to those who fall out of the top flight, something Leeds have been benefitting from this season, are also added to the total, with 55 per cent of the equal share of broadcast revenue paid in the first year after relegation. That drops to 45 per cent in year two and 20 per cent in year three, should the relegated club have been in the top flight for more than one season.

Of course, the figures differ year on year and with a new Premier League TV deal to come into effect from the 2025-26 season said to be worth £6.7bn over four years, being in the top flight looks set to become even more lucrative.

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