Coventry City and Luton Town will be competing for more than Premier League promotion in their Championship play-off final – the biggest financial prize in football is also on the line, according to Deloitte.
The accountancy giants have predicted promotion will be worth at least £170m over the next three seasons to either club, rising to a potential £290m if they can stay in the top flight for more than one season.
Premier League broadcasting rights would likely bring in around £90m for the 2023-24 season, with parachute payments worth around £80m for the following two seasons if they were to be relegated.
Coventry and Luton will face off at Wembley on Saturday 27 May after overcoming Middlesbrough and Sunderland respectively in their semi-final ties.
Despite the consistent upward trajectories of both sides over the past five years, their current financial situations and the volatility of the Championship mean another shot at the top flight is not guaranteed in the coming years.
This disparity was very clearly demonstrated over the past season, as Nottingham Forest ensured Premier League survival for a second season, while Huddersfield plummeted to 18th in the Championship.
Coventry do not even own their own stadium, although they finally agreed a rental deal with Mike Ashley to ensure they will stay there for at least the next five years.
Meanwhile, Luton will need to spend at least £10m to prepare Kenilworth Road for the Premier League by the start of next season.
Coventry and Luton have two of the lowest wage budgets in the Championship, with the Hatters 20th and the Sky Blues 23rd of 24 teams.
These would become the lowest budgets in the Premier League by some distance without increased investment, which is unsurprising as both sides were in League Two just five seasons ago.
Since 2007-08, 28 of the 45 promoted teams have stayed in the top flight for longer than one season, including all of Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest in 2022-23.
This was just the second time all three promoted clubs had stayed up since 2010-11, with Newcastle, Brighton and Huddersfield also all avoiding the drop in 2016-17.
Brighton and Newcastle are both set to finish in the Premier League’s top six this season, highlighting the long-term potential for clubs if top-flight status can be secured over a long-term period.
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